A Legacy of Family, Fashion, and Relationships

It takes a lot to get Ken Giddon to wear a suit. But considering the occasion, it was the appropriate attire.

Giddon, who is usually dressed in a tight black T-shirt, was front and center Thursday night in a blue double-breasted suit when he and his brother Jim celebrated the 100th anniversary of Rothmans, the men’s store their grandfather founded in 1926.

The Giddons cleared the merchandise off of the main floor and installed a small stage, video monitor and bar for the party, which drew hundreds of industry executives, city officials and customers.

The theme of the evening was family and relationships, the cornerstones of the business for the last century. As the story goes, Harry Rothman was just 15 when his father was struck and killed by a horse-drawn ice wagon on New York’s Lower East Side in 1918. The oldest of eight children, he quit school and started selling rags out of a pushcart to help the family make ends meet.

That led to him opening his first store selling leftover merchandise from top brands at discounted prices.

Fast forward to 1985 when Harry and his brother both died and the family needed help liquidating the business. That task fell to Ken Giddon, who postponed business school in Boston to take on the task.

What he never expected was that he would fall in love with the business and decide to reopen it. He cajoled his brother to join him a couple of years later, and together they transformed the old Harry Rothman’s discount store into Rothmans, a full-price New York menswear institution.

The official celebration opened with a video tracing the history of the store and characterizing Ken Giddon as the guy who “went from riches to rags.” Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was among the speakers, as was Nelson Suriel of Jack Victor.

When Jim Giddon took the mic, he admitted that “it’s not easy to stay relevant in the city that never sleeps, but Harry Rothman gave us a good start.” He also thanked his brother for “having the crazy idea to resurrect this business 40 years ago.”

When Ken Giddon stepped to the stage, he thanked his brother for helping make that crazy idea a reality. “I couldn’t have done this without you,” he said. “There’s no one else I would have wanted beside me.”

He also called out his son Will, who recently joined Rothmans, representing the fourth generation of the family and who is bringing a younger perspective to the business.

“Retail is not a 9-to-5 business,” he said. “There are a lot of Saturdays, late nights and family moments where dad wasn’t there.” But the long-lasting relationships that have been established make it all worthwhile.

“Relationships aren’t a part of the business, they are the business,” he said.