The Fergusons – the proud Athens family forges ahead with their 90 year old haberdashery!
When I arrived in Athens in the late ’50s, I wasn’t a hayseed with my belongings slung over my shoulder in a small bag, but I was about as naive and wet behind the ears as there has ever been.
If anybody ever needed seasoning it was this country boy who only had one redeeming constant—I did enjoy reading and had learned a few things about the world with a small-town appreciation for the county library.
The University of Georgia in those days was far from what it is today, but comfortable in its “downhome skin.” It functioned with an “in loco parentis” atmosphere which wasn’t necessarily all that bad come to think of it. It was nice to have a faculty and administration that was compatible “acting in place of a parent.”
Everything about the campus was “laid back.” The pace was measured and the only fuss was about losing football seasons although the Bulldogs had broken the drought against Georgia Tech in 1957 and had begun a four-year winning streak over the arch enemy. The decade would end with an SEC championship and a trip to the Orange Bowl.
There were five men’s stores in town at that time (Gunn’s, Sanders, John Jarrell’s, John Q West, and Dick Ferguson’s) — all seemed to be flourishing with much of the student body eager to shop for button down dress shirts and sweaters, along with khakis and saddle oxfords. If you were affluent enough, you splurged for English Leather Cologne.
Every coed was as smashing as Hollywood starlets and the best deal for breakfast could be found at the Mayflower and Tony’s on Clayton Street, which was only a few doors from Ferguson’s.
This is Ferguson’s 90th year, the oldest men’s retail store in the state according to family offspring Dick, John and Ed, the three sons of Dick and Edwina Ferguson. It is also one of the oldest businesses in the Classic City.
With the changing of times, the store left Clayton Street for the Beechwood Shopping Center and now at its present location, 1059 Baxter Street.
The store opened in 1934 by the patriarch, Richard John Ferguson. When he passed away in 1944, his widow, Mary, ran the store and was central to its success. Her warm and engaging smile made customers feel at home as she groomed her son Dick Jr, to take over which he did following graduation from UGA in 1962.
She played the piano for the Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs and was among the best-known personalities in Athens. The store manager for many years was Ralph Almond who knew the town’s leading citizens and half the student body, or so it seemed.
Ralph had a natural sales personality. He was genial and conversational. He would greet you with pleasantries about what was taking place on campus and had a wealth of “gossip” about the Bulldog football team—nothing sinister or nosey, but topical and interesting. “I am worried about Theron Sapp,” he might say about Georgia’s power running fullback who was hampered by a sprained ankle. “We sure need him in the lineup against Auburn Saturday.” Ralph made you feel he was hurting about Sapp’s questionable starting status as much as the coaching staff did.
Dick Jr. gained experience while he was in high school and took over the same year he was graduated from UGA. He was low key and patronizing of the traditional values underscoring faith, family and flag.
Most of my friends shopped at Ferguson’s, one I remember was the warm and genteel Ron Smith, a classmate in the Henry Grady School of Journalism. He was a background singer for a local band, “The Gates.”
The band played at fraternity parties and for other groups and went on the road to neighboring towns and counties. Ron and the band members didn’t become rich, but they lived large with their excess spending money at Ferguson’s and other assorted stores downtown. After retirement, Ron began working at Ferguson’s as a semi-retiree.
The annual senior parade was a big deal for homecoming and Ferguson’s always had what seemed to be an unlimited supply of planter’s style hats and small canes to make the walk around the field, a tradition that ended when the class became too large to make it an orderly and casual walk around the field. An intoxicated student unfurled an ugly phrase on a banner one homecoming in 1968 and that was the end of the senior parade.
I always enjoyed shopping at Ferguson’s. Dick was a classmate and he and Ralph were always on site, eager and ready for Bulldog conversation.
They enjoyed chatter about what was going on at Payne Hall, the athletic dormitory of those years. They loved having players such as Pat Dye and Fran Tarkenton shop with them.
Dick started the SAE fraternity tradition at UGA in his family and now includes three generations. He was well connected during his time on campus and loyal customers would continue to shop following graduation.
Then sons and grandsons—and now great grandsons—never lost their affinity for Dick’s lines of clothing and apparel. Until television and organized tailgating reached is craze in recent years, many of those steadfast customers would spend time shopping at Ferguson’s and then settle in for the traditional 2 p.m. kickoff Saturday afternoon.
As Dick’s health began to fail, his sons wanted to keep the business active and could not think of closing the doors. They put together a survival plan, which basically was to come with new marketing ideas which focused on lines that appealed to young people today. They began with Shane Cooper who gave way to the current hierarchy, Patrick Sowell and his wife, Claire. She manages the on-line business, which has been head turning.
The Ferguson brothers not only are continuing a family business which remains as popular as ever, giving a lift and purpose to their lives and that of their offspring. Most of their friends and a doting constituency are proud, too, that this landmark remains healthy and continues to prosper.
It would please their dad with the greatest of fulfillment to know what has come to pass with Dick Ferguson’s. And would he ever be overwhelmed that John (Dick’s son) and Ed Jr., (Ed’s son) walked on and played for the Dawgs.
If you were to mention “Dick Ferguson,” in the same breath as the chapel bell, the hedges of Sanford Stadium, the Arch and “the tree that owns itself,” you would be identifying iconic names that have been part of Athens’ fabric for almost a century.