Alfredo Diaz says that his connection to his customers has been just as important to him as selling them hats and jeans.
Alfredo Diaz has been in the menswear game so long that he can eyeball a customer’s hat size or waist size without getting out the measuring tape. But it’s not that sharp eye that has kept Diaz Menswear in business in downtown San Jose for 39 years — it’s the way he connects with customers.
And he says that’s what he’ll miss the most when he closes his store at the end of July to start a well-deserved retirement. “Without them, we would not be in business,” said Diaz, 67. “I’ll be sad, but I’m a little bit excited, too.”
He and his wife, Maria Velazquez, started planning for this day more than five years ago when they signed their most recent lease extension. That lease expired at the end of May, but Diaz asked for two additional months so he could have a retirement sale. As word has spread, customers have been streaming in wondering where they’ll go to buy their hats and jeans or just talk about downtown developments.
“I think it’s time for us to take some time off,” said Diaz, who only recently started closing on Sundays. “The dedication, time and effort to work every day that kept us alive.”
A Mexican immigrant, Diaz got his start in the business working for Gene’s Menswear on South First Street downtown in 1977. When that store closed in December 1984, Diaz opened his own store on East San Fernando Street the following February. He moved to South Second Street before opening in his current location in the Saratoga Capital building in August 1998.
His business survived the turmoil caused when light rail tracks were installed downtown in the mid-’80s, the dot-com bust, the Great Recession and COVID. His daughter, Brianna, credits some of the store’s longevity to its merchandise like stylish hats, Levi’s jeans, and Guayabera and Pendleton shirts.
“It’s been such an important part of this store that people can come here and find classic things that will always be in style, as opposed to shopping online or in stores where everything is trendy,” his daughter, Brianna Velazquez, said. “With this store, he’s always known what his business is, what his image is. So I think that’s helped him be a part of the community.”
The only time Diaz Menswear went in for a real trend was in the early ’90s when it carried MC Hammer-style parachute pants. “But I sold them,” Diaz said.
But Maria Velazquez says it’s her husband’s way with customers that has been the real key. One customer whose adult son is living on the streets would leave money with Diaz knowing that he would give it to her son when he came in. His clientele ranges from workers at San Jose City Hall to students at San Jose State.
He’s also cashed checks and wired money for customers, which during COVID made them an essential business that was allowed to remain open.
“That kept us alive because it brought us all these customers and then they would buy clothing,” Maria Velazquez said. His wife, daughters Brianna Velazquez and Alexandra Velazquez, and son Gabriel Velazquez all grew up in the store and helped the business, whether it was doing the books, selling clothes or setting up social media.
It hasn’t all been easy, though. The brick-and-mortar retail world has shrunk dramatically since Diaz started selling menswear more than four decades ago, thanks to online retailers like Amazon, and Diaz has watched many fellow retailers go out of business. But he says he has a steady stream of regulars who still appreciate being able to feel material or see how a hat sits on their head.
“Customers who came 30 years ago to buy their hats and Pendletons, now they bring their sons and buy the same things they did when they were younger,” Diaz said.
Diaz has also had his share of celebrities come into the store over the years, including the Godfather of Soul himself James Brown (whom Diaz concedes he did not recognize at first). The San Jose Improv has turned out to be a surprising source for customers. Comedians like Paul Rodriguez stop by whenever they’re in town. Bill Burr — known for shopping at small retailers when he’s on tour — bought a porkpie hat at Diaz a couple of weeks ago when he was in town for a two-night gig at the San Jose Civic.
Having been a veteran of downtown’s ups and downs, Diaz will gladly defend it to a point. He says its challenges aren’t very different from those of other cities, and downtown San Jose has weathered some of them better than other cities thanks to the efforts of City Hall and groups like the San Jose Downtown Association and the Groundwerx team which helps clean graffiti and litter.
“I could have moved the store to Hayward or San Francisco, but you would have the same problems,” he said. “San Jose is improving a lot.”
He does think it’s possible to do more about high rents for small businesses, though, and has suggested the city help subsidize rents or maybe give landlords incentives like property tax breaks to provide lower rents.
“If you get 10 more businesses here that way, there are more people coming downtown,” he said, wryly noting that the city might even produce a little more revenue through parking tickets.
Diaz says he and his family will take some time to travel, but he also plans to sell some remaining merchandise online after the store closes July 31, mostly to stay in touch with his customers and ease the transition into retirement.
“I may be his eldest child, but this is his first baby,” his daughter, Brianna, said of the store. “He built this from the ground up.”
