While Walker Brothers provides suits, sportswear and one-of-a-kind gameday gear, their mission underlying all that they do is to “serve well.” CEO and partner Thomas Cole said, “Our goal is to earn the right to serve a client again and again. You’ll find genuine care and friendship here.” For many people in Northwest Arkansas, this simple but significant approach has led to decades of Walker Brothers being an integral part of their fashion, weddings, gamedays and everyday lives.
From an early age, Thomas watched his parents be proud and active members of the Fayetteville community. John and his wife Karen were both Fayetteville Bulldogs and Razorback alums. In addition to being a clothing store owner, John was a professor at the Walton School of Business at the University of Arkansas for over three decades. “He was an amazing professor and is an amazing dad,” said Thomas. “He has been able to help impact a lot of lives.”
Thomas has been a part of the family business in a variety of ways. He remembers working as a salesman in college and as a kid helping his dad doing odd jobs such as putting up Christmas lights on their storefront. “I remember vividly that Dad and his team were the first to put lights on the trees on the Fayetteville Square, and all the store owners would start plugging in the lights on a countdown. It was a great show.”
At that time, the store sign illuminated by the Christmas lights read ‘John W. Cole.’ John and Karen started the store in 1977 and, as was the tradition at the time, stores were often named after their ownership. In the 90’s, however, Northwest Arkansas began to grow and they wanted to fit the changing market, so he and Karen decided to move to their current location on Millsap Road. They also decided to update the store’s name.
The ‘W’ in his name stands for Walker. Just as John and Thomas believe the heartbeat of Fayetteville is the tradition of the University, the heartbeat of their store has always been the rich tradition of service begun by the Walker family. John’s maternal grandparents owned three department stores that began in Eureka Springs in 1903 and they were called, of course, Walker Brothers. Their stores, as John said, “sold everything from blue jeans to dresses.”
One of John’s favorite memories of being in the store was how his grandparents worked every day to serve each client well, along with thanking every employee for their good work when paychecks were handed out on Friday afternoons. Relationships were the focus of the business, and John has never forgotten that focus. When John asked his grandmother for her blessing to change the store name from John W. Cole to the family name of Walker Brothers, she had only one precondition: that Walker Brothers would continue to serve others well. Proudly, John and his family have never strayed from her request. “Treating people better than they expect to be treated,” as they put it, has been the foundation of their success. “We don’t want to be transactional, even though that is in the nature of what we do. We want to build relationships, care for people, and be a resource,” said Thomas.
To do this at Walker Brothers, he said that Thomas and his sales team continually work to gain the trust of clients. To gain a customer's trust, a business needs to invest in knowing their needs. “Serve well” embodies that goal. “As a server, you have to read and know an individual to find how they want to be helped,” said Thomas Cole. “We see the role we play in life. In your best moments and hardest moments, we’re here to make this process easy. If you’re getting married, we’re here for that. If you have a family member pass away, we’re here for that...it’s a vehicle to care for people in all their moments.”
The Walker Brothers family of stores includes Walker Brothers in Rogers which has been open since 2016, and Baumans in Little Rock. The Rogers location is run by organization partner Sam Gardner and his knowledgeable team, and a new expanded store will open in the fall of this year. According to Sam and Thomas, the new store will be one of the finest and most inviting stores in the country. At each location across Arkansas, the Walker Brothers team works individually with customers. "Whether you are looking for an entire new wardrobe, advice on a new suit, or anything in between, we are here to help."
From gameday gear to outfitting yourself for a special moment in life, customers can know that they receive care from a solid foundation of service. Today, continuing that century-long tradition, the Cole family and their team of professionals at Walker Brothers proudly serve every day.
"It's all a vehicle to care for people in all their moments.”
"We want to build relationships, care for people, and be a resource,”