In 1966, Matthew McClellan set out to build a better mousetrap.
The metaphor he uses applies to all entrepreneurs - the desire to take an existing idea and morph it into a better version of itself. Menswear wasn’t a novel idea in the 1960s, but Matthew looked around Knoxville and knew he could offer a new kind of store - something with a little more life.
“I guess my complaint about most of the clothing in Knoxville was that it had little color. Ivy League clothing was relatively dark back then,” he recalls. “I’d seen stores in Charlottesville and Chapel Hill that were a little more upbeat and vibrant, so that’s what I used. I was going off of that.”
At the time, Matthew and his wife were expecting their son, Bob. Only a couple of years out of college, with some clothing store experience under his belt, Matthew became a father and business owner in the same year. It’s just the sort of thing an ambitious, driven person would do, someone with a vision. Hansom House was the original M.S. McClellan, born on Cumberland Avenue. By 1972, the store had a new name and a new location, nestled inside West Town Mall. As it turned out, it was a better mousetrap.
“We had new bags, new labels, and a new name. We got off the ground quickly. We were in the mall for 14 and a half years,” says Matthew. “The first five were really good. It allowed us to expand our reputation. The second five were okay, and by the third five, most of our money was coming off the parking lot, not from inside the mall. So, I bought a piece of property off of Kingston Pike in Bearden and built this store as an anchor.”
Bob cut his teeth on the store while it was still in the mall, a perfect summer and holiday job for a kid coming of age in the 1980s.
“There was always a fun, high-energy crew here,” Bob remembers. “I went to UT and we opened up another store on campus, so I worked there. It was a lot of fun. I can’t say it’s what I always wanted to do, but it was a lot of fun.” Eventually, Bob moved to Nashville, but he returned in 1992 and has been in Knoxville since.
M.S. McClellan is known for its men’s clothing and sportswear, carrying brands such as Canali, Zanella, and Barbour. Over the years, Matthew was always careful to stay on trend but avoid fads. He credits the Italian influence as their baseline of sophistication. It’s a business model and vision that’s worked year after year.
Of course, for all of the McClellan’s experience in traditional mens’ (and eventually, womens’) clothing, including the Knoxville market, nothing could’ve prepared them for the strange shift the entire world experienced in 2020. COVID-19 threw every business-owner for a loop.
“We are learning on the fly. We’ve worked on planning what to buy and what to mark down. There’s no way to plan for this. From late March to the present, every day is a different bag,” says Bob. “That’s what the facemasks were all about. We furloughed a couple of people in March, and our tailor, who’s an older gentleman, wanted to step out. So, we kept on two tailors for the alterations we had and brought on another tailor to help with facemasks. The response was a lot greater than we anticipated.”
Everytime the phone rang, it was a customer asking about masks. It was a natural next step as well as an opportunity to give back to the community. Each mask sells for $20, and 60 percent of the proceeds are donated to Second Harvest Food Bank.
“It seemed like the right thing to do to offer a hand to them. We were keeping people employed and giving a hand to people who needed help. When we reopened in May, we still had some people asking for masks, but it slowed down. Then numbers started going up in July, so the calls went up again. Thus far, I’ve already sent two checks to Second Harvest, roughly $14,000,” says Bob. “That’s a lot of masks, over 1,500. As long as you need a mask to go places, we’ll keep making them.”
It’s common for passersby to overlook M.S. McClellan and assume the clothes are out of their price range, a reputation Matthew and Bob are well aware of. The acknowledge their price structure pushes the envelope, but not to the point of being exclusive.
“People in general got a feeling that they couldn’t afford us, but if they try us, they’ll see that they can. You can go online or around town and beat our prices, but you can’t beat our quality or service. You’ve never been able to,” says Matthew. “If you have a problem, there’s someone to take care of it.”
Bob adds, “The person who gives us that chance out of necessity, for an event or something like that, they’ll find the experience or the goods - they can’t put it into words, but it’s pretty special.”
Part of the unique experience at M.S. McClellan is the opportunity to have a singular piece or an entire suit made entirely for the customer. Started last fall, McClellan By Design is a program where everything from the lining in the pockets to the label width can be selected. From buttons to stitching, the end result is a one-of-a-kind piece or suit.
“I’m not in here everyday since I’ve been quarantined, but in my opinion, we’ve done better through this thing than I would’ve thought,” says Matthew. “It’s a testament to the people. We have good people here.”