Dunn to Close Clothing Store

Bruce Dunn is closing his upscale clothing store in downtown Fayetteville and may reopen it a month later as another entity.

Mister Guy has been located off the downtown square at 11 N. Block Ave. since 1981. Dunn, 35, began working at the store when he was 21. He became part owner of the store in 1988 and purchased it outright in 1993 when the Mister Guy chain of 15 stores was dissolved.

Dunn, who received a bachelor’s degree in banking and finance at the University of Arkansas in 1986, says he’s ready for a change. That may mean a new store or a new venture entirely for the entrepreneur.

“I’m definitely doing a facelift, no matter what,” he says. “I’m definitely not doing women’s clothing any more.”

Dunn says women’s clothing took up 30 percent of his inventory but accounted for less than 10 percent of his sales.

“Right now, I think market conditions have changed,” he says. “My ladies’ inventory wasn’t producing the sales I needed.”

Also, Dunn notes, people are spending less money on clothing than in the past.

“Dressing up is not as important as it used to be,” he says.

Dunn says the business has been for sale for the past three years, but he needed to close it to give himself an opportunity to consider his options.

“For me to look for something else, I just can’t have two doors open at once,” he says. “I had to close this door to open another, figuratively.”

The building where Mister Guy is located is owned by John, Ann and Mark Sugg.

Dunn, who had been a major booster of the Town Center project on the downtown square, says he was backing the Town Center “because it was the right thing to do,” not because he had a business downtown. Construction on the Town Center, an $8.3 million exhibit hall and parking garage, began last fall and is expected to be completed in two years.

“I’ve been doing this for 15 years,” Dunn says. “I’ve been doing this since I was 21 years of age. Growing up with something, it’s hard to let go.”

A closing sale began Jan. 13 and will continue until about March 1, when Dunn plans to close the store. Within 30 days of that date, he plans to start a new business, probably in the same location.