Walker Brothers undergoes leadership change

Upscale men’s clothing retailer Walker Brothers has been undergoing a leadership transition after co-owner John Cole pivoted from daily operations to an advisory role.

About five years ago, Cole said he knew he wanted to begin to step away from the company gradually. His youngest son, Thomas Cole, is co-owner and CEO.

“I’m 71, and I love the business,” John said. “But it was time for somebody younger to take over … Thomas had earned the right to be put into that position, and we fully expect for that to continue.”

John said his middle son, Richard Cole, a certified implementer of Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), helped Walker Brothers ensure the right people were in the right roles, allowing John to transition from the leadership team and maintain a voice in the business as a co-owner.

“We had a process in place, and it’s worked really well,” John said. “If it weren’t for that, I think we’d really be struggling with it. But it’s helped us a lot.”

John opened his first retail store on the Fayetteville Square in 1977. In 1997, he moved the store to Single Tree Plaza on Millsap Road and renamed the business in honor of the family’s first retail clothing shop that his grandfather, Digby

Walker, and his brothers (John’s great-uncles) opened in Eureka Springs in 1903.
Walker Brothers recently relocated its Rogers store to The Collection at Uptown on South 55th Street in the Pinnacle Hills area. The company also has Baumans in Little Rock.

Business has been “exceptional … Between Fayetteville, Rogers and Little Rock, those markets are all doing well,” John said. “And Thomas is obviously one of the primary drivers of that because of his vision in seeing how these three stores could work together … It’s the market and our leadership team’s approach to the market that has helped us do well.”

He declined to provide revenue numbers. The company has about 50 full- and part-time employees.

CEO BACKGROUND
Thomas has been involved in the business since elementary school. John recalled that when he came home from market, Thomas, one of his three sons, would ask him what he’d seen there. Thomas wanted his father to show him the new items that would soon be available at the store.

For this story, Thomas was speaking on the phone in New York City while at market. He said he finds garments that will be available at his stores this fall. He and his buyers go to market twice annually. For this market, they are also going to Chicago, Dallas and Italy. At the next market, they’ll find garments that will be available at the store next spring.

Thomas started working in the business in junior high and continued through high school and college. After college, he spent about two years working for KLIFE, a partner ministry of Branson, Mo.-based Kanakuk Ministries. Afterward, he joined Walker Brothers full time.

“Thomas is truly a visionary,” John said. “He sees things that I would never see. There are parts of our business that never would have happened had it not been for him and Alan (Cole) and Richard being involved directly or indirectly.”

John said Thomas’ vision led to the company opening a Rogers store and growing the store to its existing location.

“He is the best relationship builder I’ve ever been around,” John said. “There’s nobody like him. I can’t compete with him.”

WELL TRAINED
Amid the leadership transition, Thomas said not much has changed for him as his father trained him so well over the years. He recalled that his father had trained managers to operate the store while he was teaching as a professor at the University of Arkansas. He taught there for 35 years. It was more ceremonial for Thomas to take on the leadership role.

“I loved getting to grow up and see the impact he had, not only at the university but in the local community, getting to serve people and be a part of their lives through the store because the reality is, you know, as we get older and the busier our lives get it’s just harder to have connection points with all of these people,” Thomas said. “I love people, and I love getting to have a connection point of the stores with a lot of people. So that’s what drew me back in. I really enjoy the fashion world. I really enjoy what business does for … communities but also just for relationships.”

Thomas’ wife Abbie also works in the business and helps with merchandising and interior design.

“She’s kind of been a multi-tool because she has experience in design, and she’s got experience in décor — all of that world,” Thomas said. “So she helps there. She’s also helped with one of the brands that we operate internally called Curly Tail. She’s so talented that she can kind of jump in wherever I need here and jump out when, you know, she keeps our home running and keeps me sane.”

GOALS, PLANS
Thomas said his top goals are to continue to serve customers well and to help area retailers continue to survive and thrive.

“There’s a pretty big shakeup … in our clothing and retail world with, you know, you hear people call it the gray wave or as boomers pass and transition, and we want to make sure those stores survive,” he said.

As he looks to retirement, John said he’s going to try to improve his golf game and was recently fitted for golf clubs. He also recently joined the board of Bend Advisors, a Fayetteville-based executive coaching, business advisory and investment firm.

“That’s something that’s important to me because it’s about helping people,” John said. “I do want to play a little bit more golf, but I also want to stay actively involved in organizations that just help people because that’s what we do.”

Still, John expects to remain involved in Walker Brothers as a co-owner.

“I don’t see a time that I will not be an owner because the business is too much fun,” he said. “And [my wife] Karen and I enjoy the business too much to not at least be in an ownership position.”

John also highlighted the impact his wife had on the company. Without Karen becoming involved, “we would’ve been out of business years ago,” he said. Karen, who has experience in marketing, accounting and banking, was responsible for the company’s financial success. “She is the most detailed person I’ve ever known.

“Let’s just put it this way,” John said. “I can’t get away with anything. Karen watches every penny everyday. That was her gift to our company. She was absolutely dead solid precise with all of our numbers, whether it be inventory, cash balances, you name it. It was perfect, or she didn’t quit until she got it that way.”

He said she’s almost fully transitioned from the company, and his EOS term is sage. In the advisory role, he’ll offer guidance if an issue arises.

He initially struggled with the role. “I wasn’t very good at not injecting myself at first, but … the leadership team has done such a good job of what it is they are supposed to be doing that I feel like I’ve gotten a lot better at staying out of the way.”