Look, I run a small business and I've been lucky enough to travel all over the world, and when I see someone who does it right, and its right in my backyard, I stop talking about what I know and... More

Look, I run a small business and I've been lucky enough to travel all over the world, and when I see someone who does it right, and its right in my backyard, I stop talking about what I know and soak up the feel and knowledge from a group of pros. I honestly love these guys and so do a ton of other people. Some people tell stories of how they go to a barber's shop to hear great stories, I go to Sig's and I always leave with a smile on my face. + Interesting stories happen all the time there: When the press was all over Richard Jewel for the explosions at the Olympics, I came in after the morning rush and someone leaned over the counter to me and said, "I know what they're saying, Vince, but that boy doesn't look smart enough to pull that off...." + Another time, "Vince, you know one of my customers came in here angry (editors note -- she had seen a TV expose about how cleaner's overcharge women for their clothes relative to men) and told me that I was overcharging her. I looked at her and I told her, I charge the same for women who bring in their dresses to me as I do for the men who bring in their dresses to me." Classic. + Walked in one day and the place was full of clothes -- Jimmy Buffet's band's been a big customer for years every time the tour's through Atlanta, where do they go? Sig's + One day the window was boarded up, before I could ask, "Vince, lady thought she hit reverse and had the car in drive -- came right through. She's okay though; scared us, but she's okay" I've been in and out of there since 1991 and that's really the Atlanta I've known, not the 4x4 suburbs and not the Latte intown -- its that real cross section of people (who I guess are into clean clothes too) that I will always remember. Business owners, before you read a "dummies" book, send a few suits an shirts to Sig's talk to them, look at how they run their business and take notes. The best thing is that they know my name. When I moved away and came back two years later, they asked where I'd been. When I sold a house, and hadn't been in for a while, they said that they had heard about the sale (in the newspaper) and was worried that I left. I sound like some cult member, I know, but I scold people who try the dry-clean franchise places. I always shake my head and tell them that they'll be back. The one's I've told that to -- they come back. I honestly think that this is one of the few places in Atlanta that is probably under-charging the market for the service and quality they deliver. Larry, his brothers, their family and their team there are top not.
Less