LAWTON – As owner of Edward’s Men’s Wear, Eddie Hamra has witnessed clothing styles come, go and return once again.
The clothing store, which opened in Lawton in 1954 by Hamra’s parents, has been a longstanding business that has survived big box stores, the internet, Amazon and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout the last 67 years, the family business has tried to give Lawtonians the styles they craved.
Last Saturday, it was Hamra’s turn to receive some goodwill when Edward’s Men’s Wear was awarded the Lifetime Achievement honor during the Lawton-Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce banquet.
“I was beyond stunned and shocked,” he said. “I was hoping my parents were seeing this from above. I was thrilled. It felt like nothing I’ve felt in my life. We were sitting there and talking at the table when I looked at the screen with the nominees’ names and thought ‘What the hell is my name up there for?’”
Hamra thanked Lawton residents for always supporting the men’s wear store.
“They’ve always been fantastic to my family and hopefully we have been good to them by responding to our customers,” he said. “We are very thankful and honored.”
Hamra, whose family is of Lebanese descent, was 3 years old when his parents opened Edward’s Men’s Wear. Eventually, he and his brothers worked in the store learning the different styles that would pass through the retail outlet. After graduating from college, Hamra spent three years in the Dallas market, but then returned home to Lawton. “The best part about the clothing business is the style changes,” he said. “The current style is the same as my high school and college days.” Hamra remembers the wide lapels which dictated the type of neckwear men wore. The store also catered at one point to men who needed big and tall clothes, but that business eventually tapered off because of the internet.
“At that point, we dropped big and tall,” Hamra recalled. “We discovered they were ordering their big and tall items off the internet.”
In the mid-1960s, Hamra remembers that his family established the Next Door Jean Scene next door to the men’s wear store.
“That was a couple of years of fun,” he said.
The family also started a women’s casual wear store known as The Wooden Nickel, which continues to operate today.
Despite all obstacles, which included competition and the most recent COVID-19 pandemic, Edward’s Men’s Wear is moving full steam ahead.
“This is something no one knew about,” Hamra said. “It crippled a lot of people, but we’re starting to feel it (business) coming back.”
Edward’s Men’s Wear and The Wooden Nickel are located at 405 SW C Avenue. Store hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more details, visit www. edwardslawton.com or call (580) 353-5800.