Alan B. Gaylor

Gaylor was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and attended the University of Tulsa on the G.I. Bill, graduating in 1950 with a bachelor's degree in marketing and accounting. After graduation, he took a job with Acme Brick, who relocated him to Topeka, Kansas. At that time, he and his brother-in-law Al Sankary began talking about going into business together.

In 1957, Gaylor and his wife Lillian opened their first Al's Formal Wear Al's Formal Wear tuxedo shop in downtown Houston, Texas. In 1966, after moving the tuxedo store to a larger location nearby, the Gaylors opened their first Bride 'n Formal store in the original Al's space. Bride 'n Formal offered moderately-priced bridal gowns, bridesmaids' dresses, and formal dresses, and the two businesses created a cross-referral synergy.

Gaylor and brother-in-law Al Sankary divided the business in 1978, with Gaylor maintaining ownership of the Al's Formal Wear operations based in Houston, while Sankary owned the operations based in the Dallas area. This division occasionally led to some customer confusion, but persisted until 1999 (see below).

In the late 1980s, Gaylor opened a new upscale bridal boutique, Louise Blum, named for his mother. He also began a new line of Ascot Tuxedos stores to expand into the area served by the Al's of Dallas operation. In the early 1990s, Gaylor opened an upscale men's formal wear shop, A.B. Graham, named for his first grandson. He also expanded his bridal business again with Bridal Warehouse, an off-the-rack bridal gown store designed to serve the price shopper. In 1995, Bridal Warehouse and Bride 'n Formal were merged into BridesMart, offering both special-order and off-the-rack bridal shopping in one location. The synergy between the bridal business and the tuxedo business continued, with BridesMart locations typically located near (or even next to) Al's Formal Wear and Ascot Tuxedos locations.

Al's Formal Wear had always been a family business, and 1999 saw the family come together again as his Al's Formal Wear of Houston bought the Dallas operation from Sankary. At this point, the combined business included approximately 120 Al's Formal Wear, Ascot Tuxedos, and BridesMart locations in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. By 2006, some consolidation and the spinoff of the bridal division has reduced the number of stores to between 90 and 100. After expanding into Arkansas and the purchase of Mr. Neat's Formalwear of Colorado, Al's Formal Wear now encompasses five states with over 100 stores.

After more than 50 years of building a tuxedo empire for his family, Gaylor turned over the presidency to his son Stuart in 2001. Since he took the reins, the company has continued to flourish. Gaylor is currently building more stores in new markets and has plans for many more in the near future.

According to Gaylor, "Our business from day one was built on providing excellent customer service and quality merchandise at affordable prices, and we continue to build our business on this premise today".

Gaylor died on the morning of April 15, 2008. He was survived by four children and 12 grandchildren.

• In 1992, Gaylor was a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.
• In 1995, he was presented with the International Formalwear Association Black Tie Award in recognition of his lifetime contribution to the men's formal wear industry.

Gaylor believes that good will, excellent customer service, and effort are vital to business success. "The guy that gets the farthest in the business world is the guy that works the hardest," he says (Waller, 1999).

Anacker, Dolores (1991), "Head & Shoulders Above the Competition", DBA Magazine, Houston, Texas

Ho, Rodney (2000), "Family Feud in Formal Wear: Two different styles of operation end with one company", Wall Street Journal, New York, New York

• Houston Business Journal, (2000). "Top 50 Family Owned Businesses"

"Black Tie Award Winners". International Formalwear Association. Archived from the original on 2006-09-23. Retrieved 2006-12-08.

Waller, Mary (1999), "All Dressed Up and Somewhere to Go", Dialog, the University of Tulsa Magazine, Tulsa, Oklahoma: University of Tulsa

• Al's Formal Wear web site
• Ascot Formal Wear web site