By Ann Donnelly
Many entrepreneurs start businesses after years of preparation and dreams of self-employment, but Cheryl Smith had never considered starting her own business. She happily worked for others in hospitality and retail for most of her life.
Still, a series of opportunities presented themselves over a few months in 2021 that led to a new chapter in her life as the owner of Stay in Tux, now located in new space at 2315 Route 9N, Lake George, providing tuxedo, suit, and accessory rentals for weddings, proms, senior balls, and special occasions.
While initially reluctant, she now says, “I feel like I’ve been training for this my whole life.”
Originally from Idaho, Smith moved to Queensbury in 1988 to work as a nanny to two girls. She expected to work for a year and then return to Idaho, but one year turned into four years. As the children started school, Smith went to Adirondack Nautelis gym in her free time. There she met personal trainer Todd Smith and the two were married in 1993.
After leaving the nanny position, Smith worked many years in the office at Adirondack Camping Village and had different part-time retail jobs in the off-season. She decided to take a full-time retail position that offered paid vacation and time to attend her sons’ sporting events.
“I enjoyed working with the people, but the job became draining physically and mentally. I knew I wanted to do something different but didn’t want to go into another ‘whatever’ retail job,” she said. Moreover, once the pandemic hit, giving up a stable job wasn’t wise. In 2021, the Smiths went to Idaho for a wedding. Just two days before, Cheryl was asked to act as the wedding coordinator. “I hadn’t planned a wedding, apart from my own, but I wanted to help my family.”
“When we came back to New York, my husband and I talked about a career in wedding planning for me.” They talked with a friend, Debra Jelley, who worked in the bridal industry.
“I realized that wedding planning wasn’t for me,” said Smith. But Jelley was looking to sell her tuxedo hire business. “At first, I didn’t want anything to do with it, but she felt it would be the right fit.”
In July 2021, Cheryl Smith started her career in the wedding business.
Her retail experience, which included a stint in the menswear department at BonTon, gave her skills she could now use working with her customers. In addition, she had some business experience helping behind the scenes in her husband’s business. The company that supplies the tuxedos has online training videos, and the sales representative has been a big help to Smith.
The most formidable challenge has been getting the word out about the business. Smith’s husband manages her Facebook page and attends wedding shows with her. But she has found that word of mouth is still the best way to get customers.
Another challenge is managing the timing of orders. Smith finds that many men procrastinate until the last minute and can’t get the style they want. She encourages customers to reserve their tuxes as early as possible.
“For weddings, I recommend they make a final decision three to four months before the wedding date.” She finds 6-8 weeks sufficient for proms and other formals. Sometimes the suit only comes in a week before the event, and Smith contacts the customer as soon as it arrives and gets them in right away to have time to address any issues.
Smith said the men often try to please the lady, whether a bride or a prom date.
“I advise them to do what you want to do because you have to wear it. It won’t be as comfortable as the jeans and T-shirt they are used to wearing. Only so much alteration is available for a rented suit. I am very honest, and if people have questions,” she said.
After a short stint on Route 9 in Queensbury and over a year at premises further up the road outside of Lake George, Stay in Tux recently had a ribbon cutting at its new premises on Route 9N, located a half-mile from Northway Exit 21.