'I'm so proud that we could do 100 years': Family-owned N.S. business marks milestone in menswear

In 1924, two brothers from Lebanon arrived in Amherst, N.S., and launched a store selling work wear. A century later, the family business is still going strong.

Mansour’s Menswear is celebrating its 100th anniversary this month. Robert Mansour, who took over the business from his father in the 1990s, remembers running through the store as a child.

“There’s this trifold mirror that’s still here and I get in there and you see many reflections of yourself,” he said.

Robert’s son Mikhial, who is now the president of the company, said he’s proud of the store’s legacy.

“It’s an immigrant success story and it’s a family success story,” he said. “It’s a pretty low chance that a business stays open for 100 years and then it stays in the same family for 100 years.

“I’m so proud that we could do 100 years and I’m really happy to honour…my father, my grandfather, my cousins. It’s important to me to continue it because I just love it so much.”

Mikhial estimates two million people have walked through the store’s doors. The business has held on to its classic style while also adopting social media to engage customers and drive online sales.

“(My father would) be game for it,” Robert said. “He was always kind of a trendsetter himself.”

Mansour’s Menswear will celebrate its anniversary with horse and buggy rides and other events on Sept. 27.

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