SUSAN GRANT
Staff Writer
M
itch Porvin has
heard his share of
excuses.
"I don't have the time to be
fitted. I'm too tired to go
after work."
For more than 10 years,
Mr. Porvin, 32, has listened
to men complain about the
hassles of renting tuxedos.
Now he wants to eliminate
the complaints with Tux-
edo's To You.
Tuxedo's To You means no
more trips to the nearest
mall to rent a tux. Instead,
Mr. Porvin will come to a
customer's home or office
with a selection of sample
tuxedos from Christian Dior,
After Six and Pierre Cardin.
After the customer makes
his choice and is fitted, Mr.
Porvin will deliver the tuxes
two days before the event,
make any necessary altera-
tions and pick them up when
the event is over.
While he rents tuxedos for
any formal occasion, wed-
ding parties are the bulk of
his small business, Mr. Por-
vin said. He plans to expand
his client list to teens atten-
ding proms and to company
executives who may need a
tux occasionally but have no
time to drive to the store to
rent it.
Created in February, Tux-
edo's To You is an extension
of Moss Brothers, the
uniform and tuxedo rental
business in Belleville he
bought in 1978, Mr. Porvin
said.
While the uniform aspect
of the business was doing
well, he wanted to better
market his tuxedo rentals,
he said. In the tuxedo
business, the only place for
variety is the line of clothes
carried by each store.
That is until Mr. Porvin
created Tuxedo's To You,
thought to be the first tux
delivery service in the
Detroit area.
"It's a way to market the
tuxedo," he said. "It's a
marketing concept in order
to compete and rise above
the competition."
He never prepared a for-
mal marketing survey. But
• after asking customers and
strangers if they would use a
.2
tuxedo
rental delivery ser-
i-
E vice, Mr. Porvin decided to
g go ahead with the idea.
2- "We live in a society where
convenience is important.
2 We don't have time in the
hustle and bustle of the daily
grind to drive to the store
and rent a tux," Mr. Porvin
said. "I'm doing this as a
service because the custom-
er's time is worth something."
He figures the average
person makes three trips to
the store to rent one tuxedo.
First, there's the initial trip
to order and be fitted for the
tux. Then, a few days before
the occasion, the tuxedos
have to be picked up and
finally, be dropped off after
the event. While the same
steps are necessary at Tux-
edo's To You, Mr. Porvin,
not his customers, will do
the running around as he
serves people in Oakland
County, western Wayne
.
ormal Delivery
Mitch Porvin brings tuxedo rentals to you.
a
Mitch Porvin delivers a tux to
one of his clients,
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
69