When Mitch Fink began considering opening a menswear shop, he was told Arizona’s hot climate had all but eliminated suits from the workplace.

Fink had another market in mind: Those who need suits for special occasions. He founded Nick’s Menswear. 

“We’re going for the customer who doesn’t wear suits,” Fink said.

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“We’re going for the guy who’s waking up today and saying, ‘Oh crap. My niece’s wedding is in two weeks, and I don’t have a suit.’ We opened with this mindset: If we have a great product at a great price with the best customer service that anybody has ever had. Then the customer will become a referral source and tell our story. We grow organically through referrals.”

Now selling sportswear, too, Nick’s Menswear will open Thursday, March 26, at SanTan Village. The Gilbert store — by Dillard’s and next to Build-A-Bear Workshop — joins those at Arrowhead Towne Center, Chandler Fashion Center, Scottsdale Fashion Square, Arizona Mills and Park Place Mall in Tucson.

“It takes us 10 to 15 minutes to get you in and out of our store,” Fink said. “Our job is to make it as seamless as possible. For example, a young man came in with his daughter, who was sleeping in a stroller.

“I told him what he needed for a suit. He said I lied. It only took 13 minutes to get out. How many guys want to be there? They don’t want to wear suits. Very few guys love wearing suits. With this more tailored look, no one has seen this gentleman look like that — his wife, kids and grandkids. We him men look unbelievable.” 

Fink was born into the clothing industry in North Dakota. His father, Stan, founded Young America, which had 15 stores in his home state, South Dakota, Iowa and Montana. He owned it from 1962 to 2001.

“I fell in love with it from a young age,” he said. “I took over his company in the 1980s. We closed them all in 2001. I did other things. In 2009, I decided to move from North Dakota to Arizona.”

Soon, he was pulled back into the menswear industry. 

“This friend of mine was telling me over and over again that nobody in the industry is better than me,” Fink recalled. 

He borrowed $10,000 from his father-in-law and opened his first Nick’s Menswear in Arrowhead Towne Center. 

“I sat in every mall in town and figured out what I felt was the best fit for our first store. Arrowhead Towne Center was it,” Fink said.

“My wife and I built the store ourselves. We painted the store ourselves. I couldn’t do the carpeting myself. But we hung all the fixtures. We opened Sept. 9, 2009.”

The couple was the only employees for the first six months, until “the company took off.” The Scottsdale Fashion Square store is Nick’s Menswear’s first luxury location, introducing a full menswear experience with elevated offerings — jeans, chinos, sport coats, sport shirts, high-end wool suits, and a state-of-the-art custom room featuring hundreds of fabric swatches. 

“Not only do we have a $260 suit, but we can make a custom suit for $3,000 to $5,000. We decided you can own it, and it’s about the same cost. It might be $20 to $50, or $70, more, depending on the package you get from us. 

“A high schooler came to Nick’s as a junior and bought a black suit. He wore a black suit again as a senior and bought a tie in a different color to match his girlfriend’s dress. He came back when he got a job, and then, at 27, when he got married.”

Fink understands that Nick’s Menswear must make money from each transaction, but “we’re more concerned about the value of your friends and the value of the people who are going to your wedding.” 

“That tells the story of how family-oriented we are, and how well our team is trained to take care of the customer,” he explained. 

The team includes Fink’s daughter, Michelle, who runs social media; nephew, Josh, who owns 30% of the company, and his son, Nick, the company’s namesake. He handles the custom business.

“They don’t understand customer service anymore,” he said. “Our job is to identify what you need so we can get you in and out of our store as quickly as possible.” 

His whole team is focused. “My goal is to find out who you are during my conversations — who you are, where you’re from and what you’ve done — so we can create common ground.