Angelo DaCunha, owner of Connecticut’s Brookfield Cleaners and Tailors, won best dressed in high school. Seems like winning best dressed played a little bit as to why he’s been in the dry cleaning business since he was 16, and ultimately purchased the dry cleaner business in 1991. DaCunha and Union Savings Bank have been banking and financial partners for over 30 years. DaCunha has grown the business from 1,700 square feet to 5,000 square feet, with services such as dry cleaning, men’s clothing, custom tailoring, gown preservation and tuxedo rental. He continues to achieve his goal of knowing his customers by name, helping them look their best, all while growing his business.
Brookfield Cleaners and Tailors, just one of the 10,000 business banking stories Union Savings Bank helps to tell.
Video Transcript:
I am a true believer that people perceive you based on your appearance. You want to be well dressed, well-groomed so that you can present yourself properly. My name is Angelo DaCunha and I’m the owner of Brookfield Cleaners and Tailors. I came to the United States from Portugal in 1966 and I started working for my neighborhood dry cleaners when I was 16 years old. In 1991 I had the opportunity to purchase my own business and I did so and I think it was the best thing that I did. I’ve grown the business from a 1700 square foot operation to 5000 square feet which is what I occupy right now. Union Savings Bank I’ve been I’ve been involved with for a little over 30 years. They helped me lay out a plan of where I thought I would be in say two years, four years, six years down the road and how I would grow my business. Those have been my goals and I think I have achieved them. We are now with 13 employees, we do our own shirts, we do our own tailoring where we didn’t in the past. And the biggest thing was the retail aspect, selling suits, ah renting tuxedos, and that has helped me to grow my business tremendously. I won best dressed in high school and my son won best dressed in high school as well. I guess that plays a little bit as to why I’m in this business. It’s nice to have that relationship with a customer that you’re on a first name basis with, when you know them. If I had to do it all over again I wouldn’t even hesitate a minute.