His Ready-To-Wear Clothes Changed An Industry; Give Them What They Want: Henry Brooks saw clients had no time for custom clothing, so he offered them convenience.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(BEST OF LEADERS & SUCCESS)

Byline: DOUG TSURUOKA

It was 1818, and trans-Atlantic passenger traffic between New York City and England was starting to boom. What would all the new travelers need?asked New York resident Henry Sands Brooks. The answer: clothes.

Brooks understood that timing and location were crucial when opening a business. So he looked for a good spot that year - not too far from the port of New York - when he opened his first store. His strategy paid off, and passengers soon to embark for England or arriving from there mobbed the store.

Brooks' first customers had new needs. Highly mobile, "They didn't have time for a fitting. They were in port for a short time," said Bruce Weindruch, a history consultant to Brooks Bros.

Hence Brooks' radical idea: His store started selling pre-fitted, or ready-made, clothing.

This made buying linen shirts, waistcoats with gilt buttons, and trousers - stock and trade of a 19th-century clothier - much faster for customers. It was a big switch from the custom-made clothes of the day. Custom clothes required days of waiting as they were cut and sewed from scratch.

Brooks (1772-1833) didn't know it, but he was pioneering modern, off-the-rack clothing sizes. He was too shrewd to break completely with the past, though. He continued to make custom clothing for more finicky patrons, a step that went on adding to his bottom line.