Financial
New menswear shop now ashore in Rehoboth Beach
Youthful new retail entrepreneur helms his lifelong destiny M.G.T. & Co.
Michael Gabriel Thanner and Gracie inside the newly opened M.G.T. & Co. Mens Toggery Shop in Rehoboth Beach. (Photo courtesy Thanner)
Two summers ago, following a July 4th celebratory evening out at various Rehoboth Beach, Del., eateries and drinkeries, gay entrepreneur Michael Gabriel Thanner found himself a bit sozzled and languishing late-night with a long-time female friend on the stoop in front of 39 Baltimore Avenue, a block from the residential town and resort destination boardwalk.
“I’m going to have this store some day,” the visiting Maryland native declared. The casual comment was emblematic of Thanner’s easygoing manner and light-hearted, engaging disposition, as energetically adventurous as it is engagingly confident.
(Photo courtesy of Thanner)
Early in October, Thanner’s ambitious assertion became an abstemious reality with the opening of M.G.T. & Co. Mens Toggery Shop on the high-profile street.
The prominent commercial spot is anchored by surrounding and nearby retail businesses and restaurant venues. The former residential home and prior commercial storefront is adjacent to local landmarks the Blue Moon restaurant-bar and the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center.
This fall, alongside his one-year-old golden retriever and in-store companion Gracie, Thanner launched his men’s specialty clothing shop on his 27th birthday. The Oct. 10 birthday commencement of the retail enterprise is also symbolized in the easy-to-remember mnemonic time he opens the door each day, at 10:10 a.m. “It also ensures that I’m never late,” Thanner jokes.
(Photo courtesy of Thanner)
The shop is currently open seven days a week until 7 p.m., to both acquaint local residents and off-season visitors with Rehoboth’s newest addition to community enterprise and accommodate holiday shopping.
The free-spirited nature of new-proprietor Thanner is captured in the use of the informal, humorous, and British term “toggery” in the shop’s branding. A more casual expression for “haberdashery,” this off-kilter marquee nomenclature is a fitting reflection of the owner’s personality.
(Photo courtesy of Thanner)
The tagline additionally serves to convey the “British-inspired flavor of the shop’s offerings,” explains Thannery, noting that European labels from France, Germany, the Netherlands, and other international locales are also featured alongside American brands. “I carry lines with which people may not be familiar,” he says, “but I strive to always value quality over quantity” in curating the selection of items that will seasonally evolve.
“I specialize in providing an ‘old school’ foundation with a modern and youthful perspective,” says Thanner, “in a range of sizing and with something for everyone. The shop has a casual and personable environment,” he notes, describing the warm interior and attractive displays featuring a full range of merchandise, including everything from resort wear to blazers, scarves, boots, plush cashmere and more.
“I’m selling a lifestyle, not just an item or two,” asserts Thanner, “quality personal items are the foundation of a gentleman.”
Unique and distinctive labels include American purveyors Mizzen+Main dress shirts, Strong Boalt, Castaway, needlepoint belts and wallets from Smather and Branson, F.H. Wadsworth belts, handmade leather loafers by Jay Butler, Southern Proper, as well as Barbour from the United Kingdom, Hommard cashmere from the Netherlands, Armor Lux of France, Seaward and Stearn ties from the U.K., and New Zealand’s Rodd & Gunn.
Frequent solo travels when young and studying at Aix-en-Provence in the south of France influenced Thanner’s appreciation for European style and “knowing how to dress” as a practical part of one’s life. “You never know whom you’re going to run into, or where you’ll end up,” explains Thanner.
“If you look good, you feel good, and can have either $2 or $2 million in your pocket, no one would ever know.” Thanner credits his supportive parents, who encouraged their only child to travel and explore different cultures, for such insights. Growing up around his mother’s multiple retail shops specializing in gifts, accessories and home furnishings, also served as inspiration.
(Photo courtesy of Thanner)
Whether domestic or international, the shop’s clothing is “not tailored,” notes Thanner, “it’s more traditional but with a twist.” While representing the higher-end of the marketplace, pricing is consumer accessible with a range of price points. Thanner characterizes the shop’s focus as “America’s Ralph Lauren meets London’s Savile Row.”
(Photo courtesy of Thanner)
Hand-produced and bench-made products dominate, the result of a distinctly personal process of acquisition. “I was always well-dressed as a kid, originating with my own inspiration,” explains Thanner. Noted for his distinctive sense of style and attention to detail from a young age “led to requests to assist others with their personal shopping,” he recalls.
It was personal familiarity with noteworthy attire that forged the path for stocking his store. “I simply opened my own closet,” Thanner says, “and began cold-calling companies among the labels in my collection, asking to speak with a wholesale representative.”
“I knew early on that I could never have a standard 9-to-5 job,” Thanner admits, “I simply don’t have the attention span for it. Working for myself has always been in my blood, and I always knew I would have a shop of my own.”
“None of my friends were surprised at all,” says Thanner of his decision to open the shop. “I told several people over dinner one night, and signed a lease two days later. Of course, they think I’m ‘nuts’ for entering storefront retail, but you have to be willing to take risks to achieve success.”
“Opening in retail today is a risk,” acknowledges Thanner, “but you can’t focus on that. You have to jump right in and give it all you’ve got. The market is still there, especially in destination locations like Rehoboth where there is opportunity for specialty commerce.” He credits Murray Archibald, Steve Elkins, and everyone at CAMP Rehoboth for being supportive, and the welcoming attitude from other business owners and local residents.
(Photo courtesy of Thanner)
“I love Rehoboth, the sense of community, the energy, the vibe,” says Thanner, “and the small town charm and progressive environment. It’s a place entering a new era of enterprise, with an influx of new businesses and innovative approaches complementing an existing strong mix of retail.”
Thanner is inviting patrons and the public to an in-store holiday party on Dec. 9 to celebrate the shop’s opening and to “thank the community for their encouragement during the best time of the year to bring people together.”
M.G.T. & Co. Mens Toggery Shop is located in Rehoboth Beach, Del., at 39 Baltimore Ave. The shop is currently open each day of the week from 10:10 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more info, visit M.G.T. & Co. on Facebook and Instagram (the shop’s website is in development).
Mark Lee is a long-time entrepreneur and community business advocate. Follow on Twitter: @MarkLeeDC. Reach him at [email protected].
One of the biggest headaches of the new home process is the actual moving part. By the time someone is buying a home, most people are beyond the “I just need a pickup truck, a pizza and a case of beer for my friends.”
If that is still someone’s preferred way to move, that’s great. However, many people find they need a much more robust plan. It can also trigger a lot of feelings about items one owns, what to do with them, do they have too much, should I keep this memento that I never use? Etc.
Moving is a chance for a person to “clean house” literally, figuratively, spiritually and energetically. A person can figure out which items they want to keep, and which need to go. As someone who recently moved across the country, I can speak to this experience. It’s also time for what people call “the fresh start effect.” This phenomenon, according to psychologists, can happen in little moments (like the start of a new work week) and bigger moments (such as moving from one home to the next).
The fresh start effect offers these benefits often mentioned by psychologists:
- Mental Accounting: Dates act as chapter breaks, letting you put past failures into a previous period.
- Psychological Distance: You separate your flawed past self from your aspirational future self (“That was the old me”).
- Optimism Boost: New beginnings clear mental clutter and increase your sense of agency and control
Does this mean that “the new you” will be the perfect version you envisioned? Probably not. We are humans. But it might mean you get a chance to “leave some of the old you behind” within the walls you used to live in, and now have a chance to have a new layout, a new décor, a new color pattern, new wallpaper, donate old furniture and books or magazines, throw out clothes you no longer use or fit in, and enjoy the opportunity to literally use the, “Does this spark joy?” method that was made so popular by Marie Kondo in her Netflix series.
So, for all its hassle and headache, moving is a chance to shake off the “old you” and try on the new you, to incorporate the items you would like to keep and use more of, and shed the items, habits, and ways of thinking that you feel no longer serve you.
I can speak to the experiences that several of my clients had when they moved from a previous residence to a newer one. It usually coincided with a change in relationship status, a change in employment, a change in family size, but sometimes it just seemed to correlate to a new attitude and perspective that the client was really hoping for.
I have literally had clients come to me after the fact, in tears, that they were so happy they made the decision to move out of a situation that no longer served them, and move into one that felt like a much better fit.
Change can be annoying and overwhelming at times, but usually most people come out the other side, not wanting to return to the way they were before.
Joseph Hudson is a referral agent with RLAH. Reach him at 703-587-0597 or [email protected].
Real Estate
With gas prices soaring again, a staycation is a good plan
Home can be your personal retreat and your own private resort
When airfare costs more than your monthly utility bill and a weekend road trip requires a second mortgage just to fill the gas tank, many homeowners are discovering an unexpected luxury: the staycation.
A staycation isn’t settling for less—it’s reaping the benefits of one of the biggest investments you can make: your home. Much more than a place to sleep, it’s your personal retreat, your gathering place and, with a little preparation, your very own private resort.
Whether you own a single-family home, a townhouse, or a condo, creating a memorable staycation starts with appreciating what made you fall in love with your property in the first place.
Start with a home refresh. Think about checking into a beautiful vacation rental. It’s spotless, organized, and inviting. You can recreate that same feeling by spending a day preparing your home before your staycation officially begins.
Clear away clutter, deep clean the bathrooms and kitchen, wash the windows, and put fresh linens on every bed – even if you’re not expecting guests. Fluff the pillows, light a favorite candle, and place fresh flowers on the table. These small touches instantly make your home feel more luxurious.
If your budget allows, hiring a professional cleaning service can be one of the best staycation perquisites you make. After all, vacation should begin the moment you wake up and not after you’ve spent the day scrubbing floors.
Treat your staycation like a real trip. Set away messages on your phone and out of office notices on your email. Skip unnecessary chores for a few days. Giving yourself permission to relax may be the most valuable part of the entire experience.
One of the greatest advantages homeowners have over travelers is private outdoor living space. Whether it’s a spacious backyard, a screened porch, a rooftop terrace, or a cozy condo balcony, these areas can become the centerpiece of your staycation.
Stringing lights and adding comfortable seating, colorful planters, and outdoor rugs can completely transform the atmosphere without spending thousands of dollars. Add a portable fire pit, a tabletop fountain, or a hammock, and suddenly your backyard starts competing with many resorts.
Host an evening cookout, organize a game night, invite neighbors over for dessert, or gather around the fire pit for conversation after sunset. These simple moments often become the memories we treasure most.
Inside, transform your family room into a home theater complete with popcorn and comfortable blankets. Turn your breakfast room into a morning coffee café. Designate a quiet reading corner where phones are prohibited. Create a spa-like bathroom with plush towels, candles, bath salts, and relaxing music.
One of the highlights of traveling is experiencing new food. Instead of dining out every night, create themed dinners inspired by your favorite destinations. Prepare homemade Italian pasta one evening, Caribbean grilled seafood another, or a backyard Texas barbecue over the weekend. For a touch of whimsy, dress the part.
Pair each meal with music and libations from the region and enjoy dinner outdoors whenever possible. Suddenly, your dining room becomes part of the vacation experience instead of just another place to eat.
Families with children can turn a staycation into an adventure by seeing their home through a child’s eyes. Set up a backyard camping experience with a tent, flashlights, and s’mores around the fire pit. Transform the living room into an indoor campground complete with sleeping bags and a movie under a blanket “fort.” Organize a backyard Olympics with relay races, water balloon tosses, scavenger hunts, or miniature golf using household items.
Encourage children to plan a family picnic in the backyard or on the patio, choose a theme for a movie marathon, or help prepare meals inspired by countries they’d like to visit someday. The goal is to create experiences your children will remember long after summer is over.
Enjoy the amenities you already pay for. Condominium communities and many planned neighborhoods offer amenities that residents often overlook.
Swimming pools, fitness centers, tennis and pickleball courts, walking trails, clubhouses, grilling stations, and community gardens are designed to enhance your lifestyle. During your staycation, make a point of exploring everything your community offers. You may discover you’ve been living beside your own private resort all along.
Real estate professionals often talk about resale value, appreciation, and return on investment. While those things certainly matter, there’s another return that’s harder to measure: the enjoyment you get from living in your home every day.
You don’t need a boarding pass to recharge. You don’t need a hotel reservation to make memories. Sometimes the perfect getaway is the one you already own.
Valerie M. Blake is a licensed Associate Broker in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia with RLAH @properties. Call or text her at 202-246-8602, email her at [email protected] or follow her on Facebook at TheRealst8ofAffairs.
Real Estate
When buying a home, it’s decisions, decisions, decisions
Keeping notes on the process makes for an informed purchase
When looking to buy a home, there are lots of details to consider. Many of my clients would come to me and say, “Joe I want to buy a place, but I haven’t decided which neighborhood to buy in.” And the struggle was real. A few clients had everything decided from the color of the hallway walls to the cabinet handles and sometimes which three square blocks they wanted to look at.
But other clients were occasionally looking at properties in areas as distinct as Union Market/NOMA, Brookland, Logan Circle, and then we would even go across the river to look at a property in Shirlington or the Van Dorn areas of Virginia, which all have their own unique flavor and characteristics.
Sometimes clients would tell me, “I only want to look in Mount Pleasant or Adams Morgan.” Or, “don’t even show me any properties west of this street or south of that street.” My job wasn’t to convince people where to live. It was to just take the parameters they set for me and find as good of a property in that zone as I could, coordinate the showings and, if necessary, offer the strategy.
One can see that buyers often had more decisions to make than a seller. From a seller’s perspective, the house was where it was, and we just had to make the best of it. But working with a buyer could mean looking at five different neighborhoods, and then being a “thought partner” to help them figure out which were the top two or three areas they had seen, and then further distilling those down into what was available and weighing those options against each other.
One house could have the dream bathroom but also be located six blocks further from a Metro stop, walkable shopping and dining, and “just too far away from my friends.” Another house could have all the neighborhood options a client was looking for, but was just not in turnkey condition, and would require an additional $30,000 of upgrades once purchased to make it into the dream home they envisioned.
One activity I often asked buyers to do was to keep an active list in their heads of the properties they liked, and to keep a running rank of the top three. I often encouraged them to bring a notebook along on the journey where they could take notes and write down questions they thought of as they looked. It was an important decision, and sometimes the largest purchase of their lives. Why not take it a little seriously, and take notes? This could often help the buyer later when they felt it was time to decide.
The point here is, keeping a notebook handy can sometimes help a person with what feels like an overwhelming process. It provides a space to explore how one feels, jot down important details to remember, and then use that to make an informed decision.
Joseph Hudson is a referral agent with RLAH. Reach him at 703-587-0597 or [email protected].
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