Perry Lancaster joined Brittons on August 3, 1975. He recently celebrated his 50th anniversary with the store.
Perry Lancaster recently celebrated his 50th anniversary with Brittons.
“It’s been an amazing experience,” Lancaster said. “It’s all about the customer. It’s all about the experience to be at Brittons.”
Lancaster joined Brittons on August 3, 1975 when he was 17 years old. He began at the store’s Dutch Square Mall location as a furnishing salesman. Because of his age, Lancaster wasn’t allowed to show customers clothing garments. He also swept and took out the trash. During that year he realized he wanted to continue to work at Brittons.
Over the past 50 years, Lancaster has seen Brittons go through many changes. The store first opened on Main Street in 1946. When Lancaster was hired, Brittons had three locations and was just about to open a fourth. By the late 1980s and early 1990s, the store almost went out of business. It had to reorganize and only kept two salespeople. Lancaster was one of them.
On May 1, 1996, Brittons moved to its current location on Devine Street.
Lancaster shows a wall hanging which included the bow ties from the 2014 event that landed Brittons in the Guinness Book of World Records.
One aspect of Brittons that has been close to Lancaster’s heart is giving back to the community.
“There are always opportunities to give back to the community,” Lancaster said. “I’ve always said, ‘If you give back to the community, they will come and give back to you.’”
Brittons hosts a fundraiser for teachers at A.C. Moore and Rosewood Elementary Schools. The store matches any customer donations.
On February 9, 2014, Brittons entered the Guinness Book of World Records for its part in breaking a world record with 823 bow ties tied at the Columbia Convention Center. That event raised $25,000 for the Children’s Hospital.
In 2024, Brittons donated $30,000 to the University of South Carolina band for its trip to New York to participate in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
In November 2025, Brittons will be presented with the 2025 Philanthropist of the Year for the Midlands.
Lancaster is especially proud Brittons is stocked with custom-made merchandise. Often he has a personal hand in selecting items. Lancaster attends a a marketing event in Chicago twice a year. While there, he will study hundreds of lines of clothes and decide what he wants to bring back and sell.
Lancaster looks through a line of bow ties from Brackish.
“Not only do you have to be a keen business person, but you also have to be a keen buyer to bring in the merchandise customers want.”
Lancaster makes sure plenty of University of South Carolina Gamecock merchandise is available for customers. He also works with Gamecock personnel. Brittons is the official outfitter for USC football head coach Shane Beamer, and it provides clothing for Todd Ellis, the Gamecock legend and now play-by-play announcer.
He has a hand in adding custom-made touches to regular items. That can include adding garnet or a specific Gamecock logo.
“When a customer comes here, he’s getting something unique he can’t find on the internet or Adam’s Bookstore or the bookstore on campus,” Lancaster said.
The connection with the University of South Carolina goes back to the 1950s when the store’s main focus was USC. The two entities got reintroduced in the 1990s and have remained partners.
While Lancaster has been involved with nearly every aspect of Brittons during his 50 years, his main focus is customer service. He’s had customers come from all over South Carolina as well as the country to shop. Very few things make Lancaster happier than when he can fulfill a customer’s needs.
“It’s all about personal service,” Lancaster said.
He’s dealt with companies from all over the world to bring unique brands to the store. One such company is Dubarry of Ireland, which makes jackets from recycled products.
“You have to get merchandise and stock merchandise they can only get in your store,” Lancaster said. “I don’t need brands you can get everywhere. I only use specialized brands here.”
He’s also brought in local products, including a line from Brackish, a men’s and women’s accessories store located in Charleston. One of the co-founders of Brackish is A.C. Flora graduate Ben Ross. Brittons was the first physical store to stock Brackish. Today, 250 locations carry it.
Another business Lancaster has worked with is R. Hanauer from Fort Mill, which specializes in bow ties among other accessories.
Lancaster has achieved much during his time at Brittons, but he hasn’t done it alone. Stacy Levinson’s parents started Brittons, and she has been working at the store since she was two, singing and dancing for customers. On her 12th birthday, Levinson’s father forgot to give her a present. The next day, he hired Lancaster. It wasn’t until 20 years later she realized that was the best present she ever received.
After returning to Columbia in the late 1980s, she went to work at the Dutch Square location where Lancaster was the manager. Often times the two worked late, and after discussing their desire to eat, they would wind up at the Waffle House. That evolved into grabbing a bite to eat at La Petit Chateau on Devine Street. Then they began to date, and in 1996, they were married.
“I like to say I’m the director and he’s the producer,” Levinson said. “He’s the heart of the store, I’m the checkbook. Everyone who shops here knows about Perry, whether they just came in or they’ve been shopping here for 50 years.”
As Lancaster celebrates his 50th anniversary, he reflects on what has changed, such as marketing for his store, and what hasn’t, like his affinity to write handwritten notes to customers for events like birthdays or the loss of a loved one. There is no such thing as a typical day for Lancaster.
“It’s fabulous challenges every day but amazing events with customers,” Lancaster said. “It’s everything, but that’s part of running a small family owned business.”
Lancaster doesn’t plan to slow down. When asked about his future plans, he simply stated “to continue working.”
“We are the bedrock of Columbia,” Lancaster said. “We have people from all over the country come in here. I’m shipping a sports coat to Dallas, Texas and pants to Washington, D.C. We have customers throughout the country. Our clothes are worn all over the world.”
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