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Random people, random topics, talking on random sidewalks in the City of Saginaw, Michigan.
SWT_Sal_video_v2
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Phil: [00:00:00] Sal Bibbins, Sidewalk Talks
Sal: What's up, David? Hey, good morning. I can't even wait to come here today. I wake up, I was coming with my pajama. My wife, "Where are you going?" I said, "Phil coming to my place." Baby, I had to be there right now.
Phil: Uh, well, you're excited. I'm also excited. I, I was thinking about, like, who do I have to have on the podcast this season?
Phil: And s- you were at the top.
Sal: Oh, thank you, Phil, very much. I appreciate you very much, really. It was very nice.
Phil: Um, I also have a vested interest 'cause you did my suits for my wedding. Yes. So I, I gotta pay you back.
Sal: Uh, I think, uh, you already pay me long time ago with generosity, and your good luck, and your friendship.
Sal: That's what I take from you only.
Phil: Well, th- I, I appreciate that. Well, you, you saved the day. I don't wanna say you saved my wedding, but you saved my part of the wedding 'cause to my shame, I went to one of the, the big box places. Yeah. One of [00:01:00] the big chains. Yeah. And got into a really, a terrible situation, and I was like, "S- somebody...
Phil: There's gotta be another place for suits." And to a person, they were like, "You gotta go to Sal." Oh, my God. "You gotta go to Sal. You gotta go to Sal." And I didn't know you at that time, and I drove around this block, and I was like, "I don't know." And I walked in the door, and you are the guy I tell everybody to go to for suits.
Sal: Oh, thank you so much. Well, it's very nice of you. You know, be honest with you, that store is small, but friendship, when you come in, you became like family- Yeah ... not customers.
Phil: 100%.
Sal: I don't think it's a customer coming. I have all people coming here, they say like, "This is beautiful. We like to be like a family."
Sal: And that's exactly what I working on my life. I, uh, my customer had to be the best, treated the best. When they walk into the store, look like they walk into their own store.
Phil: Mm-hmm.
Sal: And, uh, one thing about it so good is you find whatever they want. I mean, what- if, if anything you had to wear, I'll find it for you.
Sal: Whatever the thing. I don't go to New York, I don't, but I have a connection. I can [00:02:00] get
Phil: it. Th- th- that i- that is true. Have you ever been on a podcast before?
Sal: No.
Phil: This is your very first podcast?
Sal: Yeah. Yeah.
Phil: Awesome. I... When, when you said, um, like, "You'll get it," that's exactly what you told me. Like, I walked in and y- you were like, "Here, here, here's everything, but if you want something, I will get it.
Phil: I will find it for you."
Sal: Yes, yes, yes. Yeah. You know, uh, when I go to the show, first I ask people, I ask the vendors exactly, "Can you... If I order something, one item, can you send it to me?" He said, "Okay." I'd get their catalog right away. And I, I have a lot of catalog coming. We go to Vegas show, we go to Detroit w- show.
Sal: Mm-hmm. And, uh, the people work with us so good, and the customer come in, in here. Sometime people want something is, you can't find it anywhere.
Phil: Yeah.
Sal: And I'll get it for them. Whatever they need, I get it for them because not the money. Money is there, gonna be anyway, but the service is more important.
Phil: Yes.
Sal: I make the customer like exactly part of my life, my, uh, my family.
Phil: And when you say that, you mean [00:03:00] it. I do. And it, and it is real. I'm gonna g- I'm gonna tell this story. I don't know if you remember this, but, uh, I walk into your shop, introduce myself. You talk to me a little bit, and you... We're, we're standing at the counter, and I believe we were looking at a catalog or something- Yeah
Phil: or ties or something. And you asked me about my wife. And, um, I said... You were like, "What, what's her name?" And I said, "Well, Steph Hayati." Yeah. And you're like H- Hayati? And, and you, you... What, what does Hayati mean?
Sal: My life.
Phil: Yes. And you go into this, this story about the meaning of my wife's last name, and then on your phone you pull up a video of you singing in Arabic.
Sal: Yeah.
Phil: And it was just like, I will never forget it. Oh. Like, I don't even remember what my suits look like. But I will never forget that part of our experience. That is
Sal: so beautiful. Yeah, I tell you, it's really nice to be remembered, you know? I think when you do something good, you remember it and people talk about it, and that's exactly what I really...
Sal: And I was so happy to meet you. I think it's not the business, but you are a great guy. You are well-known in [00:04:00] town, respected, know what's happening. You get the medicine for everything in Saginaw. You get problem, you get medicine for it. You take care of it. That's very good.
Phil: Yeah. Well, you, well, you are medicine for my soul right now.
Phil: Like, you're, you're just one of the absolute best people. Uh, how long has this, it, store been, been open? 35 years?
Sal: Uh, yeah, about 37, 38 years. 30...
Phil: Okay,
Sal: 37. You know, I was, I was, uh, with my family and a partner, they have a sidewalk sale. And then I have a gentleman, uh, Dr. Pike. I don't know if you remember him.
Phil: Uh-uh.
Sal: Dr. Pike, yeah. He says, "Sal, you should find a place. Y- you, wife, she, she do alteration at your home." I said, "Where?" He said, "I have a room right here for you. Let me bring you down." And he bring me down here empty. I ask him, "Can I rent it out?" He said, "Yes, you can." I rent it from the guy. I give him 150 bucks a month.
Sal: And they have a cleaner in the back room.
Phil: Yeah.
Sal: So the people come and bring me the alteration myself. They think I'm part of the cleaner. And the business booming this, since that time, you know what I mean? We have a lot of- That's a good
Phil: business move.
Sal: A very, very [00:05:00] good business, yeah. And we start getting some suit.
Sal: Now we became very professional. Uh, we have... To be honest with you, I show you inside, I have about 20 wedding this year.
Phil: Really?
Sal: I mean, 10, 15 people, they coming from everywhere. They go to Google and find out the reputation is absolutely 100% good. Yeah. That's exactly what they're looking for.
Phil: Mm-hmm.
Sal: Now, nobody can buy anything from anywhere without Google it first.
Phil: It's true.
Sal: I mean, the AI, anything like that, uh, you look- They
Phil: look for the stars,
Sal: right? Yeah, they look for the stars. Yeah. And then I work for five, and I get it.
Phil: How many, how many men since you've opened do you think you have clothed in Saginaw? My God.
Sal: Well, uh- Let's say about, at least about thousand a mo- a year
Phil: A thousand a year?
Phil: That's incredible.
Sal: Yeah, it is. Uh, we, we have... I mean, I- last Saturday, I open up, three people, they came in, each one, 10 piece of a wedding. They've never been here before, and I am by [00:06:00] myself. I have to take care of it myself. I was so happy. Yes. They, they wait. People wait. If they want something good, they wait.
Sal: Yeah. They don't care. Yeah. They don't rush.
Phil: Especially when it comes to suits.
Sal: Yeah. The suit is a very, very important to be looking good. You know what I mean? Mm-hmm. Hey, we are a human being. You are, you're looking nice yourself. When you put some nice suit on and everything match perfectly, fit you really good, you feel good, and then we need that feeling.
Phil: Yeah.
Sal: That feeling it get you a good feel, it get you, uh, involved and get something really good with your life, and you think getting better every day with you.
Phil: Yeah.
Sal: Yeah.
Phil: I think, I think in our first interview, which I look back, it was, I think, in 2022 or 2023-
Sal: Yeah, a long time ago. Yeah ...
Phil: and, um, you, you described a suit as, as almost an investment.
Phil: Yeah. Like, you, you wear it to a job interview, you wear it to a meeting, you wear it to a date, and you're investing in your future with how you look.
Sal: Well, investing in yourself all the time. Everybody have to invest a suit, at least about two, three suit. Because, [00:07:00] you know, when you go some place, your wife said, "We have something to go place," you don't have any, you buy something.
Sal: You, uh, fast, it doesn't look good on you. Take your time. You have at least three, four suit, nice, four shoes. You take care of them, make sure all the shirt and tie to match. When you wanna go up someplace, you are ready.
Speaker 3: Uh-huh.
Sal: And being... I mean, especially interviewing for a job. I had a gentleman came in about four years ago.
Sal: Never forget that, a big guy. He says, "I need a suit." I said, "For what?" He said, "I have interview at the hospital downtown, St. Mary," whatever it is. I said... He buying a shirt. I said, "No, no, no, no. You wanna get the job? Let me hook you up." I find him nice suit, shirt, tie match, everything. He don't mind. He pay. I said, "When you, if, when you get the interview, call me."
Sal: He get the interview. When he walk in, he is the first one to get hired.
Phil: And
Sal: this guy, he's coming to my place all the time here.
Phil: Yeah. I'm never going anywhere else after that.
Sal: You know, I mean, look at that. And now you put ad in the paper, you never sell, but we coming in. Sometime, [00:08:00] sometime you don't have, uh, money, money, people to buy thing, but at least you have something really reasonable.
Sal: I have a price for everybody.
Phil: Yeah.
Sal: I mean, I have a price for, uh, s- people don't have money. I, uh, some people, I don't know. I tell them to come back and pay me later if they can.
Phil: Mm-hmm.
Sal: Investing with the people is so important. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And I love that. Saginaw is number one for me. Mm-hmm. I love this town.
Sal: I love every place of it. The guy said, "Well, I'm here in Sandy Beach in Florida, sit down, relax." I told him, "I'm here in, uh, Michigan Avenue sitting down, have a cup of coffee, and it's a beautiful thing." Saginaw, Michigan.
Phil: I love it. Yeah, Saginaw to the world. Yeah. I mean, you're, like, in California, like, "I'm from Saginaw," and people are like, "Oh, I, I'm from there."
Phil: I was walking to- Yeah ... a, an airport, Charlotte, North Carolina, and I had my- 989 sweatshirt on, and the TSA agent looks at me, she goes, "Saginaw?" And I said, "Yes, ma'am." Oh,
Sal: I love it. Yeah. I love it. That's beautiful.
Phil: Saginaw to the world. Um, you were [00:09:00] born in Lebanon.
Sal: Yeah, I born 1944.
Phil: Yeah.
Sal: So people know what my age right now.
Phil: 83?
Sal: I born 1944- Yeah ... in Lebanon, and I came here to this country in 1971. My father-in-law, which is everybody... I, I, I have his reputation in town here. I have to mention him. He deserve mentioning. Way downtown Saginaw. Everybody, 50 years old and up, they know him.
Phil: Yeah.
Sal: My father-in-law was the best businessman.
Sal: He teach me a lot of nice thing. He brought me here, and I end up getting marry his daughter.
Phil: Mm-hmm.
Sal: And that was the best thing ever anyway for me. I, I- She's a great seamstress. Oh, she's the best. Not only seamstress. She is good in everything. Yeah. Okay. And, uh, and I work for him for about two years. And I said, "You know what?
Sal: I think you're not paying me too much money. Uh, let me find different thing." He said, "Go ahead." So I was living over Clark Hardware, you know, in the mid- Uh-huh ... I live in an, an apartment upstairs. I sh- I bought the paper. I find salesman for furniture. [00:10:00] Where is that? So I call him up. I say, "Where are you located?"
Sal: He said, "Uh, Pure Market Shopping Center." I said, "Where do you live?" I said, "In Michigan." He said, "The, do... Walk down here. Why don't we come in? Why don't you come in tomorrow?" I went to the bank, I draw my money. I have $500, put it in my pocket. I went there. He, uh, different... Don and Ron, poor guy, they both dying. He said, uh, "We're looking for salesman for furniture."
Sal: I said, "I tell you what. I work for you for nothing for one week. If you like me, you hire me. If you don't, I leave. Don't ever yell at me in front of people." And I took the money, I put it on the table. I said, "I have money. I need some good company take care of me."
Phil: Mm.
Sal: He said, "You crazy. Come and start tomorrow."
Sal: I says, "Okay, I'll come tomorrow." I came next day. I said, "Wait a minute. I think in your place they have to be clean. Give me a vacuum cleaner." I started vacuum the whole floor, store. Mm. I dust the table. I dust the lamp, everything, make sure. He said, "This guy, where did he come from?" And I tell you the best thing ever hap- happened to me.
Sal: I became making, like, from $8,000 a year to $30,000, $40,000 a [00:11:00] year. And, uh, think, uh, you know, you have to work hard, you have to be honest with people. I mean, that's... Life is beautiful if you know how to work with it.
Phil: Yeah.
Sal: Life i- everybody have a problem in this world. But you know what? If you do something about it, you don't have any problem.
Sal: If you do something about it, that's it.
Phil: Mm. You mentioned that, that everything that you learned about business, you learned from your father-in-law.
Sal: Yeah.
Phil: What, what specifically did you learn about business from
Sal: him? Uh, actually, I, I came here, I don't know. I never been in business before. So actually, I start working for them.
Sal: I watching them. I watch what they do. Customer come in, he have the best reputation in town. Way he take care of the people. If they don't have money, sometime he give himself away.
Phil: Yeah.
Sal: I work with him two, three years. He teach me how you, how you talk to people, how the customer, customer service is. And I tell you one thing is he, he knew everybody by name, and that a good, good things.
Sal: One day he bought a cashmere coat- [00:12:00] And it was wintertime, so he was leaving, closed the store, and the homeless, homeless sitting down on the door. He said, "What you got, Mr. Wade?" "I don't have nothing." "Well, you cold." So he took his cashmere coat, give it to him.
Phil: Mm.
Sal: When he got, got home, my, his wife said, "Wade, where is your coat?"
Sal: He said, "I, I left it at the store." He don't say nothing to nobody. He gave him the c- coat, just have it one day he wear it.
Phil: Yes.
Sal: And that's how good he was.
Phil: Mm.
Sal: And thank God I was working with him, helping me out, and, uh, make me a person know honestly about everything. That's one beautiful things, you know?
Phil: Mm-hmm. I think, I think that's a testament to him as well as you that, that you've really taken that value of reputation and care, and it just permeates in everything that you do about your business. Like, it's very apparent that- Yeah ... that's something that you feel is important.
Sal: Yeah, and I tell you one thing is when I, uh, when I started working for a furniture store, I used to go...
Sal: You know, I go to [00:13:00] his house every day, and he was so happy I was doing good. He was... So I said, "That's what I really wanted to be." And that things is really make you feel good when you have somebody pat you on the back and raise you up and make you feel you are good. And we are all needed. When somebody look at you said, "You look good, Phil.
Sal: Beautiful."
Phil: Mm-hmm.
Sal: That is give you another attitude to be better.
Phil: Mm-hmm.
Sal: Huh? Mm-hmm. I am good. You see, people notice that, and, I mean, that's what life all about. Yeah.
Phil: Yeah. You're, you're absolutely right 'cause we pulled up in the truck, and we're getting all our stuff out, and you come out of the s- the, the store, and it's been a little bit since I've seen you.
Phil: Yeah. And you came walking up, and you're looking so good, and like, you're so stylish and fash- always, like always you're looking good. And, and as soon as you see me you're like, "Hey, baby, you're looking good," you're like, "You're so handsome." And I'm like wearing dirty sneakers and this T-shirt that I wear every
Sal: day.
Sal: The clothes is, doesn't make the man.
Phil: Yeah.
Sal: You know? Man make the clothes. Yeah, really.
Phil: See? You just... I just f- I feel like [00:14:00] I could just run a marathon right now. You just make me feel so good.
Sal: Oh, my God.
Phil: Um, along with... I, I wanna bring this up 'cause it's something that we haven't talked about. We've talked a lot about business in our past conversations, but when I talk to your kids about you, they are absolutely in love with you as a father.
Sal: Yeah.
Phil: I'm thinking about, like, Noelle, um, like when I was at, uh, do- doing some work at SVRC and saw her at Falafel Hut. I bring, I bring you up and she's like, "Oh, Sal," like, "Oh," this guy. The... And they're just, like, head over heels in love with you as a father. W- we've talked about what, what it, what makes a good businessman.
Phil: In your experience, what, what makes a good father a good father?
Sal: You know, uh, this is number one in life. When you get married, you make commitment to have a good family, respect... Everybody want their kids to be the best of the best. [00:15:00] Nobody want their kids not doing good, you know? And what you do is, what you work with them when they come into the house inside from the school, y- you take them to school, you buy them some nice clothes, you give them b- b- talk, pep talk every day.
Sal: "Don't even do this. Don't do this. Do this. Don't do..." And then when they're kid, they say, and if you teach your kids small, it l- it, it stay with them till they grow up all the way.
Phil: Mm-hmm.
Sal: That, that very important. And, uh, and Nawal and Omaya, Janan, and Rana-
Phil: Mm-hmm ...
Sal: and the five , uh, Makram. Makram, he's a... Macky's, he have a store in Detroit now.
Sal: He have a-
Phil: Yeah, that's right ...
Sal: two cleaner and one custom-made suit.
Phil: Oh, really?
Sal: Yeah, he's doing real good.
Phil: Taking after dad.
Sal: Yeah, he doing better than me, baby.
Phil: Does he help you here too?
Sal: No.
Phil: No?
Sal: No.
Phil: He's f- like, full-time down
Sal: there? He's full-time down there, yeah.
Phil: Cool. He
Sal: can make-
Phil: Birmingham, isn't it?
Sal: Birmingham.
Phil: Yeah.
Sal: Yeah, called Suit Bar.
Phil: Yeah, that's right. S- Suit Bar. The Suit Bar. Like, you walk in and you get the, like, champagne or something. Oh,
Sal: my God.
Phil: Like, just get a drink or
Sal: something. They have a [00:16:00] Tallulah restaurant in the, uh, bottom... Upstairs, he have a place. He fix it to the T. He want everything perfectly good.
Phil: Yeah.
Sal: Customer come in and they have appointments, some doctor, lawyer, uh, people in Detroit. Uh, they g- he give them the best, uh... I mean, the best, best treatment ever.
Phil: Yeah.
Sal: And that's exactly what it is, you know what I mean? There have to be customer service, and he do that, customer service, yeah.
Phil: Yeah. So teaching, teaching your kids young what they should do for the rest of their life.
Phil: Hey baby, how you doing? See, look at, look at you, just yelling at people s- on the street. Where did the baby come from? Like, the... Everybody is like the, "Hey," like, "Hey baby. Sal baby." I- Like, does that have an origin story? That,
Sal: that is actually start at Art Ven Furniture.
Phil: Oh, yeah?
Sal: I, because everybody I talk to baby, so they call me Sal Baby.
Sal: Then my son, when I bought me Mercedes one time for, uh... He w- got me a l- uh, plate, Sal Baby in it. That's what I have in my car right now, Sal Baby. Yeah?
Phil: It's your thing. [00:17:00] Well, Sal, I wanna thank you so much for not o- not only creating this hallowed ground of Saginaw suits and alterations, but just for being legitimately one of the best human beings.
Phil: Like, the- Thank you ... like the, the, what, what, the way that you are with people is real, and it's true, and it's... It just makes you feel good, and it's just r- Like, the world needs more people like you, and I just wanna thank f- personally. Every conversation that you have, like, I, I leave just a happier person, and- Oh,
Sal: thank you, Phildo.
Sal: You are a kind man. You are a beautiful young man, and have beautiful family. And I tell you, there are no other way. Yes. You think you have other way? The other way is bad one. There's One way and one way only. You have to be good to people. You have to take care of them. I have a lady... I have an incident I'm gonna tell you.
Sal: Can I?
Phil: Yes, please.
Sal: A lady came into my store about five years ago. She said, "I need a white suit and white shirt and tie, my son got killed in car [00:18:00] accident." I said, "How old
Sal: was
Phil: he?"
Sal: She said, "15 years old." So I put everything together, comes to about $550. She said, "I don't have the money. I have $50 only." I said, "You know what?
Sal: Take the whole thing. Take the whole thing and don't pay me nothing." Next couple days, the father come in. "Who is Sal He starts crying, hugs me. I said, "Thank you for that opportunity. You give me a suit for my son." That's, uh, you know. You know that if I charge them money, they will be hurting. So last year, I was at the shop right here.
Sal: the girl came in and said, "Sal, can I give you a hug?" I said, "Sure." She said, "You remember you gave us nice suit for my son when he died five years ago?" I could not even believe it. I'll Never forget it.
Phil: Hmm.
Sal: She never forget that. And that's a pleasure in my own life, you know what I mean? I like that.
Sal: You help people, they stay forever. I mean, money is not everything. I, I, I work for money for sure. You need to have money, but reputation and honesty is make them.
Phil: Mm-hmm.
Sal: Make the life going. [00:19:00] Because, you know, sooner or later people find out about you if you lying. They have AI now, they reading my stuff and everybody.
Sal: It's true.
Phil: It's true.
Sal: So, uh, straighten the people up is very important, man. I- you have to be perfectly, perfectly honest with people, with yourself, yourself- Mm-hmm ... and your family. Your family now come number one. You know? I mean, that's what it is. I love my family. I, my... I love the, I love the Saginaw. Look at that.
Sal: Beautiful. Isn't that beautiful, Saginaw? Yeah. Huh? Honest to God, it's beautiful town here, stay with that. Yeah, that's why I love Saginaw and some of the people in Saginaw, yeah.
Phil: Well, Saginaw loves you back.
Sal: Thank you, my friends, yeah. Thank
Phil: you so much.
Sal: Thank you very much. Appreciate
it.