Founded four years ago by Saager Dilawri, an alumnus of the Parsons School of Design and New York-based menswear brand Unis, Neighbour ranks as one of Vancouver’s best men’s multibrand specialty boutiques thanks to its unique assortment of hard-to-find, carefully curated brands. Store manager and buyer Justin Lintag recently caught up with us about this must-visit Canadian shopping destination.
How would you describe the store’s overall aesthetic and product assortment?
The overall aesthetic of the store merges the classic with contemporary. If you look at our stocklist, you may notice that we carry labels that span the globe from Scandinavia to Belgium, Japan or England and beyond. The brands we choose are always very personal to us and in our taste. We also tend to carry designers that we can grow with and are not yet readily available to North America.
Who is your “typical” customer or do you even have one?
Not really, everyone is welcomed with the same attention. Our customers come from all walks of life. We just hope to provide something special for everyone.
What are some of current bestsellers item-wise and brand-wise?
Our Legacy for their ever-interesting, wearable garments. Stephan Schneider for their original design and fabric stories. Norse Projects for their wide range of staples.
What is the general price range?
Mid to high I would say.
What special services do you offer your customers?
I’m not sure if we can say that we offer “special services” per se, but we do truly strive to give every customer a very personal experience. This means being engaged and building rapport with them for the long term. Believe it or not, we even keep in personal contact with many of our online customers.
How often do you get new merchandise?
Deliveries can vary throughout the season, but you’ll find something new in-store usually on a weekly basis.
How is your online business compared to your brick-and-mortar one?
Physical and online share the same inventory, so everything that you see online can be found in our brick-and-mortar retail location.
What items will you be pushing for the upcoming holiday season?
We always try to offer a wide range of holiday gift items for Christmas. Kiosk has been amazing for objects that are interesting in design and are also useable in the real world. We are also proud of the in-house items that we produce each season like our Merino caps, lambswool scarves and Shetland sweaters.
What sets Neighbour apart from other stores in Vancouver?
Vancouver has some of the best men’s shops in the world–and it is because we all have our own identities. We all have our own vision and instinctually carry products that are personal to us. At Neighbour, we look for those designers and collections who put an emphasis on fabrics, quality, intelligent design and have an interesting story behind them.
