HENRY's (formerly The Backroom) — Local services in Des Moines

If I could go back in time, I would not waste my time going here for anything important. I decided to get all of our wedding suits here because my friend's got their's here and said they did an excellent job. I did NOT have the same experience, and there are many, many reasons why.

To start, I emailed them to let them know what I was looking for and to see if they could do it (a simple suit with vest and tie, no jacket). They said no problem so I set up a scheduled time for when we would all get there. We all (4 groomsmen, a girlfriend, the groom and myself) and they seem to have no idea why we are there. Okay... So the appointment starts and they ask, "So what are you looking for?" I sent them detailed pictures of exactly what I wanted, but okay, things must have not gotten passed on. So I explain what I am wanting. The sales associate then tries (very poorly) to upsale me, stating that it will actually be cheaper to buy a full suit set with a jacket then to buy the pieced individually. I asked him for the actual numbers, and he started to stumble over his words. When another sales associate gave us the numbers, with the jacket would have been almost $100 MORE than without. I should have left right then and there for the straight up lies.

Instead, I continue with the appointment and we choose our suits, ties, and the men get measured. We pay for everything and I am hoping it will work out well. When we are checking out, I ask them when they will be ready, and the cashier states that they will order them at the end of the week and they should be in in about 3-4 weeks. Perfect!

About 5 weeks later, I have not heard a word from them, so I send an email. I am informed that they haven't even ordered the suits yet! I guess the cashier had no idea what he was talking about, but I was reassured that they would be ordered at the end of the week and be in in about a total of 2 weeks. Okay. We got it figured out.

2.5 weeks later...I email them AGAIN asking about the suits and am told AGAIN that the person I was talking to was mistaken. They STILL haven't ordered the suits, but will be putting in the orders in 2-3 days. I am livid at this point, because I have been misled and lied to multiple times about when the suits would come in. I let them know that I am unhappy, and they say they are sorry about the miscommunication between staff members, but that's it. Whatever. I just want them done at this point.

1 week later, they are in! We go and the guys try them on, they make marks for the tailor and they are sent off again to be tailored and fit to each groomsmen. I go and pick up my groom's suit, and ask about ties, which we don't have yet but ordered. The staff proceeds to tell me that the groom has already picked up the ties, and I looked at him and told him, "No, he didn't." Then another worker chimed in and stated that the ties were just ordered and haven't come in yet. Communication is KEY to running a good business, and The Backroom clearly lacks communication skills between their staff members and customers.

But, tailoring is included! That's great right? NO. Two out of the 5 suit vests were not tailored correctly, one of which was the GROOM'S. One groomsmen took his to another tailor to get it fixed before the wedding, but the groom's we didn't find out about until the day of (they didn't tell me until after). They switched his vest with another groomsman, then some of our friends pinned, pulled, and sewed the old vest so it at least looked okay on the groomsmen.

I would NOT come here again, because it was such a headache and hassle on top of all other wedding planning. I wanted to support a local business, but I would not support this one again. It was not worth the money...

I would recommend the Backroom based on the suit quality and affordability, but we had a lot of issues with getting the actual suits. My husband and I decided to go with the Backroom for his groom's suit and for our groomsmen and our initial consultation went really well! We were told that our suits needed to be ordered by a specific time frame so that they could get ordered in time and altered/hemmed but that they could be rushed if necessary. We were told that we needed to tell our guys a specific date to get measured but that they would handle reaching out to groomsmen that didn't get their measurements in by that date. About a month after that, which ended up being about 8 weeks until our wedding, we hadn't heard from Backroom and realized that not all of our groomsmen had given their measurements so we pushed them to do so and they did right away. About 5 weeks from our wedding we called Backroom and they didn't know what happened to our order or if it had been ordered. We had to call back at least twice to find out that it had never been ordered and because it was difficult to get a straight answer. We then had to call again a week later to find out whether they had come in after telling us that they would call. Some of our groomsmen's suits did not make it in until 3 weeks out and still needed significant alterations which made it hard for our groomsmen to get down there for alterations before the wedding. Everything ended up working out okay and the suits looked great and were a great quality for the price but the whole ordeal was stressful and not something that I wanted to be dealing with in the weeks leading up...

When my grandma went into hospice, I knew I needed check if my suits fit me, given I was a bit lighter than I had been when I last wore them. Upon trying them on, they all made me looks like David Byrne in the Talking Heads film. Enter a trip to Henry's for a new suit. Selection is quality; you get what you pay for. Service is where they really stood out. When I explained the situation, they promised to put a rush on the tailoring in case events happened more quickly than expected. Turns out, hours later I was calling as she'd passed away, with still unclear timeline on services and when I'd need to travel to be at them. Luckily, it turns out the rush was no joke. Less than 6 hours after getting fitted for the new suit, I was picking it up from Mr. B's. Everyone there knew of my situation and was there to make sure everything turned out perfect. Fit was fantastic, and they were careful to make sure I'd considered all the accessories I needed to go with it. This service was really beyond what I could have dreamed of. Years ago, I noticed that the dress shirts I wore for work that continued to stay in my rotation and I received the most compliments on were all from Backroom/Henry's. Their service is always the best, and you truly get your money's worth. I'm in the process of rebuilding my wardrobe following my weight loss and Henry's/Mr. B will be my primary source for any...