How did work wear become a category in hardware stores? Twenty years ago, work clothing was sold in chain department and discount stores including Sears, Eaton's, Towers, Bargain Harold's, Bi-Way and many others. In small towns the local men's wear stores all carried work clothing. Today, the only remaining remnant is the assortment in the Sears catalogue. How this came to be and why the work clothing business migrated into hardware stores is a combination of two things. Firstly, there was the phenomenon of casual Friday, which was transformed within a few years into casual everyday. This was the death of the men's suit business which was the backbone of the men's wear industry, and upon which all else depended -- dress shirts, ties, topcoats and so on. The old, tired or inflexible retailers closed. As a salesman calling on small town retailers in Ontario, it looks to me as if about two thirds of all small town men's wear stores are no longer in business. The rest have gone into the high-end designer business, adapting to Polo, Nautica, Tommy Hilfiger and others. These stores dropped work clothing not just because it was inconsistent with the high fashion brands, but also because the margin was not there to support the store upgrading that became necessary to properly show these higher priced fashions. The second phenomenon at that time was the arrival of Mark's Work Wearhouse. The timing of the old Bay guy to focus on work clothing was perfect. And Mark's is the name people still think of when talking of work clothing. Then a second work clothing chain, Work World, also started in western Canada but within a short time also had stores across Canada. Work World was a franchise operation with some successful operators, but also had many that were not. It was Mark's major direct competitor.