THE VINDICATOR, YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO

THE VINDICATOR, YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Fifty years of custom tailoring downtown comes to an end later this month.
Signs posted in the window of Lord Chesterfield Tailors Inc. on East Market Street announce the impending closure of the downtown fixture.
"We started in Youngstown, which was a big custom tailoring city in the U.S.," said owner Sam Jacon. "Now there isn't a tailor shop left. We were the last one that I know of."
Jacon, 85, of Warren, decided to close shop after learning he has liver cancer. He expects the store to shut down some time this month, although a date hasn't been determined.
"When one of our customers, a physician, heard we were closing, he came in and had 12 tailor-made suits made," said Phil Adams, 73, of Boardman, store manager and a partner in the business.
Custom tailoring was the store's specialty.
"Almost all of our customers were repeat customers," Adams said. "When they've seen the sign, they've come in and are upset. They don't know what they're going to do."
The store started in 1953 on Pine Street and moved to the larger East Market location in 1965.
"I'm really going to miss the customers," Adams said. "We got to be close with our customers. Once a customer would come into the store, they'd be like family."
He plans to take a break from work for the summer and maybe look for part-time work in a men's clothing store in the fall.
"If it wasn't for Sam getting sick, we'd still be open and working five days a week," Adams said.
Although styles changed over the years, the store adapted to stay afloat and attracted a loyal following.
"Today, people don't dress like they used to," Adams said. "It used to be that when they'd go out on Friday and Saturday night, men would wear suits and jackets. Now they wear jeans and T-shirts."
"In the 50s and 60s, high school kids got tailor-made slacks and the girls wore skirts," Jacon said.
dick@vindy.com