Stylin' and profilin': Downtown Wilmington clothing store celebrates 50 years in business
A lot of things have changed in downtown Wilmington over the past 50 years. Like, most of them.
One thing that hasn't? For the past five decades, a store at the corner of Front and Princess streets owned by Isaac Lazar has been a go-to spot for menswear.
On March 15, 1974, Lazar opened a store called The Hustler at 102 N. Front St. in the same building he occupies today. Lazar has been a fixture ever since, although he eventually decided that The Hustler "was not a very nice name" and changed it to Isaac's about five years later.
"I can't believe it's been 50 years," Lazar said from his store on a busy January morning.
As The O'Jays' 1978 song "Use Ta Be My Girl" played on the sound system, the phone rang insistently and a steady flow of customers made their way through the store, which is so packed full of shoes and clothing there's scarcely room to walk around.
There are ties, belts, shirts and slacks along with leisure suits, velour and corduroy jackets and even some seersucker. Stacks upon stacks of shoe boxes abound, along with footwear ranging from conservative loafers to flashy kicks with golden spikes, not to mention dozens of tuxedos under plastic wrap waiting to be rented.
"How you like the body fit?" Lazar's son David asks a customer. People come in needing alterations, he said, "and I work magic for them."
David has been working in his dad's store since he was a kid, and said such celebrities as singer Al Green, actor Pat Morita and even the great Michael Jordan have shopped here over the years.
Looking at a picture taken of him taken for this story, Lazar, 79, chuckled and said, "What happened to me?"
A ‘visit’ to 1971 on North Front Street: After 50 years later, what's changed?
Asked why he hasn't chosen to retire, Lazar said, "What else would I do? Stay home, watch TV and get fat? I think working keeps you alive."
These days, Isaac's is the only menswear store downtown. Back when he opened, however, Lazar had lots of company.
The chains Belk, JCPenney and Sears were all downtown, as were local men's stores like Payne's, Fleishman's and Lenny's. By the mid to late 1980s, after the opening of Independence Mall in 1979, downtown had lost most of its retail businesses.
That led to some lean years, Lazar said. But Isaac's hung on, thanks in part to a loyal customer base made up largely of Black men.
Darryl Canty, 62, said he's been shopping at Isaac's since he was 13. Now retired after a 27-year career in the U.S. Army, he keeps coming back.
"I got my first suit here," Canty said, and in January he was back at Isaac's for another suit, this time a green one. "They treat me right."
David Lazar helps his father run the store these days. He said his dad "works harder than anyone I've ever seen" and regularly puts in 50- to 60-hour weeks, working late into the evening most days.
"It's a hard business. You're dealing with styles, colors, sizes, alterations," Isaac Lazar said. "We provide it all."
As for the future, maybe Isaac's goes for another 50 years. David has gotten the business a website and on social media, and his idea to bring in tuxedo rentals a few years back has helped boost sales.
"I want to give it to him," the elder Lazar said.
Lazar said he's lucky he bought the building he's in many years ago. Even folks who've never been in likely recognize the distinctive lettering of "Isaac's" or have been charmed by the mural that's been on the south side of his building since he lost a window to Hurricane Fran in 1996. The New York City-inspired street scene was painted by his kids after a visit to the Big Apple.
"Maybe I'll develop it one day," he said of the building. "Live in a penthouse up top."
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Wilmington, NC clothing store Isaac's celebrates 50 years in business
