Men's Store Gets The Right Fit

When you meet David Iglow, there’s something vaguely familiar about him. You’ve met his type before – a long time ago.

Iglow is going into his third decade as owner of the venerable Pine’s of Park Ridge men’s and boy’s clothing store at 43 S. Prospect, across from the library and the train tracks. The store is marking its 60^th anniversary this year in a corner building constructed in 1898. The ownership lineage of Pine’s goes all the way back to a member of the famed Goldblatt’s retailing family.

“It’s very unusual,” Iglow said of Pine’s longevity. “If you really research it, you’ll find we are the longest-running retailer in one spot in this town, to the best of my knowledge.”

Iglow comports himself like an old-school neighborhood clothing retailer. He dresses the part, too, always in a suit, never casual. After all, dressing up is what he sells.

His persona and style is almost like Iglow had been transported from the kind of local business found in any Chicago neighborhood store or suburban downtown from the mid-20^th Century and dropped into Pine’s in 2012.

Now joined by wife Robin in running Pine’s, Iglow grew up a few blocks from the old Robert Hall men’s and boys’ clothing store in Chicago’s West Rogers Park in the 1960s. A long walk east on Devon Avenue would bring him to the Crawford’s Department Store, a centerpiece of neighborhood retail and local media advertising. These institutions did well for those who shopped locally. They had good sales fundamentals, including personalized service, which Iglow passes on to his present customers.

A ‘passion’ for clothing business

“I have a passion for this business, because I’ve done this for a long time,” Iglow said. “A person who is a real salesperson…is somebody who cares about accommodating his customers. That’s what it really boils down to. If you care about doing that, that leads to all kinds of efforts to being successful.

“When I say passion, I think I’m very good at coordinating clothing. Colors and fabrics and styles. We also do the buying. We alter our suits for the lifetime of the garment (by tailor Miroslav Moniueszko). It distinguishes us.

“There are components in this business that are a little different than the big-box stores. We were care about fitting. Fitting is a primary focus of ours.  This is my personality.  I want the person who walks out of here to be proud of what he wears.”

Personalized service landed Iglow deals to outfit security services with suits for downtown Chicago hotels and condos. He’ll go to the buildings to do individual measurements.

“I’ll pull up in front of the big Hyatt Regency, and I’m the ‘suit guy’…the suit guy can park wherever he wants,” mused Iglow.

He learned from the old-timers, claiming he can tell a person’s clothing size from eyeballing him 50 feet away.  Iglow began working at Pine’s in 1976 after majoring in communications in DePaul. He already had retail experience at Capper & Capper, an exclusive men’s clothier in the Loop.

In 1992, Iglow -- who now doubles as president of the Taste of Park Ridge --  bought Pine's. Robin Iglow, who has been married to David for 36 years,  began working full-time at Pine’s about 15 years ago. Previously, they had a common business connection when previous store owner Harold Pine ran a jeans store, also called Pine’s, in Round Lake Beach. Robin Iglow managed the store while David did the buying.

More casual times a challenge

In the intervening decades, the Iglows have had to change with the more casual times for clothing. A half century ago, most males had to dress up for the job or church. Other aspects of life required a suit or sport coat. More attention was even paid to school wear.

“When I started working here, ‘back to school’ was really important,” Iglow said. “The parents would bring their sons in here. “

But the more casual present time has cut into sales. Thus the Iglows have had to emphasize their attention to quality over the quantity they won’t sell as in decades past.

The Iglows also won’t adhere to the seven-day, six-nights-a-week mentality of modern big retailers that sometimes spills into early Sunday evenings before the doors finally close. Pine’s is only open Mondays and Thursday nights, a la a 1960s retailer. On Sundays they (half) rest with just noon to 4 p.m. business hours.

“The biggest reason (long retail hours) have evolved is because of the competition,” Iglow said. “The competition has gotten so stiff people are doing anything they can for business.

“We just make sure our prices aren’t crazy. We don’t have the overhead they (big retailers do). We don’t have a piano player, we don’t have marble floors.”