CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Wednesday was a busy day at Kelley’s Mens Shop on Charleston’s West Side. Customers dropped by the store to celebrate a major milestone, 80 years in business.
“My great aunt and uncle started back in 1934, Lou and Orris Kelley. Then when they passed away they left their store to my father Kenny Waldeck and he’s still the owner today,” explained Kristi Walker, the vice President of the store.
When the Kelley’s opened their first store, it was located just down the block from it’s current spot on West Washington Street. Betty McClung, a longtime customer, reminisced when she visited the store.
“I probably started coming to Kelley’s when I was five or six-years-old. My mom and dad lived on Jane Street. We came to the shop over by the old Staats Hospital and it was just the width of the suit,” she said.
She remembered her dad getting a new suit and having his pants altered at the store.
Kelley’s moved several times before settling in at the corner of West Washington St. and Pennsylvania Ave. in 1954.
Tami Lowmiller has been working in the office at Kelley’s for 35 years-plus. She was just 18 when Orris and Lou Kelley hired her.
“Oh they were wonderful! They were really, really nice people,” said Lowmiller. “We went to church with them over at Central Church. That’s how I got on here.”
While Kelley’s remains one of the most popular men’s stores in Charleston, Lowmiller recalls the hay day when every man needed a good suit and they came to Kelley’s to purchase it.
“Oh, it was wonderful (back then). It was busy all the time. We must of had 40 salespeople on the floor!”
Lowmiller stressed what keeps customers coming back decade after decade is the business model set by Mr. Kelley.
“Mr. Kelley wanted a good product at a good price. He’d give almost anybody who walked in off the street a charge account. If they needed help, he’d help them out,” explained Lowmiller.
Walker said the store’s employees follow in her great uncle’s footsteps.
“They know (their customers). They can say, ‘He’ll like this. He’ll like this.’ It takes a lot of stress off the customer because we can always find something that they like,” explained Walker.