Harry’s Men's Wear Article – April 1972

When a new business opens these days – whether it’s a restaurant, boutique or whatever – the trend is for it to have an unusual name, requiring the owner to have to go to great pains to explain it on TV or the newspaper (assuming they even get some news coverage). I guess the strategy is for the name to be so unique that you remember it. 

Unfortunately, most new businesses fail anyway, despite what creativity or thought went into their names.

But in the old days, many of Lorain’s most popular and enduring businesses simply took the first name of whoever owned it. Think about it: Rosie’s Pizza; Steve’s Shoe Shop; Bob’s Donuts; Mary’s Sweet Shop; Dom & Luigi’s Barber Shop.

Walking into these businesses and seeing the owner working there instilled a sense of trust and loyalty. You recognized Bob making the donuts, Rosie in her kitchen overseeing her pizza operations, or Steve repairing the shoes.

Along those lines, here’s an article about one of those gutsy Lorain entrepreneurs who started a business that lasted for decades: Harry Levine, who owned and operated Harry’s Men's Wear. The article ran in the Journal back on April 2, 1972 and provides a nice biography of Harry.

Harry’s been featured on this blog before. You can find the ad for his 1950 Grand Opening here, a 1954 Back-to-School ad here, and a 1959 ad for his line of bowling attire here. 

Harry’s was located in the Thistle Building.