Genary “Bird” Brown lovingly brushed a men’s hat while her boss waxed poetic about his life.
It was quiet Friday afternoon at Esquire Men’s Clothing, 1536 Broadway, Gary, which can lead to boredom. Yet the two desperately will miss being there after Saturday, when the store, which owner Rozelle Hammond been a part of for almost 70 years, officially closes.
When you’ve been with something that long, it’s kind of hard to let go.
“This is my life. It’s a part of me,” Hammond, 84, said. “I’m going to miss it.”
Hammond started with the men’s clothier in 1947, when he was 15. He was living at the Lake County Children’s Home at the time, and one of the regulations there was that residents had to get jobs, he said.
He was hired as a stockboy, and once he got the job he did everything the best he could.
“I learned long ago that whatever you do, you do it well,” he said. “I did the windows good and put up the stock as I knew I should.”
The store changed hands at some point, and Hammond stayed on when Jack Zemel and Leroy Gensburg took over. Hammond’s hard work never went unnoticed or unrewarded, and by the time Hammond graduated from Indiana University with a business degree, he was made a junior partner.
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His work ethic helped him keep his job when life was tough, he said. When he was battling alcoholism, Zemel and Gensburg practiced mercy instead of punishment.
“There were times I showed up half-drunk from the night before, and they would tell me ‘Roz, why don’t you go home and take a nap,'” he recalled with a smile. “But I always showed up.”
After the Zemel and Gensburg died, Hammond decided he was going to take over the business. Leaving Zemel’s name on the paperwork, most entities — banks included — had no idea things had changed, he said. And he never missed a bank payment.
“We always had brand-name merchandise: Stace Adams shoes, Kangol hats,” Hammond said. “It was like Michigan Avenue, except in Gary, and we had customers from South Bend, Fort Wayne, Chicago, Michigan City, all over, coming here. And then their children came here too.”
Big names also showed up at the store, including Cubs great Ernie Banks and the Rev. Marion Johnson, Brown said. Countless politicians came in, as did numerous singing groups, he said.
But 70 years is a long time, and now’s as good a time as any to rest, he said. The remaining merchandise will go to local charitable organizations, and he plans to spend a little time in the pool at the Y down the street.
“I’m going to miss the family (he created over the years),” he said. “For many years, (Esquire) took care of me, and when things got bad, I took care of (Esquire).”
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.