THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 19, 1995 TAG: 9502180267
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 142 lines
Reid Rapoport, a stately man of impeccable dress, looks like he'd be comfortable seated at the head of a Fortune 500 company's boardroom table. His brother, Steve, hmmm . . . maybe not.
With a head of dark, unruly curls, and jacket tossed aside, the younger brother might prop his feet on the table, light a cigar and say, ``Hey guys, cop a squat and relax.''
Their grandfather, Morris, known as ``M.H.,'' probably would have relished the combination. Together, the siblings have held onto the same principles that Morris cherished when he founded his first specialty store in Portsmouth's bustling downtown in 1917.
There are the extra services like dropping off merchandise at customers' homes, tailoring clothing to the tiniest stitch and selling only the finest fabrics.
Yet it's the brothers' polar personalities that have helped transform The Quality Shop, now a chain of three stores, into a modern-day success.
Reid, the more conservative of the two, caters more to the corporate types. Steve, with his slightly wilder touch, is more likely to pick out clothing for the more casual type and attract a new breed of male consumers.
``I think we complement each other very well,'' said Reid, 46. ``We have different tastes in the merchandise. He is more attuned to the sportswear and has a better feel for color.''
Nurturing the old and cultivating the new.
This is what retail is about: keeping a firm grasp on your loyal customers but at the same time seeking out a younger generation of shoppers.
It's a combination that may be helping keep the family business alive in a climate that has grown increasingly stormy for small retailers, especially those hawking clothing.
Today, clothing retailers are having a tough time figuring out what the public wants, which has caused one of the longest slumps in the apparel industry in recent times, retail analysts say.
``It's not so much the slump in the industry, it's that one of the big changes in menswear is the more casual attire in the professional world,'' said Margie Johnson, a Virginia Beach retail consultant. ``They seem to be going for that customer, carrying the savvy merchandise that the public is calling for.''
Retailers must also cater more to their customers by sprucing up service and displays if they want to keep their businesses thriving in rough times, Johnson said.
``A lot of those principles at The Quality Shop used to be everywhere,'' she said. ``It's a simple thing that costs less than nothing, yet it has been forgotten at many places.''
The Quality Shop is just as likely as the clothier down the road to feel the impact of a sluggish economy or nasty weather.
``We've gone through ups and downs just like everybody does,'' said 37-year-old Steve Rapoport. ``Again, it comes down to what we keep doing. We try to stay focused on what has brought us this far.
``If you stay on top of things, everything tends to work out.''
That's what young Morris Rapoport must have been thinking when he used his life savings - $500 - to buy The Quality Hat Shop out of bankruptcy court in 1917. It was midsummer, and his future depended on selling a stock of seasonal straw hats in just a few weeks and then finding someone to sell him merchandise on credit.
He made it.
Although he later passed the business on to his son, Herman, Morris could never keep away. Father and son opened a second store in Norfolk's downtown in 1963. And though he was in his late 80s, Morris still paid daily visits to his Portsmouth store.
``He was in there every day - first thing in the morning,'' Steve said. ``As he got older, he didn't keep the hours . . . He mainly enjoyed just the interaction with the people - the fellas on the floor and his customers.''
Steve and Reid opened their first store in Virginia Beach in 1993, an idea the family had been toying with for years. While the Portsmouth and Norfolk stores cater more to the corporate type, the upscale Hilltop store is geared toward a younger consumer and a more relaxed lifestyle.
The store is a prototype, with everything from maple tables to glass showcases to give consumers an open view of casual suit jackets, ties and other items.
Retailers have fled for the suburbs, while downtowns have been left with boarded windows pasted with ``For Rent'' signs. But the Rapoports won't budge. Their Norfolk and Portsmouth stores remain in the hearts of those cities.
It is a debt to their loyal customers, who travel to the two downtown stores to meet longtime salesmen like Tommy Bean and John Dunlap.
There's something genteel about the way Bean, a towering man with gray hair, greets his customers at the door and totes their boxes and bags back to their cars.
He began working at the Portsmouth store in 1965, and was assigned to work in the front of the shop, where the shirts sold for $1.95 and the ties for less than a buck.
The back room, carrying the finest suits for gentlemen, was reserved for the more experienced salesmen, Bean said.
``I'd never go back there,'' he said, laughing. ``They would run me out of that place. I was a rookie.''
These days, Tommy Bean is the veteran.
``Tommy knows everything I'm going to buy,'' said Doug Decker, a Suffolk businessman who has been shopping at the Portsmouth store for more than 30 years. ``I don't see nobody except Tommy Bean. I personally wouldn't buy clothes from anyone else in Tidewater.''
Decker loves to buy good clothes, from the fine cashmere sweaters that Bean will track down for him to the pair of spring pants he can order and pick up when the weathers warms.
``I tell you, it takes less than 20 minutes,'' he said. ``I can just call them on the phone, and they've got the card with your measurements.''
Each store keeps detailed records of what customers buy so salespeople will know shoppers' sizes and preferences. Staffers sometimes meet customers in their business offices or deliver merchandise to shoppers' homes.
Dunlap, who has worked at The Quality Shop in Norfolk for about 10 years, checks up on his regulars, making about 200 telephone calls a week.
``You've got to love what you're doing and give your customer the best possible service they need, and where they need it,'' Dunlap said.
The Quality Shop, recognizing that workers like Decker and Dunlap are difficult to come by, initiated a profit-sharing program decades ago. Sales staff also get commissions and discounts on clothing purchases.
``There's a feeling of security for employees,'' said Tommy Bean. ``That's why you don't see any turnover.''
If he doesn't retire, Bean might just work under a fourth generation of Rapoports.
Reid and Steve have two children each. Already, the love of men's clothing has been growing in the young ones.
Reid's 10-year-old daughter, Lindsay, will try to wait on customers when she walks into The Quality Shop.
``She really has taken a liking to merchandising,'' Reid said. ``At home, she and her friends will play `store' and lay out outfits from her closet. She also has a toy cash register.
``I think it's already in her blood.'' ILLUSTRATION: LAWRENCE JACKSON/Staff color photos
The Quality Shop at Hilltop East Shopping Center in Virginia Beach.
The Quality Shop boasts many longtime salespeople - and customers.
Tommy Bean, left, a 30-year employee, helps Don Snipes, a customer
for 20-plus years, at the Portsmouth store. Ettore Zappacosta,
right, has been a Quality Shop tailor for more than 30 years.
The three Quality Shop stores are run by Reid and Steve Rapoport,
from left to right in the mirror, grandsons of the store's founder,
Morris Rapoport.
by CNB