RED WING, Minn. -- At Josephson's Clothing Store, men's sweaters, long underwear and other apparel are stacked in antique display cases that still have their original glass doors. The tin ceiling is painted white, a color that helped brighten up the place after it was entirely wired for electricity 15 years ago. The yellow pine floors are so old they don't just creak, they groan with every step.
"It is like working in a museum almost," said part-time employee Judy Hinrichs, who remembers coming to Josephson's as a child with her dad and grandpa.
"It looked like this. It smelled like this," she said.
Owner Tom Withers sought to preserve the old-fashioned ambiance when he and his wife, Denise, bought the retail business from Tom and Marilyn Josephson in 1992.
The men's clothing store, which will celebrate its 130th anniversary on Jan. 26, was founded in 1878 by Alfred Josephson and Emil Olund.
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The oldest retail business in Red Wing and the only men's clothing store remaining in Goodhue County, it started as North Star Clothiers at a storefront along the 300 block of Main Street. The business was later known as Star Clothing House and had another location before it became Josephson's Clothing Store and moved to 215 Bush St. in 1901.
Withers took over the business just days before the Mall of America opened in Bloomington.
"This is something I've always wanted," said Withers, a Red Wing native who had worked for other retailers in town. "I never thought the megamall would be competition either, but it is."
The business survives despite the out-of-town and big-box stores that lure many shoppers away from small, independent retailers.
"I believe in downtown Red Wing," Withers said. "It's one of the few river towns left on the Mississippi that has an active downtown, and I'm proud of that."
The most important thing he does, Withers said, is carry on the Josephson's tradition of customer service.
On the store's busiest shopping day of the holiday season, Withers was calm and stylish in a pinstriped suit, white shirt, red tie and a tape measure hanging around his neck.
He prefers not to think of himself as a salesman.
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"I feel like an adviser because people, nine times out of 10, will say, 'What do you think?'" Withers said. "I'm honest."
It seems to work for customers. In 2006, Withers sold suits to 36 young men who wanted to look their best for job interviews. Thirty-five of them got the jobs, Withers said. This year, all 35 men who bought suits at Josephson's for job interviews were hired.
Although the store is old, it stays current with the trends in men's fashion.
The store has fewer suits today than in the 1990s and has an expanded inventory of sportswear and big-and-tall apparel.
Sixty percent of the suits in stock are black -- the hottest color today for men's suits. Dress shirts can be found in the popular colors of lavender, tangerine and French blue.
Withers said he believes formal business attire will make a comeback and he'd like to be around when it does.
"I would personally love to die in this store when I'm 85 years old," he said.
He'd settle for another 20 years, to celebrate the store's 150th anniversary.
