Del Colle's New and Used Work Clothes

Blissville's 1916 architectural marvel was home to Del Colle's for 30 years. Then one day, someone new bought the building.


The building needed many repairs. To pay for them, the new owner tripled the rent. Del Colle's moved around the corner.


Their business is three generations old.


On sunny days this resident used to see the grandfather, his hair thick and white, sitting outside the old Del Colle's. He always dressed in workclothes.


But since they moved, she hasn't seen him. The grandson, Jesse, minds the store now,


while John, the son, sells workclothes at construction sites around the city out of his truck.


This was how their business began. The store was John's idea.


Workers from countries all over the world drop into Del Colle's.


The Eastern Europeans who come in put their forearm through the leg to measure pants' size.


Whereas Spanish-speaking peoples tend to throw the legs around their neck.


Whatever country they came from, they want American-made clothes and union-made products.


John is in charge of finding sources of used clothing, which he then brings back and cleans.


But some things don't relinquish their identy easily.




That Del Colle's had to move is only symptomatic of the changes happening in the neighborhood. Buildings all over Blissville are coming down, and in their place, taller ones are going up.


But for the moment, there is still a place for Del Colle's.