Small Business Spotlight: Isaac’s Menswear
Isaac’s Menswear is an independently owned men’s fashion store located on Wilmington Street, across from the new RBC Plaza. Prior to the arrival of the clothing store, it was a seedy bar called Chocko Flame which frequently had run ins with the police. Before that, it was a Greek restaurant.
The store is run by a man named Shalom, who has been in business since 1985. The name Isaac’s came from his former business partner and mentor. Isaac and Shalom ran the men’s clothing store in what is currently The Square Rabbit for a few years before Shalom relocated to the current location to run the busines on his own. The owner of building housing The Square Rabbit had offered to sell it to him for $60k in the mid-eighties. At that time, it was a rough part of town and he wasn’t sure how long he was going to stay in the area. He doesn’t look back with regret at the missed opportunity. A native of Israel, he wasn’t sure if or when he may move back to his ancestral homeland.
Today, business is still good. The future is uncertain as The Edison is poised to occupy the entire block. Shalom rents his space from Progress Energy, which has no desire to stay in the real estate business. The other property owners of this block were no doubt offered large sums of money to sell out and relocate to the newly proposed space.
Shalom isn’t worried, though. He’s pretty matter-of-fact about the situation. If he has to relocate, he will–and it won’t be downtown. He has many fond memories of being in business in the current location. In fact, a relic of the former First Citizens Building that used to occupy the space now used by RBC Plaza is in his posession. One of the gargoyles that adorned the entrance now resides in his home. To him, it is a reminder of the magnificent building that used to be there and was turned in to a parking lot in 1991.
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John Morris
Raleigh Boy
Devin McKim
Sid Fowler
uliveandyouburn
Adrienne Taylor
Ian F.G. Dunn
Ben Spiker
Paul Friedrich
07/10/2008
That First Citizens building was great. It had ornamental detail, like the gargoyles, running in vertical and horizontal bands. It was a tragedy when the bank demolished that building and then decided to build at North Hills (the round silo building north of the mall) instead of downtown. And they moved from the small building behind the McDonald’s at Cameron Village and built the giant replica of Tara as their CV branch. I stopped banking there shortly thereafter.
07/10/2008
The First Citizens Bank building was an awesome, architecturally rich structure… A masterpiece of sophisticated Late Gothic. It was a wonder when built as the Commercial National Bank in 1912, and still was when imploded 24 March 1991. It was a gem inside and out. As a kid, the interior looked to me like a grand banquet hall of a medieval castle. The vaulted ceiling soared upward two stories at least, and giant bronze chandeliers hung from it. The walls and floors were trimmed in marble, and shiny brass detailing abounded. The original architect’s drawings are supposedly still in the possession of First Citizens. Its destruction was tragic and egregious on their part…And Robert, rest assured, there were many others in Raleigh who stopped banking with them thereafter.
07/11/2008
First Citzens has absolutely no interest in historic preservation. They were doing the same kinds of things down in Columbia, SC when I lived there temporarily: tearing down historically and architecturally signicant building and replacing them with CRAP. My family had banked with them for years, but we closed all our accounts when they imploded that building in downtown raleigh. There used to be a video of the implosion on either WRAL’s or WTVD’s websites.