PORT ANGELES — It was party time Sunday at The Toggery.
Long lines of faithful customers snaked through the store, holding pairs of dress pants, polo shirts, ladies’ turtleneck sweaters, suits, Pendleton blankets, shoes, ties and other items — all 40 percent off.
Each had received a letter from Mary and Roy Gotham, the store’s owners.
“Please join us and enjoy the first and best selection of merchandise before our retirement and the store’s closing is announced to the public,” the letter said.
After unsuccessfully trying for almost two years to find a buyer for the business and inventory, the Gothams are retiring.
And after almost 97 years as a fixture in downtown Port Angeles — as “the” place for quality clothing — The Toggery is closing.
Its 40 percent off sale will continue until everything is gone.
The Gothams have owned The Toggery since 1986 and are its fifth owners. They had it longer than any of the other owners.
The Toggery was opened on Sept. 5, 1914, on West Front Street in downtown Port Angeles by H.H. Van Brocklin.
He promised it would be “the very best clothing store possible . . . stocked with the very best dependable men’s goods on the market.”
It moved a few blocks east to its current location at 105 E. First St. in 1965.
“We had hoped to pass The Toggery on to new owners,” said Roy.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a suitable buyer — money is tight right now, and lending institutions aren’t readily making loans — and we finally decided not to delay our retirement any longer.
“We are really looking forward to starting the next chapter in our lives.”
Added Mary:
“It was a very tough — and very, very sad — decision to close The Toggery.
“We’ve really enjoyed serving our customers and being part of the community for the past 25 years. It’s been a privilege.”
The Gothams are avid cyclists, hikers, skiers and travelers.
“We have a lot we want to do,” said Roy, including spending time with their two adult sons — one lives in Denver, the other in San Francisco.
The Gothams plan to continue to live in Port Angeles.
Roy said longtime employees David Murphy and Helen Fox plan to take the summer off, then decide their future steps.
Former Port Angeles Mayor Gary Braun — a customer at The Toggery since he was a boy more than 60 years ago — was at Sunday’s packed “special open house and retirement sale” for The Toggery’s longtime customers.
“It will be sorrily missed — the only place on the North Olympic Peninsula for higher-end clothes,” he said.
“It’s always been dedicated to top quality and top service. This is going to leave quite a hole in the community.”
The Toggery has been a mainstay for many Port Angeles families.
Their grandfathers and great-grandfathers bought work clothes there.
Many boys bought Scout uniforms from the Toggery.
Generations of high school athletes purchased their athletic jackets there.
“We have many customers who first came in when they were in middle school, buying their first pair of dress pants,” said Roy.
“Then we’d dress them for their first big dance. Then a letterman’s jacket. Then clothes for college and, later, for their first job.
“Then a tuxedo when they got married.
“A few years later, it would start anew when their children came in for clothes.”
Ladies’ clothing was introduced in the late 1970s.
As many women as men were in line on Sunday.
Roy and Mary have a photo of former Port Angeles attorney Deborah Nelson in a long red dress at President Obama’s inauguration ball.
Though she now lives in Seattle, she returned to The Toggery to buy the knockout dress she wanted for the gala in Washington, D.C.
Another former Port Angeles attorney, Graham Ralston, lives in Washington, D.C., too — but still shops at The Toggery.
His measurements on file, Roy and Mary have mailed him three suits and one tuxedo for his work there.
The store is famous for “lifetime tailoring.”
You got free alterations on all regular priced items for the life of the garment.
“When a boy got his first pair of black pants, we’d leave a big hem,” said Mary.
“Every year, we’d drop it an inch or so . . . some of them had those pants from middle school through high school!”
The Toggery also specialized in top of the line leisure wear, like Tilley Endurables’ “finest outdoor hats around” and Tommy Bahama “island lifestyle” shirts.
These were special favorites for those going on cruises.
The Gothams got appreciative postcards — “Thanks for dressing me!”
A few blocks from The Toggery is the former Gottschalks building — empty since that retailer went bankrupt in 2009.
Roy, who has worked in retail for 50 years, was there from 1979 to 1986 as the manager of two stores that occupied the building before Gottschalks — Peoples department store, then Lamonts.
The Toggery has been longtime members of the Port Angeles Downtown Association and the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The owners and staff have been active in Rotary, Kiwanis and Soroptimist International.
The Toggery also provided a scholarship each year to a graduating senior from Port Angeles High School.
