Page 25 - North Haven Magazine Issue 27 Winter 2023

Over the years, some of the brightest stars in show business,
sports, and politics from all over the nation, have come to the
Sample Shop to be fawned over. Whether it is a young man’s
first suit or something special for the actor, Danny Glover, the
attentions of staff, George, Alex, Jeff and Ricky are the same
loving attention to detail. Entering the Sample Shop door, one
isn’t going to see stacks and rows of identical garments. Let the
fading retail presence of department stores, outlets, and ware-
houses employ that largely monochromatic approach to men’s

The generations of fashion - Lew and sons George and Alex

clothing. The sample shop engenders caring friendships.
Men, women, and families walk into the relatively small store
only to see their friends and a no-pressure loving approach to
the rhetorical question, “how can I help you.”

One of the most remarkable examples of Whalley Sample
Shops’ approach to their clientele was how they served the
young men of the Developing Tomorrow’s Professionals (DTP)
program for over eleven years. Each year, the high school age
young men of color of the DTP from all over Connecticut
would travel to the Sample Shop to be fitted and doted over
for suits (all different), ties, shoes, and jackets selected by the
Sample Shop staff to enhance the look of each. There would
never be the slightest hint of uniformity or repetitive clothing,
only that each young man looked as glowingly professional as
possible. Lest it needs stating, the cost was no object as not
one young man was charged a dime for his garments.
As the young men of the DTP grew and matriculated from
their Connecticut secondary schools to the foremost universi-
ties all over the country (94.3% graduated from their respec-
tive universities in four years) to professionals in many fields
of endeavor, they would return to the Sample Shop to be greet-
ed with open arms and fitted for new suits and accessories. As
one young man of the DTP stated, “The Sample Shop dressed
us to the nines. We were treated as kings, and we felt like roy-
alty”.

The 18th century honored phrase “Dress to the Nines” means
that you were rich enough to purchase the nine yards of mate-
rial it took to make a tailor-fit suit, including a vest and jack-
et. The Whalley Sample Shop makes every customer a friend,
resulting in a man/boy “Dressed to the Nines … every time”.
The Whalley Sample Shop, created by the Lehrer family, is the
most precious of retail gems in the Greater New Haven area,
maybe anywhere in America.

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