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He founded St. Petersburg's oldest men's clothing shop

 
Arnold Argintar, who died Nov. 15 at age 97, opened Arnold’s Men’s Wear in downtown St. Petersburg in 1935 and owned it for 72 years.
Arnold Argintar, who died Nov. 15 at age 97, opened Arnold’s Men’s Wear in downtown St. Petersburg in 1935 and owned it for 72 years.
Published Nov. 27, 2014

ST. PETERSBURG — Arnold Argintar kept up with the times over eight decades, ushering in men's clothing to downtown St. Petersburg and then outlasting retailers who followed.

He stocked the shelves of Arnold's Men's Wear with suits, ties, hats and shoes, hanging on to inventory long after it had gone out of fashion. For Mr. Argintar, there was no useless merchandise and no customer who could not be accommodated.

He allowed customers to buy on layaway long after others had stopped the practice and accepted returns without a receipt, those closest to him said. Mr. Argintar learned customer service from his father, who started what is believed to have been Ybor City's oldest retail men's store before closing in 2004.

Mr. Argintar, who owned St. Petersburg's oldest men's clothing shop for 72 years, died Nov. 15 after an illness. He was 97.

"He was a very friendly guy, a sincere guy and a businessman who really cared," said jeweler Bruce Watters, 83.

At its height after World War II, downtown boasted as many as 30 men's shops. Names such as Rutland's, Dent and English, Egerton and Moore, Phil Fairchild's and Webb's City all jockeyed for position.

Over the years, he watched trends and often stayed ahead of them. He stocked the high-waisted, broad-shouldered zoot suits in the early 1940s but had to persuade a supplier to buy the fedoras that went along with them.

Arnold Aaron Argintar was born in 1917 in Tampa, the son of a Romanian immigrant. His father established Max Argintar Men's Wear in 1908 on Seventh Avenue in Ybor City. That store remained open for 96 years, run for decades by Mr. Argintar's brother Sammie.

Upon graduation from Hillsborough High, Mr. Argintar was given a choice by his father: college or a store of his own.

He chose the store, opening in 1935 on the southeast corner of Central Avenue and Sixth Street. He married Roxy Siegel in 1940 and moved the store to 548 Central Ave. in 1941.

For a time, his father ran the store while Mr. Argintar served in the Army. A second lieutenant, he spent time in India and China and earned a Bronze Star, his family said.

In the early 1960s, he served two terms as president of the St. Petersburg Merchants Association. Among more routine issues, such as valiantly fending off parking meters for a while, Mr. Argintar led by example in hiring qualified applicants regardless of ethnicity.

"All the African-Americans came to him," said Badr "Al" El-Amin, 64, a St. Petersburg native who worked as Mr. Argintar's right-hand man for 21 years. "He gave credit to lots of people — mothers, aunts and grandmothers who were raising those kids by themselves."

He remodeled the store in 1966, adding new floors, gold carpet and a slate-shingled awning between two white wooden columns. He hoped other shops would follow suit.

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His wife, who had helped run the store, died in 1968. He married Eleanor Tucker, a substitute teacher, two years later. His store outfitted a broad swath of businessmen, postal workers and entertainers, including the orchestra musicians at Derby Lane, said Hilary Neal, his daughter.

Increasingly, his penchant for hanging on to older clothes made Arnold's a valuable resource, one discovered by the costume designer for the 1985 movie Cocoon.

"Most of the clothes in Cocoon came from his store," said Neal, 66. "It was a treasure chest. If you wanted vintage clothes, you came in there."

In 2007, Mr. Argintar sold his building, now the site of At Cost Bar. A smaller version of Arnold's continued at 671 Central Ave., run by Neal and El-Amin.

Mr. Argintar continued to attend the symphony or American Stage productions and book clubs. His health declined after a broken hip earlier this year.

During painful months of rehab, he told family members who pushed him to exercise that he would come back to haunt them.

In recent months, Mr. Argintar tired of treatments, saying he had lived a good life.

El-Amin now runs Mr. Argintar's former shop alone, as El's Menswear. On Wednesday, he reached into a rack and retrieved a pair of brown polyester slacks, waist 33, length 31. Though still unworn, the pants bear a creased tag on the hip of a Canyon Slacks trademark that has since expired.

Over the tens of thousands of pieces of merchandise his boss ordered over 72 years, this is the last. El-Amin said he gave most of the vintage clothing away.

"Now I wish I had kept some," he said.

Contact Andrew Meacham at ameacham@tampabay.com or (727) 892-2248. Follow @torch437.