Providence tailor who has been in business for more than 65 years will retire
Since leaving Italy in 1958, Rocco Vitale has been sewing, sewing, dry cleaning and tailoring.
Now, the long-time owner of Vitale clothing and tailoring has decided it’s time to retire.
The 85-year-old began his career when he worked for Barry’s clothing 65 years ago.
Vital said the tailor there loved him very much, and the rest was history.
“He said to me, ‘Do you like the business?’” Vital recalls. “I said, ‘Hey, I do.’ He said, “Okay, I’m going to teach you everything I know. ”
“It’s become my love,” he continued. “It’s really not difficult when you know what you’re doing.”
Vitale decided to open her own store on Chalkstone Avenue back in 1972. Since then, he has had thousands of customers, including 12 news chief meteorologist Tony Petrarca and Dan McGowan of Boston Globe.
Vitale believes that he wouldn’t have been in business for such a long time if it weren’t for his connection with customers.
“They become friends naturally, and you miss them,” he said. “I don’t see them as clients.”
Vitale told 12 News that he thanked him for his memories over the past seventy years.
“If I knew how to write in English, I could actually write a book,” Vital said.
Vital said he plans to travel during his retirement because “he could never have done it before.”
“I became a slave to the business,” he said, adding that it was time for him to start enjoying life.
If Vitale does not sell his own store next Friday, he plans to make a liquidation sale before closing the door permanently.
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