thedailycal:

Jim the Tailor closes after 50 years just off Telegraph

A modest and unassuming shop off of Telegraph Avenue, Jim the Tailor is filled with pressed suits, an ironing board and the exuberant personality of the store’s owner and tailor, Helmut Drewes.

Drewes, who has worked at Jim the Tailor for 50 years, will close his shop’s door for the last time on Friday to start his retirement. The store was named after the original owner who left the shop to Drewes’ father and has long been a fixture in the Telegraph community.

As a close witness to the transformation of the greater Telegraph area throughout the past five decades, Drewes has a unique perspective on one of the most tumultuous eras in Berkeley history.

“There were times we went home around 2:30 or 3 o’clock at night because it was too violent outside the shop, you 

know, with tear gas and stuff like that,” Drewes said. “Coming in the mornings was sort of similar to having to go into combat, with all the anxiety, because you were always wondering if your shop was still there.”

(Photo: Sebastian Miller-Hack/Staff)

source: dailycal.org