Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Helene Simone, owner of The French Tailor, Tuxedo and Cleaners at 14577 Big Basin Way, runs two businesses at one storefront: a tailoring business on the left, and a deli on the right.
Rent a tux, buy a bagel and get a hem under a one roof
By Rebecca Ray
When Helene Simone moved her tailoring business to the former location of the Country Store Cafe, she didn't view the counter, ovens and sinks as obstacles to be removed. She saw them as a way to expand.
For six years, the Campbell resident has run The French Tailor, Tuxedo and Cleaners--a combination tailoring business and deli--from 14577 Big Basin Way. On the left side of the store are racks of clothes. And on the right side is a deli counter, where workers sell pizza, bagel dogs, burritos, coffee, juice, soda, muffins and Danishes.
Simone and her employees sell and rent men's suits and tuxedos, including those from overseas; do alterations on men's and women's wear; do dry cleaning and laundry; design suits; and carry men's accessories, such as shoes, ties and cufflinks.
Custom and ready-made ordering is available for shirts, shoes, suits, dresses, tuxedos and top hats. In fact, Simone said she and her employees will do anything customers ask, including making suits and dresses--and even pillow covers and table cloths--out of fabric that customers bring in.
Simone buys food from wholesalers that's quick to prepare, since she and her employees don't have time to prepare meals from scratch.
Simone has run her own tailoring business since 1984, when it was located down the street, closer to Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road. She ran the store at that location until her lease ran out six years ago.
Before she started her own business, Simone managed the bridal, men's and alteration departments at Bullocks, and was in charge of the Bullocks distribution center in Campbell. Once a month, she'd visit all five store locations to evaluate employees and make sure they did their work properly.
Soon after her job at Bullocks ended after three years, Simone opened The French Tailor on Big Basin Way.
Simone has been involved in clothes design since she was growing up in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Simone, who had four brothers and six sisters, would follow her dad to the clothing and design business he owned, and watch him work. When she married, she made her first wedding dress and suit--for herself and her husband. She made another dress for herself, one she could dance in, that she wore under her wedding dress.
Later, Simone worked for her father at his store, designing clothes and making patterns, while she attended the Fashion Arts Institute in Montreal. She earned a degree there in women's apparel and men's designer suits. She still remembers her first order--a dress with an Elizabethan collar, long torso and flared skirt for a choral singer.
The clothing industry isn't the only one in which Simone has worked. While she attended school and worked for her father, she said she also worked in the external affairs division for Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's office.
Simone said she moved with her father to California because Canada was too cold, and California had better weather. "This kind of climate here is the best in the world," she said, adding that whenever she travels somewhere and returns to California, "it's like heaven."
When she first arrived in California, she raised two boys during the day and worked part time as a nurse at night for about a year. But this was too hard, so she applied to work at Bullocks, and Bullocks personnel put her in charge of a department right away. Between nursing and tailoring, "there is no comparison," she said.
The deli isn't the only unique feature at Simone's tailoring business. Simone has also sold California state lottery tickets at her business since the first day the lottery started, because she sees it as a way to attract customers.
Her clients, who come from places as far away as Reno and Carmel, include famous locals: Tim Koogle, the former president of Yahoo! who is becoming its chairman of the board; and Dan Rusanowsky, the radio announcer for the San Jose Sharks.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
