BOARDMAN, Ohio – During the 50 years it’s been in business, a women’s clothing boutique has weathered the closure of Mahoning Valley steel mills, the loss of one of its founders and the Covid-19 pandemic.
But Suzanne Kessler, who owns Suzanne’s in the Presidential Square Shopping Center, has no plans to stop.
Kessler, her mother, Marjorie Cless, and sister, Kathy Kane, opened the business in November 1975 in Niles as the Tennis Connection.
At the time, there weren’t any stores in the Mahoning Valley that specialized in tennis equipment, clothing and accessories. The sisters played tennis, and their mother was a tennis instructor. Their store sold tennis racquets and clothing and other items for tennis and golf for men, women and children, drawing customers from throughout the Valley and the Cleveland area.
“So that was great, but then my sister passed away after we were in business 14 years,” Kessler said. “Then I moved to Boardman. I met my husband, who’s from Boardman, and we moved the business here. And then I didn’t want to be in tennis anymore, and so we changed it over to a boutique.”
The store has been at its 813 Boardman-Poland Road location for 30 years.
“I think we’re the oldest tenant in this plaza,” Kessler said.
Kessler and the store draw a loyal following.
“We have a lot of our original customers. Their kids and grandkids come in now,” Kessler said.
Judy Schmutz of Boardman and her daughter, Jill Maughan of Canfield, are among them.
“I’m 81 and I think I went to Suzanne’s as soon as we heard about the store,” Schmutz said. “I was a tennis player at the time, and it was a big deal to go all the way over to Niles at that time.”
The first time Schmutz went to the store she met Kessler, Cless and Kane.
“And we just all hit it off and found out we knew some of the same people,” she said. “I just felt so comfortable there, and we’ve been friends ever since.”
She continued her patronage when the store moved to Boardman and Kessler switched to a boutique. Schmutz brought her daughter when she was a child, and she grew up to love the store and its staff as well.
Suzanne’s carries brands and styles not available at other Valley stores.
“So great brands, trendy, like on trend, but not trendy that they’re going to go out of style,” Maughan said. “And, truly, Suzanne and her staff make you feel like you’re shopping with friends. And so we love to go there because it’s fun.”
The styles are current but not so much that you can only wear them for a season or a year, Schmutz explained.
“We both still have some classic standbys that we wouldn’t trade for anything,” she said.
Maughan likes to buy gifts at Suzanne’s, and both women call the store whenever they need an outfit for a special occasion. Kessler even sets items aside for the mother and daughter, texting them when something arrives she believes they’ll like.
Schmutz appreciates that Kessler and others at the store offer suggestions about styles and colors that suit her best.
“And sometimes we go in there just thinking we’re going to say hello, and guess what, we come out with a lot of bags – just wonderful things,” she said.
And customers span all ages.
“We carry a lot of casual wear, comfort wear, a little bit of dressy things – but not formal attire – and things from Italy,” she said. “A lot of things are made in the U.S.”
That includes a variety of jewelry and accessories that line the store and travel clothing that may be packed without worry of wrinkling.
To ensure the store appeals to her customers, Kessler keeps abreast of the latest trends, traveling to New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Las Vegas in search of new styles. Leopard print and gloves bearing artist’s prints are some popular finds.
She points to Covid when the store shut down as one of the most challenging periods for her business. The store switched to selling online during the shutdown.
There have been other challenges too.
“When we started our business in ’75, the local economy was terrible because all the steel mills were closing,” Kessler recalled. “The Youngstown economy hasn’t always been the easiest to deal with, but we’ve managed to find some good customers that have stayed with us.”
She credits her seven employees for the store’s longevity.
“I say you have to have a good staff to keep it going this long, and the women that work for me are really good,” Kessler said. “They take a lot of time with customers, and so I think that’s a big thing.”
Vicki Antenucci started working at Suzanne’s in 2017. But she was a customer first. Suzanne’s son, Henry, was a student of Antenucci’s in Liberty Schools, and she learned about the store from him.
She visited and was attracted to the unique pieces not available at other stores and became a regular. When she was preparing to retire from teaching, she ran into Kessler at a fundraiser and Kessler asked her to come work at the store.
“So I came, and it’s just fun,” Antenucci said. “It’s a nice little store. We know most of the customers by name, and then it’s always fun when we get new customers too, because it’s fun to turn them on to all the different things we have.”
The staff all get along well, their strengths complementing one another. Antenucci admires how Kessler can spot an item or assemble an outfit with a particular customer in mind.
Kessler enjoys her work and has no retirement plans.
“I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t work every day,” Kessler said.
One regret she has is that her mother, who died last year, didn’t live to see the store’s golden anniversary.
“She was such a big part of our starting this store,” Kessler said. “And I just wish I could call her and say, ‘Mom, we made it to 50 years.’”
Pictured at top: Suzanne Kessler, owner of Suzanne’s at 813 Boardman-Poland Road, Boardman.