Smith's Men's Store In Lake Forest Closes After 82 Years

LAKE FOREST, IL — After more than eight decades of selling suits and other menswear to generations of Lake Forest residents and visitors, Smith's Men's Store has closed for good. Owner John Tadel decided to permanently shutter the shop on Western Avenue last weekend, Pioneer Press reported.

The store was first opened by Walter Smith at Market Square in 1937 before moving to the former Emporium Luggage spot at 660 Western Ave. in the mid-1960s. It moved to its final location at 770 N. Western Ave. in 1988, when Tadel and former co-owner Chris Yore purchased the business from Smith's son, Brooks.

Tadel began working at the shop after finishing college in 1972. At the time he had been expecting to be drafted for the Vietnam War, he recalled in a 2011 Inside Lake Forest interview.

The Lake Forest native made sure that "generations of Lake Forest residents were 'dressed to impress'" and "despite changing retail trends, remained loyal to our community," according to a resolution in his honor adopted by aldermen last month.

"John offered not only a personalized shopping experience, but also friendship to all who entered his store," it said. "John and Smith's Men's Store will be missed and remembered."

Earlier: Smith's Men's Store Remains True to Its Trade

As men's clothing stores in nearby communities shut down over the years, Smith's began to seen an increasing share of customers from other towns, Tadel told Inside Lake Forest.

"We've always kind of tried to keep what we call a traditional look, and especially for this particular area, the whole North Shore," he said.

Tadel rejected e-commerce and described Smith's as "a traditional conservative store that never tried to be anything we are not," according to a 2012 report on the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Patch.

"We have no internet presence and hold only two sales a year," he said.

Pioneer Press reported Tadel had been planning to remain open until the end of June but decided it would be best to shut up shop on Saturday, the day before Father's Day.

Tadel, who plans to stay in the area, told the Lake Forester he will appreciate no longer working long hours or missing family events. Whatever clothes he did not sell in his closeout sale would be donated to a veteran's group, he said.

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