John's Suit Shop reopens under new owner

This small store inside of a shopping center on south Glenstone has deep roots in the Ozarks.

"My dad opened the store in 1972 when I was nine years old," said Cassandra Divine.

Divine and her husband took over the business in 1988, and after more than 25 years working six days a week as the shops only two employees, they decided to retire.

"I had no intentions of selling. I thought, my dad opened the business and I was going to close the business until, Viktoriya showed up," said Divine.

Hawkins wanted the business to come and go as a family run operation, but couldn't ignore this prospective buyer.

"This girl is the one to do it. She's talented, artist, she knows fashion, she does alterations, couldn't have found a better girl on the earth," Divine explained.

After the sale, the new owners took on a lot of work to keep the store going strong.

"We spent about two months working together here painting, putting some lighting, a lot of touch ups here to make the space more welcoming," said Viktoriya Hawkins, current owner of John's Suit Shop.

While the decor may be new, Hawkins says the quality, selection, customer service and affordable pricing they've always offered hasn't changed.

"It's kind of sad when family owned businesses go out of business after so many years here in Springfield and considering that I have the perfect background, this would be so nice to keep this going," said Hawkins.

She says business has been a little slow since many people aren't aware the store is still open, but she hopes that will soon change.

"We are hoping that business will come back where it was before and that loyal customers will come back," said Hawkins.

John's Suit Shop is located at 1315 South Glenstone.