Mariano Mendez Jr. began learning skills needed to become a tailor when he was a kid.
The owner of Mariano’s Custom Tailor at 3314 Beach Blvd. in the St. Nicholas area of Jacksonville often hung out at his father’s tailor shop, just a few blocks west of where Mendez Jr. is now.
Mariano Mendez Sr. was a second-generation tailor, at the very least.
His father, who emigrated from Santiago, Cuba, opened the family’s first tailor shop in Jacksonville in 1927. He began his career as a tailor in New York.
“His family in Cuba were tailors too. I have no idea how far back it goes. It’s just skills that are passed down,” Mendez Jr. said.
Mendez Sr. routinely gave his children tasks, like cleaning and straightening up, when they were at the store, which he opened in 1975.
Mendez Jr., the fourth of five children, was the only one who easily picked up the sewing skills his father shared with them.
His motivation to become a tailor was sparked in part by something teenagers frequently dream about: having their own car.
When he was in high school, his father asked, “‘Do you want a car?’ I was already going down there like every other weekend, or during the summers. He said, ‘If you come in and learn everything, I’ll give you a car,’” Mendez Jr. said.
“I picked it up like that. Show me one time and I had it. So he knew, he’s like, ‘Yeah, you should be a tailor.’”
He also liked, early on, to dress well. That was his other motivation.
“I would put on a suit, dress shoes, and go outside and play with my friends,” he said.
Mendez Jr., 52, is a custom tailor who makes custom-made suits, does alterations on clothing and designs suits and dresses.
He started working full-time at his father’s shop in 1993 when he was 22.
His grandfather, Pedro Mendez Sr., taught his three children — Mariano Sr., Pedro and Padrica — about the trade at his store at the Masonic Temple at 410 Broad St. in LaVilla in Downtown Jacksonville.
After Pedro Mendez Sr. died, his wife, Jaime Mendez, began running the shop.
All three children went into the profession, Mendez Jr. said. His aunt eventually took over the LaVilla store, and his uncle opened his own store.
Mariano Mendez Sr., who was a master tailor at 17, attended college at Florida A&M University to further his skills.
He had other jobs, including teaching in Duval County Public Schools, before deciding to start a business for himself. He opened Mariano’s Tailor Shop at age 37.
In addition to sewing, Mariano Mendez Sr. taught his son about taxes, inventory and customer service.
He eventually had a “succession” discussion with his son.
But it wasn’t long or formal, Mendez Jr. said.
“It was more or less a conversation, asking me did I want to continue doing it?” he said.
Mendez Jr. started running the shop in 2005 and took over the business completely in 2009.
“He still worked with me every day, but I took over running everything,” he said.
Mendez Sr. retired in January 2016 and passed away in September 2019 at age 80.
“This is in me. I’m the only one out of 10 grandchildren who picked up the skills,” Mendez Jr. said.
“I know he was surprised how quickly I learned — that he would show me one time and I would get it because he mentioned that to me several times,” he said.
His natural progression in learning various aspects of the business made the transition to running the shop easy, Mendez Jr. said.
“My parents would always go on vacation, starting when I graduated from high school. So I would run the store,” he said.
Mendez Jr. moved the business to a larger space two blocks east on Beach Boulevard in December 2020.
His shop is open six days a week. It is closed on Sunday.
He changed the name to Mariano’s Custom Tailor but kept much of what helped him sustain the business, including multiple generations of customers, and his father’s lessons in customer service.
“He remembered everyone’s name. I learned that from him,” Mendez Jr said.
“And no matter what, a customer that was coming in to get a hem or a customer that was coming in to get a suit made, he treated them the same. It was always high-class, top service.”
Mendez Jr. and his wife, Shermia, have two children.
Their daughter just graduated from college and plans to attend law school.
Their son is 7 and is “into video games,” his father said.
Mendez Jr. doesn’t really think about whether an eventual business succession will involve another generation in the Mendez family.
He is happy with running the business for a long time to come.
“The fact that I design (clothes), that’s the most satisfying thing. Something I create, and people wearing it,” he said.