Historic Denton Retailer Joins Downtown
It’s September in Denton and with that comes a new, exciting fall season with new students, fresh events, and even new places in Downtown Denton. It’s pretty routine to feel the rush of change that happens in a college town each year at this time, but despite all the change we find that much stays the same. Downtown’s have a way of keeping a town’s history alive and as Denton sees new people and places emerge you can always count on people returning to downtown for a visit or to plant some roots. This is why we are excited to welcome JT Clothiers, a new store to downtown, but not a new store to Denton.
JT Clothiers opened the first location as a men’s clothing store in 1970. In the mid- eighties, the store expanded to include ladies’ apparel. Then a move in 1986 to the new Southridge Village Shopping Center became home to JT Clothiers until the recent move to the historic downtown square.
The Tritt Family has a long history in retail beginning with Agnes and James Tritt, Sr. as Agnes started her first job with Evers Hardware ( James Sr. started his poultry business with the help of Mr. Evers.) Mrs. Tritt then worked at The Collegiate Shop. Agnes Tritt later opened her own ladies apparel store, Tritts in Denton Center on University Drive. James Tritt recently commented about returning to the square where he once roamed as a kid while his mom worked at The Collegiate Shop as he thought about the new location.
The idea to move from Southridge Village had been a topic of discussion with Jimmy, Nancy and James Tritt for some time, but the right location could not be found until Greg Johnson, with VERUS Realty, contacted Jimmy about the availability of the Thomas' building. The square has been emerging as a destination retail/entertainment venue, so the timing and location was perfect.
JT Clothiers opened up last week in the space that was once home to a long-time, dedicated downtown Denton business. The former Thomas' Ethan Allen was a store owned and operated by a family who firmly planted their roots here and one that helped downtown grow to become a great place to work, live and play. It's fitting that JT's is the new tenant for the retail space that was by the late Bill Thomas in 1962 who also started the very first Downtown Denton Business Association in 1964.
Denton was once a small community where these two families had businesses and knew of each other and brought quality products and merchandise to the people of Denton. The Tritt Family, one that has been in Denton and the surrounding area for over 100 years, will continue to be involved in their support of the local charities, the arts, and now the Denton Main Street Association. The Thomas family is still involved in the association Mr. Thomas helped start. It's safe to say that the children and grandchildren of these two retail entrepreneurs of early Denton will forever have memories of their youth in Downtown Denton and will continue to help others make more memories in a community where people really do know your name.
