Much has changed since the late Ohannes “John” Yacoubian opened Yacoubian Tailors in 1969, when the store was filled with bolts of fabric he used to make custom clothing for clients.
These days, two of his children — Hovig Yacoubian and Ani Yacoubian Riggs — run the store, the interior of which is now used to display ready-to-wear offerings. Over the years, those offerings have gone from mostly suits and sport coats to more casual sportswear, says Riggs, who does the buying for the women’s clothing and the men’s sportswear.
Hovig Yacoubian says people were starting to dress more casually before the pandemic, but that time period really cemented the end of formal dressing in everyday life.
Riggs recalls her father’s reaction when she added denim to the store’s inventory more than a decade ago.
“He didn’t think he would ever sell jeans,” she says of John Yacoubian, who passed away earlier this year.