Jimmy's New York

This store, unknowingly then, would become the foundation of what Jimmy’s is today. Jimmy Jacobs opened a store called “Jimmy’s 2 Cents Plain and Fancy” after returning home from WWII. He opened a shop with leftover fabric and he taught himself how to sew a pair of pants…that’s how it all began. The store was originally geared towards men and boys but, as time continued, and Jimmy’s wife, Gloria,

entered the business, the name of the store was shortened to Jimmy’s and the merchandise in the store started to change. In the 1960s, Jimmy and Gloria stopped selling only American “preppy” menswear and traveled across the Atlantic. Starting first in London on Carnaby Street, Jimmy found suits for men. But Gloria had a vision when the two of them were in the south of France. In 1965 Gloria discovered “the bikini” and she insisted a basket of them be put in Jimmy’s. She brought back 50 bikinis and sold them in the store. Jimmy didn’t understand why he should put women’s bathing suits in a men’s store; but, Gloria was relentless and got her way. Within days, the bikinis sold out…and with that, the next phase of selling women’s clothing in Jimmy’s began. In the late 1970s, the Jacobs’ daughter Elizabeth and son-in-law Dominick Lepore joined the Jimmy’s team. Always forerunners in their business, Gloria and Jimmy needed a way to stay connected with their customer base and that’s when the 23-year-old Lepore duo began to make their mark. The “infamous foursome” – Jimmy, Gloria, Elizabeth, and Dominick – started to travel to Milan and Paris, finding labels such as Armani, Alaia, Valentino, Versace, Prada, and Ferrè. Throughout the 80s and 90s, the women’s merchandise in the store began to take precedence in both the Brooklyn location and the Westhampton Beach location, which opened in 1996. The Jimmys’ team travels the globe to carry up-and-coming designers from New York, Los Angelos, London, Paris, Milan, and more. The Jimmy’s family has now grown to encompass its third generation with the Lepore daughter Emily Lepore Jonap working alongside her parents. Regardless if a person walked into the store in 1950 or today, he or she will be able to feel the same level of service, customization, and excellence that was initiated by Jimmy Jacobs himself in the 1940s. In an article in Harper’s Bazaar it is written, “With a dedication that continues from one generation to the next, Jimmy’s continues to be a bastion of fashion and excitement and selection.”