NEW OWNERS have taken over the old Peter Anthony Menswear building in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Shepparton's Paul Kapsalis and Joe Care have taken over the store and renamed it Joe Paul Menswear and want to continue what has become a long tradition of selling men's clothes at the site.
It was home to Norris Men's Land for decades, before Peter Anthony's Menswear took over, Mr Kapsalis said.
"I love the location and the history of the shop. People know to go there to buy a suit," he said.
Plans to officially open the new store were scrapped when the last lockdown was announced the evening before the launch.
"At 4.30 in the afternoon I got told we were going into lockdown and at 4.45 the new signs arrived," Mr Kapsalis said.
That did not daunt him or Mr Care, who instead opened their newest store last weekend.
"We had a great trade," Mr Kapsalis said.
People seemed to go out of their way to support the business because it was opening a new store in the age of COVID-19, he said.
He and Mr Care founded the first Joe Paul Menswear store in Shepparton five years ago.
"We've done pretty well despite the pandemic. We still have a pretty good following and people seem to like what we are doing," Mr Kapsalis said.
"It's a very 'city' kind of look, but it's in the country, if that makes sense? All of our shops are in country Victoria."
Mr Kapsalis said the pair wanted to keep existing clients but also draw in a new generation with a collection of bolder designs and prints as well as an upcoming online store launch.
Mr Kapsalis said Joe Paul sources a lot of its goods from Europe as well as Australia and New Zealand.
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