By admin 
It seemed much like a normal Monday afternoon when a reporter recently stopped by the long-running Brittons clothing store on Devine Street in Columbia.
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Proprietors Stacy Levinson and Perry Lancaster, the married couple who has long worked the business together, were bustling across the store, dealing directly with customers who were looking for new things to wear.
Levinson was back in the women’s section of the store, showing the latest fashions to longtime customers, some of whom left with their arms literally full of new jackets, blouses and more. Lancaster, meanwhile, was hustling around up in the men’s section of Brittons, a trademark measuring tape looped around his neck, helping a young customer pick out a new sport coat he needed for an upcoming speech and presentation at a local high school.
It was a scene that has become commonplace at Brittons, the specialty shop that has been a go-to clothing destination for generations of Columbians, from lawyers to University of South Carolina football coaches to everyday folks looking for new threads for a special occasion.
But it also was the kind of scene that holds bittersweet undertones. A sort of preamble to a farewell.
Brittons’ recently announced that it is in its “final season” and will close its doors at the end of the year. While things are business as usual for now, the clothier is planning its final day to be Dec. 24. It will mark the end of a nearly eight-decade run for the family-owned business.
Arnold Levinson — Stacy’s father — started the business in 1947 with a shop at 1337 Main Street. The company later had other store locations, including at the Dutch Square mall. The current Devine Street Brittons location opened in 1996.
There has been an overwhelming response to Brittons announcement that it will close later this year, with a Sept. 7 Facebook video touting the final season garnering more than 40,000 views. It was the kind of announcement that undoubtedly left many customers wondering, “Why now?”
Lancaster, who has been with the company for 51 years, said the timing is simply right for a new adventure.
“It’s just time to start a new chapter in our lives,” Lancaster said. “The store has been here for eight decades. I’ve been here for five of them. Stacy has been here for six of them. It’s just time to move on. It’s been a good, amazing run.”
Levinson noted that business at Brittons has ebbed and flowed through the decades. But business has been quite strong in recent years and at the current moment, with the shop having continued to be a leader in bespoke fashion. Now Levinson and Lancaster are looking forward to doing some traveling, she said.
“We are on top of the game now,” Levinson said. “We are young enough, and thank goodness we have saved something. We have no children. We can go and see the world.”
‘They are like family’
Lancaster has become synonymous with Brittons across the five decades he’s been with the clothier.
An outgoing, ebullient character, he is ever at the ready with his aforementioned measuring tape, and keeps numerous pins stuck into the cuff of his jacket sleeve, ready to make adjustments.
A member of the Capital City Rotary, he’s seemingly never met a stranger, and greets customers on the shop floor and works the phones as if every interaction is with an old friend. There are cardboard cutouts of him and his smiling visage posted in the store, leftovers from a party celebrating his 50th anniversary with Brittons. He even has a personalized license tag on his car that says “RAGMAN,” a reference to his years in the clothing business.
During a recent chat with The State, Lancaster was briefly interrupted when a customer came in to return a tuxedo that had been rented for a wedding. Lancaster said Brittons has long recognized the responsibility in providing people clothing for celebratory, special and even solemn occasions.
“The responsibility is, when they are at their wedding, they are representing themselves and representing Brittons,” Lancaster said. “I’m not going to send them out of here unless it fits right and looks great.
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“It’s dressing them for their first job interview, it’s dressing them for their wedding, it’s dressing them for their first big speech in front of their high school class. It’s for their 80th birthday or 100th birthday.”
Levinson and Lancaster were married in April 1996, just days before the Devine Street Brittons location debuted. Levinson has often quipped that she is the “director” and Lancaster is the “producer” at the store, a nod to their teamwork and their flair for fashion.
“What we share in common is a passion for the business,” Levinson said.
Through the years, Levinson has kept some of her most loyal customers in mind with a game she calls “Red Rover.” Basically, when new fashions or designs arrived at the store, and she thought they might be a good match for specific customers, she would call them, and the game was on.
“Something would come in super special, and I would think of a customer, so I would call the customers,” Levinson said. “I would call the people and say ‘Red Rover.’ They had 24 hours to get here, and if they didn’t come within 24 hours, they would get kicked out of the game.”
To this day, Levinson said there are still several people in the game.
On a recent day when The State stopped by Brittons, longtime customer Linda Hart Smith was browsing the store. She has been shopping at Brittons for 50 years. It is the personal touch that has made it special, Smith said.
“They are like family,” Smith said of the store and its owners and staff. “I absolutely feel that way. I wonder where in the world I’m going to find something to wear (after the shop closes). I feel like this is a very personal store. They are more interested in the person than making the sale.”
Memories run deep
As Brittons continues toward its December farewell, Lancaster has been fondly remembering fun and noteworthy moments for the store.
For instance, there was the time in 2014 when the store participated in an event that set a Guinness Book of World Records mark for the most bowties tied simultaneously. (It was 823 ties, for the record.)
Or the time that Brittons supplied the garnet-and-black striped tie that USC football coach Steve Spurrier wore during his introductory press conference when he came to coach the Gamecocks. That tie went on to be an all-time best-seller for Brittons, and the store has continued to provide apparel for USC coaches.
Lancaster said interacting with customers is what he will miss the most once he has retired. He also noted the pride the store has taken in going to market in places like New York and Chicago and bringing fashionable styles back to the Columbia store.
“The behind the scenes of running a specialty store is just unbelievable,” Lancaster said. “We love bringing it back to Columbia and bringing it back to the customer.”
Meanwhile, the memories are felt deeply for Levinson, whose father started the business. She recalled, with a smile and a tear in her eye, the occasions when she just was a little girl and would go to Brittons with her mother and help out.
“I remember being in a downtown store and being in alterations and them sewing on the buttons and letting me play with fabric and threads,” Levinson said. “I’d go in the office and make little stamps. I’d help unpack the clothes and make the boxes.”
As Brittons continues its steady march through its final season, Levinson said she plans to embrace the beauty of life in her next chapter.
“I am turning very spiritual lately,” she told The State. “I want to take a deep breath and enjoy the kindness and beauty that the world has right in front of me.”
As for the customers, many will be sad to see Brittons go. But they will perhaps most miss the store’s beloved proprietors. Linda Hart Smith, the aforementioned 50-year customer, said that will be the case for her.
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“I’ll miss Brittons, and I’ll really miss Stacy and Perry,” Smith said.