H. Baskin has been dressing Pittsburgh since 1965.
That motto hangs on the wall of H. Baskin Clothier in the Galleria of Mt. Lebanon, 1500 Washington Road, as a testament to the company’s 60 years in business.
H. Baskin’s founder is Howard Baskin, 93, who began his career in his family’s retail store in Manchester on Pittsburgh’s North Side, and later worked at Gentry, a men’s specialty store in Shadyside.
When South Hills Village opened in 1965, the developers had trouble finding a better men’s store and approached Baskin, who jumped at the chance, opening Coventry, Ltd., which sold English wear men’s apparel. Although the name was properly registered, Sarah Coventry Jewelry Company filed a lawsuit, prompting Baskin to rename the store after himself.
A few years later, Baskin opened a small women’s boutique next to his men’s store in South Hills Village. He followed that with women’s stores in Ross Park Mall and Monroeville Mall, both of which are now closed. Baskin’s South Hills Village store closed in the mid-’90s and he retired in 1995.
The women’s boutique, still in operation today, moved to the Galleria of Mt. Lebanon in the early ‘90s, and is owned by Baskin’s daughter, Wendy Hutchinson, who wanted to keep it in the family when her dad retired. Hutchinson grew up in her dad’s business and intended to pursue a career in fashion merchandising, but ended up in corporate advertising and marketing for 15 years. When her employer moved to Chicago, she started interviewing for jobs, right around the time her dad’s store lost its manager.
“I had always worked with him in the summers, and at Christmas. I always went and helped him. So, I said, ‘Why don’t I just come and help you out?’ Then I just never left,” Hutchinson said.
Baskin is thrilled his daughter is continuing his retail legacy.
“My buttons are popping,” he said. “She does a wonderful job, really works hard, has great taste, and is very good with customers.”
Today, H. Baskin Clothier is a one-stop shop for a number of specialty lines and was one of the first stores to carry popular accessories from Brighton and Vera Bradley.
The retailer has weathered the storms of 9/11, when shoppers were afraid to go to malls, and the COVID-19 pandemic, when shoppers weren’t allowed in malls, as well as competition from big box stores that took many of its clothing lines away.
“We adapt to the customer, and we are very service oriented. We have a seamstress, we deliver, we mail, we wrap,” Hutchinson said.
When a longtime customer made a purchase recently, “we wrapped it, tissued it, bagged it, bowed it. I mean, you don’t get service like that anywhere,” Hutchinson said.
She’s continuing a tradition her dad started, wrapping purchases in beautiful boxes, adorned with ribbons and bows. “That’s what people remember. It makes it special. It’s always special to get a box from H. Baskin,” she said.
About 15 years ago, Baskin’s wife, Cheryl, who’s been in retail all her life, began working in the store. “We’re like two peas in a pod. She’s amazing, and she makes my life what it is every day. If she wasn’t there, I don’t know if I could do it, because what I don’t do, she does. We’re really good together,” he said. “Our customers, you know, they love us.”
Hutchinson’s love of fashion and her desire to keep the family business going are great incentives. “People can’t believe it’s 60 years old,” Hutchinson said. “We’ve gone through highs and lows and competition. Maybe I was doing this for my dad at the beginning. But, what would I do if I didn’t do this?”