Technically, Ohio Knitting Mills' first retail store in Cleveland is temporary. "But the reception has been tremendous," says owner Steve Tatar, "and it's encouraging for staying the long term."

Tatar's Ohio Knitting Mills sells sweaters and other apparel manufactured long ago -- between 1947 and 1974 -- by a large Cleveland-based company of the same name. "Beginning after World War II, the Mill plucked samples of each style they produced and put them into storage," the website explains. "We've opened this time capsule, and offer to you our collection of perfectly preserved American fashion and industrial craftsmanship."

In addition to selling online, Tatar ran a retail shop in Brooklyn, N.Y., for a couple years before returning to Cleveland in 2008. The new "pop-up shop", at 6505 Detroit Rd. in the Gordon Square Arts District (the former home of Room Service), has been well received, even by those who know nothing of the company's intriguing story.

"At first people were coming in and were like, 'This is cool -- what am I looking at? Who are you, what are you doing here?'" Tatar explains. So the store has become something of a gallery or museum, reviving interest in Cleveland's extensive but unheralded history as a garment-manufacturing center.

The store is also helping Tatar meet more Clevelanders who are creating things, like clothing and furniture, and slowly creating national buzz in their respective industries. Ohio in general, and Cleveland in particular, are reclaiming their reputations for high-quality manufacturing. As Tatar put its, "We still have the souls of makers."

Source: Steve Tatar
Writer: Frank W. Lewis