A clothing store with locations in Sarasota and Tampa that specializes in custom suits, dress shirts, and coats for men is expanding to St. Petersburg and will open a retail location on the ground floor of the Camden Central Apartments at 855 Central Avenue Suite C in downtown St. Pete.

According to Tweeds Suit Shop owner Donald Carlson, the store is on track to open by March 1st, although he told St. Pete Rising that he hopes to be up and running sooner than that. Tweeds will open next to another clothing store, an upscale pre-owned women's boutique named Top Buttons, which is also expected to open in 2024.

“What I’m going to do with this space will be amazing,” he said. “It’s 1,500 square feet. It will be above and beyond and can’t wait to introduce Tweeds to the residents of St. Pete.”

Tweeds Suit Shop offers custom-tailored suits starting at $1,699 and costing as much as $5,000 or more depending on what collection — Core, Definitive, or Heritage — the customer chooses. 

The shop also sells tuxedos for $1,999 and up, sport coats for $1,250 and up, dress shirts for $295 and up, and overcoats for $1,299 and up.

Custom suits are usually ready between four and six weeks after the initial consultation and fitting, which takes 30-45 minutes, but Tweeds can process rush orders in as little as 10 days.

Walk-ins are welcome Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. but appointments must be made on Mondays and Sundays.

Tweeds is a relatively new enterprise, having opened in Sarasota in 2022 and then launching a Tampa location near Oxford Exchange two months ago. Carlson said the store stocks a small ready-to-wear collection but prioritizes custom clothing. 

“New clients who come in, we want to give them the best custom suit buying experience they’ve ever had,” he said. “There’s a full bar in the back. There are private measuring sessions. We want them to walk out and be like, ‘Man, that was worth it!’”

According to Carlson, the advantages of buying a custom, hand-tailored suit include total control of every aspect of the clothing, from fabric and stitching to button placement. But more importantly, he said, “It’s the fit itself right? There are certain things you just can’t change about a pre-made garment.” 

“With our process, we take 30 different measurement points to create the fit. From there, we put you in one of our suits and we take pictures so we know exactly what needs to be changed to get the perfect fit,” he explains, “It also gives us a reference point of what the client wants.”

He added, “I think we have the most extensive measuring process there is. And for us, it's probably the most important part because when the suit comes in, we want it to be perfect. Because when the customer puts the suit on, and they feel like a million bucks, that’s such a great first impression of the product.”

Carlson was born in Port Charlotte but as he grew up, his career path took him in a much different direction. He said he was obsessed with magic and got a job as a magician at Universal Studios in Orlando after he graduated from high school. He would also perform street magic in downtown Sarasota and at local malls.

“Magic was my life from seventh grade until I was about 20,” he said. “All I did was practice magic. There are a lot of creative minds in magic but I was never able to creatively come up with my own magic tricks. So, I would always practice other people's techniques, read books, go to magic conventions, and learn from the best of the best.” 

But clothing and fashion were always on the periphery for Carlson — his parents owned a dry-cleaning business and he would work there during summer breaks from school. After leaving his job at Universal Studios, he moved back to the Sarasota area and went to work for his parents, helping them add a mobile pickup and delivery service to their dry-cleaning business.  

“Around 2017, I started to get burned out and knew that this wasn’t what I wanted to do,” Carlson said. “I just couldn’t see myself taking over the business. I was in a weird place for about two years.”

In 2019, Carlson and his fiancé took a 10-day road trip, during which time he came up with the idea for Tweeds Suit Shop. But he couldn’t afford a brick-and-mortar location, so he got creative.  

“The day we got back from that trip from that trip, I sold my car, I bought a 16-foot box truck, and we started building out the business,” Carlson said. “I found two guys who literally built a suit shop inside the truck. Then I started reaching out to my base of clients from the dry-cleaning industry. People wanted to support it; they thought it was cool.”

Tweeds Suit Shop will open on the ground floor of of the Camden Central Apartments at 855 Central Avenue Suite C in early 2024.

For more information and updates, follow Tweeds Suit Shop on Instagram.