Dressing for success

New owners move business, adding products

Melanie Barry opens boxes at Crescent Uniforms and Supplies, which has moved to a larger space in the same strip mall. Del Norte Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

Rick and Melanie Barry bought Crescent Uniforms and Supplies from longtime owners Dorothy and John Fay in September and relocated the shop to a larger space in the same strip mall on Northcrest Drive.

Inside the spacious new store, neat layers of army green, tan and navy blue line the racks. Scrubs splash one corner with bright bands of color and funky patterns. Lettermen jackets hang near the front, awaiting customization. A book on the counter showcases rental tuxedos on dapper young men, lovely ladies lurking in the background. Official patches are kept in glass display cases on the wall.

And a banner in the back announces the next step for Crescent Uniforms — guns. Rick Barry hopes to secure a federal firearms license by the new year so they can sell handguns, long guns, shotguns and rifles.

The Barrys are new to retail, but they already know the merchandise and the clientele well.

After a decade as a sheriff’s deputy, Melanie Barry runs the store full-time now while serving as a volunteer reservist. She said the switch wasn’t such a stretch.

“As a deputy in a small town you do just about everything. It’s another form of customer service. It’s nice to be positive to people. A lot of times you deal with people as a deputy and it’s not always a positive thing for them or they wouldn’t be calling you,” she said.

The store features uniforms for law enforcement, scrubs, lettermen jackets and tuxedo rentals. The owners hope to soon add firearms to their merchandise. Del Norte Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

“We usually have our little ones running around and helping, or not. Maybe just making messes,” Melanie Barry said.

Besides two behind-the-scenes seamstresses who do the sewing and alterations, the Barrys’ eldest daughter is the only other employee.

Business has been good so far, thanks to regular clients who work as correctional officers, firefighters, EMTs, police officers, sheriffs deputies, park rangers and nurses.

“I think there will be people wearing uniforms here in this county forever. It’s just a matter of where they want to spend their money,”  Melanie Barry said. “We can get just about anything they can get online and you can try it on before you buy.”

The store also offers custom clothing alterations, embroidery, and tux rentals.

“I love coming to work now. There’s never a bad day here,” she said. “We get new people in everyday. I guess like any job you just get out what you put in to it.”

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