Clifton’s closes in Ogden after seven decades on Washington Boulevard
An undated photo shows the Clifton's Ladies Apparel store front on Washington Boulevard in Ogden.
Clifton’s Ladies Apparel is shown here Friday, Oct. 27, 2017, in Ogden. The business has been at the same location for more than 70 years, and will be closing for good.
A page taken from a 1947 Standard-Examiner shows an advertisement for the newly opened Clifton’s Ladies Apparel.
An advertisement for Clifton’s Ladies Apparel from a 1975 Standard-Examiner page.
Clifton’s Ladies Apparel is shown here Friday, Oct. 27, 2017, in Ogden. The business has been at the same location for more than 70 years, and will be closing for good.
Donna Cole looks through the racks at Clifton’s Ladies Apparel Friday, Oct. 27, 2017, in Ogden. Friday, Oct. 27, 2017, in Ogden. The business has been at the same location for more than 70 years, and will be closing for good.
William Luck, right, rests in a chair as his wife Karen Luck looks for a skirt she had noticed earlier Friday, Oct. 27, 2017, inside Clifton’s Ladies Apparel in Ogden. The business has been at the same location for more than 70 years, and will be closing for good. “When I worked, this is where I came, our daughters’ prom dresses were bought here,” Karen Luck said, “One of our daughter’s wedding dresses came from here…it just breaks your heart.”
OGDEN — For more than seven decades, Clifton’s Ladies Apparel has been a constant on Washington Boulevard.
But before the year is out, one of Ogden’s longest standing businesses will close its doors for good.
Sisters Janith Wright and Lavon Jennings, co-owners of Clifton’s, announced earlier this week they would be closing the women’s clothing store after 71 years. A close-out sale began on Thursday and will continue until the majority of Clifton’s remaining merchandise is purchased.
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SARAH WELLIVER/Standard-Examiner
Sisters and store owners Janith Wright, left, and Lavon Jennings, right, stand inside Clifton’s Ladies Apparel Friday, Oct. 27, 2017, in Ogden. The business has been at the same location for more than 70 years, and will be closing for good.
The store was founded by the sisters’ parents, George and Mary Clifton, in February 1946. The store has operated at a few different locations, but always in the same general area, near 23rd Street on Washington Boulevard.
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Wright and Jennings say they’re closing the store for a variety of reasons, but especially to spend more time with family.
“We went back and forth for awhile,” Wright said. “But we finally just realized it’s time. It’s hard because this business is like our home and these customers are like our family.”
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The sisters began working in the store as children, doing odd jobs and filling in wherever they could. The pair say they’ve been working there for so long, they don’t really remember when they officially took over management of the establishment.
“That’s the thing, I don’t really know exactly when we took over because we were kind of always here,” Wright said. “We had responsibilities here very early on.”
Needless to say, they’ve dedicated their lives to the business — an incredible feat, especially considering they were each full-time teachers and had nine children between them.
“We took turns covering for each other,” Wright said. “If I had an important school or family activity, Lavon would cover for me and I’d do the same for her when she had something. We never really missed anything important.”
Through the years, the sisters have had an insider’s view of Ogden’s ever-changing downtown.
“There were the days when Washington Boulevard was one of the busiest (shopping areas) in Utah,” Jennings said. “It was a big deal to come shopping down here. People would get dressed up for it.
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Standard-Examiner
A full-page advertisement for Clifton’s Ladies Apparel from a 1955 Standard-Examiner.
“But then you also had a time when all of the small mom and pop shops down here started leaving one by one,” she said. “We’ve kind of seen it all.”
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The Ogden Mall, both its arrival and its departure, represented the largest transformations of the downtown, the sisters say.
When the mall opened in 1980, on land now occupied by The Junction, Clifton’s was forced to move across the street.
“When the mall came, we kind of got shoveled off and had to move,” Jennings said. “A lot of people didn’t like the mall and thought it (negatively impacted other businesses), but we didn’t mind it. For a while, the mall kind of kept the downtown alive.”
Jennings said the store has a mailing list of “thousands” and has regular customers that come from Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado and even as far as California.
Bobbi Orris, a consultant hired by Clifton’s to oversee the sale and closing, works for G.A. Wright, Inc. out of Denver. The company specializes in retail store closing sales and high impact sale promotions. Orris said Clifton’s customer base is among the most loyal she’s ever seen.
“It’s been a madhouse (since the sale began),” Orris said. “And almost everybody in here is a longtime, loyal customer.”
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SARAH WELLIVER/Standard-Examiner
Long-time customer Susan Brockbank, right, is greeted by Clifton’s co-owner Lavon Jennings, left, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017, inside the ladies apparel store in Ogden.
Ogden resident Pat Brown perused the store on Friday and said she’s a third generation Clifton’s shopper.
“My grandmother used to come from Evanston (Wyoming) to shop here,” Brown said. “So I can’t even tell you how many years I’ve been coming here. I don’t know what I’ll do now (the store is closing). Wear rags I guess.”
Longtime Weber County resident Susan Brockbank has shopped at the store since the 1970s.
“They just have a way of finding the right things for the right people,” Brockbank said. “I’m going to miss it. A lot of people are going to miss it.”
Wright and Jennings say the feeling is mutual.
“We’ve met so many fantastic people and made so many good friends here,” Wright said. “That’s been the best part of all of this.”
You can reach reporter Mitch Shaw at mishaw@standard.net or at 801-625-4233. Follow him on Twitter at @mitchshaw23 or like him on Facebook.
