Rainwater?s Clothing Opens New Store

Gale Dean Rainwater started working in his family’s clothing store in Fort Smith when he was in junior high school, setting the stage for him to open the family’s only franchise 25 or so years later. Rainwater’s Clothing has provided men’s business and upscale casual wear for 28 years. The Fayetteville store is a natural progression for the business, Rainwater said.

The shop specializes in men’s tailored clothing, better men’s sportswear and custom dress shirts. It also carries high-end men’s shoes, such as Allen Edmonds, Cole Haan and Johnson & Murphy.

Some of the suits it carries include Coppley, Jack Victor Tailored Clothing, the Gianni Manzoni suit line and Joseph Abboud, which is one of several American designer lines in the store. Its more casual lines include Cutter & Buck, Scott Barber, Timberland and Tommy Bahama, a men’s line that includes resort-type shirts.

“What sets us apart is the fact that we do the custom suits and we’re good at tailoring clothing and fitting it to the customers properly,” Rainwater said. “We’re also good at designing a man’s full wardrobe.”

The shop also stands out because the staff is willing to provide a lot of personal service, such as alterations, layaway and delivery, Rainwater added.

The shop’s variety of fine men’s fashion attracts men from “college-age guys to retired gentlemen,” he said.

Rainwater and assistant manager Donny Hubbard handle much of the operations with the help of a few part-time staffers and alterations experts.

Rainwater’s is located in a 2,400-SF shop in the Spring Creek Centre shopping center, near Shogun restaurant on East Joyce Boulevard. Rainwater estimates that $200,000 was spent to open the new shop.