Tux of Class turns 25

This month Antioch’s Tux of Class is celebrating 25 years of offering formal wear to the community. Lifelong resident of Antioch Judy Mori and her friend Fran Braxton opened the business because the only store in the area that offered men’s formal wear was closing. Braxton has worked for the other store and knew the time was right to open a new store.
“I had never worked in my life before we opened this store,” Mori said.
About the time that Braxton decided it was time to retire, Mori’s daughter, Gina Mori-Zebacnik, had just graduated from Fashion Institute and Design Merchandising college in San Francisco. Mori-Zebacnik bought Braxton out of the business and Mori-Zebacnik became Mori’s partner.
“This has been the best 17 years of my life,” Mori said about her daughter coming to work for her. It was actually Mori-Zebacnik who named the store “Tux of Class” at the age of 14.
Mori said that she isn’t quite sure if she can tell anyone what her key to success is. She said that people had asked her to answer that question over the years and since the beginning she has said that you can’t go into business with the idea that you’re going to get rich. “You have to make money to continue going in business, but most of the time you’re not going to get rich,” she said. “Money never was my number one priority in the beginning.”
She does explain that over the years she has kept active in the community and helping where she can. She also believes that customer service, no matter how corny it sounds, is very important to get people coming back. One of the best things about her business, Mori says, is that people keep coming back for different occasions in their life.
Mori also credits her employees for keeping the customers happy and doing a great job. Michelle Kiesz was hired on as manager for the store six years ago.
“Michelle knows every dress, every style and every tuxedo in the store,” Mori said. “Norine (Puccio) used to come in all the time spending money and my daughter said to her one day she should start working here and Norine said sure and put her purse down and started working.”
Tux of Class started with just offering men’s tuxedo and accessories. About six years ago the ladies decided to bring in prom and special occasion dresses. “Gina really has an eye for fashion and really knows the right clothes to bring in,” Mori said.
Mori has distributors from all over the country that she gets her designs from and is constantly restocking her shelves with new merchandise. They offer formal wear for all occasions and celebrations as well as accessories that match. Mori said another thing she attributes to her success is that she offers a no time limit layaway plan. “That really helps especially during these hard times,” she said.
Tux of Class is located at 43 E. 18th Street in Antioch. They are open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. Coming in February they will also be opening on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, call them at 757-5020.