WB_071218

10 | July 12, 2018 | The wilmette beacon NEWS
wilmettebeacon.com
Family keeps things buzzing at Wilmette Tailors & Cleaners
Longtime business
opened in 1931
Hilary Anderson
Freelance Reporter
They possess the magic
to make teddy bears, rag
dolls, dinosaurs and unicorns
clean again.
Kurt and Rita Raggi, the
third-generation owners of
Wilmette Tailors & Cleaners,
819 Ridge Road, are
truly full-service.
“My step-grandfather,
Larry Schaefer, started
this business in 1931,”
Kurt Raggi said. “He built
this store in the 1940s.”
Brown paper garment
bags that covered clothes
back then attested to the
store’s origin with the
printing, “Larry’s Wilmette
Tailors and Cleaners.”
One of the original
garment bags is framed
and hangs in the front of
the store.
“Larry Shaefer’s name
is no longer on the sign,”
Rita Raggi said. “He is 95
years old now and moved
out of the area. The only
difference between then
and now is the phone number.
The original four-digit
phone number “2433”
remains the same but acquired
an Alpine or “251”
Wilmette prefix probably
in the 1940s.”
The dedication of the
owners remains even
though the last names are
different.
“Larry Schaefer had a
son, Pete,” Kurt Raggi
said. “He had six children
with his first wife but none
of them wanted to work
in this [cleaners] store.
My mother married Pete
Schaefer in 1976 so when
he decided to retire, we
purchased it.”
The Raggis work together.
They are there every
day.
“If you have a question
or concern, one of us owners
is always here,” Rita
Raggi said. “But we have
good help. It is like a family
here.”
Louis Anta, the store’s
presser who the Raggis
say can fix anything mechanical,
has been part
of Wilmette Tailors and
Cleaners for 16 years.
Olga Maldanado, their
tailor and seamstress extraordinaire,
recently
marked her 11th year with
the store.
She graduated from an
Ecuador school that taught
sewing and tailoring.
“Olga can sew or repair
just about kind of garment
customers bring in,”
Rita Raggi said. “She can
even alter wedding gowns
and bridesmaid and prom
dresses.”
All of the garment
cleaning is done on site.
The Raggis still offer storage
of seasonal items in
their vault.
“We really do have a
vault like the banks,” Kurt
Raggi said. “Larry Schaefer
had it made when this
building was constructed
in the 1940s.”
“Several years ago when
Wilmette experienced
a severe rain storm [a
derecho] when trees were
blown down and pieces of
roofs came off,” we went
into the vault to protect
ourselves,” Rita Raggi
said. “A woman walking
along the sidewalk asked
if she could come in for
protection from the storm.
The two of us went down
into the vault.”
One thing that has
changed is the computerization
that transformed
the dry cleaning business.
It changed the way
business is done. There
now are environmentallysound,
computerized machines
that both clean and
dry garments.
“One machine now has
separate programs for different
fabrics,” Kurt Raggi
said.
Simple computerized
tags are now put on garments
with a customer’s
information. They replaced
the white slips of
paper on which customers’
names were hand-written.
“There also is more
wet cleaning of garments
than before,” Rita Raggi
said. “Dry cleaning is not
always the best for many
of today’s fabrics. We use
environmentally-friendly
solvents for dry cleaning
or soaps with different Ph
balances in them to wet
clean garments. Some are
ones that can be recycled
in the machine and reused
again.”
The couple says some
of the hardest stains to remove
from garments are
mustard, coffee and red
wine.
“If you get a stain especially
on a fine fabric, do
not try to put water on it
and clean it yourself,” Rita
Raggi said. “Bring it to us
as soon as you can. Water
stains can become permanent
on finer fabrics.”
They also suggest having
seasonal clothing
cleaned before putting it
away because some minor
stains can become worse
over time.
The Raggis are experts
at sanitizing beloved
stuffed animals in their
ozone closet. They use a
similar process for cleaning
hockey equipment, pet
beds, luggage.
“Even the McKenzie
School Mascot received
an ozone cleaning.” Kurt
Raggi said. “The ozone
process removes the odor
and cleans away about 99
percent of the bacteria.
Steven Tetzlaf works at
the drive-up window to
service customers more
quickly.
Not all of the odor can be
eliminated especially with
sports equipment.”
The Raggis have been
know to “do surgery” on
beloved stuffed animals
whose arms or legs needed
some tender loving repair
[sewing].
The couple takes pride
in checking all pockets
of all garments that are
brought in for cleaning.
“You have no idea of
what we find in pockets
besides money, jewelry
and tissues,” Kurt Raggi
said. “We used to find
hand-written love letters
but no more. When I think
I have seen everything,
something new shows up.”
All of the items are carefully
placed in special envelopes
for customers to
pick up with their cleaned
garments.
A fond memory the
Raggis have is the time
a bride-to-be was at the
church across the street
taking photos when an
important button on her
bridal gown popped off.
“The bridemaid ran
here and asked us if we
could sew it on,” Rita
Raggi said. “We did and
Kurt and Rita Raggi, owners of Wilmette Tailors &
Cleaners,are shown working at the 819 Ridge Road
store in Wilmette. Photos by Hilary Anderson/22nd
Century Media
Olga Maldanado, the store’s tailor, has been with
Wilmette Tailors & Cleaners for 16 years.
all was well.”
The Raggis routinely
participate in community
outreach programs. One is
cleaning American Flags
for free.
They also participate in
the Suits for Success program.
“People donate men’s
suits they no longer want,”
Kurt Raggi said. “We
clean and prepare them to
be given to men leaving
prison so they can have a
respectable wardrobe and
go on job interviews after
their release.”
“We have cleaned everything
imaginable from
Santa’s suits to prayer
shawls to a child’s dress
with balloons sewn onto
the hem,” Rita Raggi said.
“We take pride in taking
something that is considered
“ruined” and make it
look like new,” Kurt Raggi
said. “This is our job
and we love it.”
American flags can be
brought in and cleaned
for free at any time. Donations
of men’s suits
also are accepted at any
time. More information is
available on its Facebook
page.