Since 1918, Riverside Men's Shop has been dressing Buffalonians in the finest suits and ties, making it a staple within the Queen City. The store, like many others, is hanging on by a thread during this pandemic.

Natalie and James Neumann have been running Riverside Men's Shop for almost 15 years. Suits aren't the only thing they sell. On the other half of the store is a jewelry parlor. Natalie says that this isn't the first pandemic in the books for the shop.

"Riverside was birthed in 1918, oddly enough the first pandemic and well, we've survived a pandemic before and carried on a whole century, so I know we'll survive this one as well," Neumann said.

Natalie says, for her business, each employee has a specialty when it comes to putting a suit together, but she's had to let go the majority of her staff because the payroll isn't available.

"We've got one that does only jackets and one particular that does the pants."

With lack of resources, Natalie says she "kicked off her heels, and put her hands to work" pressing and altering whenever she can. Her right hand man, Tom Lanighan, who has been working at the shop for 32 years, says it's very different not seeing his usual customers.

"We get the bank tellers, accountants, lawyers, and even the school superintendents, they're not dressing up, they're in Zoom meetings, it's a different world out there," Lanighan says, the sales manager.

Lanighan says instead they started making sportswear to compensate for the loss in suit purchases, and it seems to be working. Natalie's husband James says oddly enough the sales in jewelry have been their saving grace.

"The jewelry has really been helping and people have been coming back plus they feel for us, some have been coming in for 72 years they don't want to see difficulty," James said.

Both Natalie and James tell Spectrum News that they'll continue to flip on their open sign and sew their way through this pandemic.