Our History

As a young boy of 10, growing up in postwar Italy, Franco Ambrogi started to learn his trade of tailoring.  He made his first suit at age 11.  Soon after, he realized that his real success would come in America.  He came to the United States in 1956 and quickly established himself as a successful tailor.  After working for a smaller tailoring shop in Richmond, he became the tailor and alterations manager for Thalheimer's department store and, later, Berry-Burk Clothing.  In their spare time, he and his wife, Ruth, would make custom-made clothes out of their garage.  In 1972, Franco decided that his home-grown business was now large enough to open a store. The business began as it did at home, Franco with fabric bolts and an eye for creating stylish custom clothing. for men.

The first Franco's store was located on Dumbarton Avenue in the Lakeside area of Richmond, just north of the city limits.  By 1976, the business had outgrown the tiny store, and Franco built a new building on Lakeside Avenue, just a few blocks south of his first store.  Word spread throughout Richmond, and Franco's expanded into ready-made clothing.  Expert, on-site alterations and attentive service quickly became the trademarks of Franco and his staff.   After women's items were introduced in 1980, a new addition was built.  In October 1985, Franco's celebrated the grand opening of its complete facility on Lakeside Avenue, with its marble-floored rotunda modeled loosely after the Galleria in Milan, Italy.

Franco's has also had smaller stores in various locations over the past 37 years.  Ashand, Mechanicville, downtown on Main St and two sale locations. Our store at the Shoppes at Bellgrade in Midlothian was open for nearly 12 years. Lakeside has remained the flagship for our entire history but since the fall of 2003 our Short Pump Town Center store has has grown to nearly match the success of Lakeside.  

In 2009 we are now entering a new era, with the one thing that has been a constant in our history: Change. We are now refocusing our business to our strenght, the men's clothing, shoes and accesories. Both Lakeside and Short Pump will now be men's only stores with an expanded selection of shoes and other product categories. Our selection on francos.com will also continue to grow at a faster pace now.

All the while, Franco and his associates will remain committed to keeping service and quality the highest priorities.  The friendly, family atmosphere is due in part to the family members in the business: in addition to Franco and Ruth, their son (Mark), daughter (Maria), and son-in-law (Kevin) are taking the reins of the company.    They will be writing a new chapter in the history of this exciting business.  There are exciting steps to be taken in the coming years.  We hope you will be with us as part of it.