Stacey Papadoplos sorts through the clothes at Liberty Cleaners on North Main Street in Wilkes-Barre. His grandfather opened the business in 1910 as The Victoria, a place on East Market Street where you could get your shoes shined and your hat cleaned, Papadoplos said. The name was changed in 1920. Now 66, Papadoplos plans to close the business on May 28.
Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader
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Stacey Papadoplos, owner of Liberty Cleaners, stands below photos of his family. At left is George Papadoplos, Stacey’s father; middle is Pete Papadoplos, grandfather and founder of the business; and at right, Stacey’s uncle Ted Papadoplos. Liberty Cleaners opened in 1910 as The Victoria and will close on May 28.
Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader
Stacey Papadoplos, owner of Liberty Cleaners, stands below several autographed pictures of celebrities whose clothes he cleaned. Among then are Yanni and Neil Diamond.
Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader
Liberty Cleaners, a Wilkes-Barre business that opened in 1910, will close on May 28.
Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader
WILKES-BARRE — Liberty Cleaners, a fixture in downtown Wilkes-Barre since 1910, will close its doors on May 28, leaving a void in the history and character of the city.
Owner Stacey Papadoplos, 66, has mixed feelings about closing the shop his grandfather opened 112 years ago, but as he sorted through the plastic-wrapped clothes waiting to be picked up by faithful customers, he said, “It’s time.”
Papadoplos, 66, said he will miss those customers and the back-and-forth banter, but he looks forward to helping his son, who is a mechanic in Plymouth Township, and he intends to spend a lot of time working on his vintage cars.
“I’m here myself,” he said. “I also have a woman who comes in to do alterations and repairs. I started helping out in the business when I was 12 years old.”
That’s a long time and a lot of memories, Papadoplos said, which will make locking the doors for the last time on Saturday, May 28, that much more difficult. The business and the building at 93 North Main St. at East Union Street are for sale. There have been inquiries, but Papadoplos said he’s closing with or without a deal in place.
Like he said, “It’s time.”
Papadoplos lives in Hanover Township. He has two adult sons and he and his wife, Judith, will have more time to spend together.
Liberty Cleaners timeline
Papadoplos’ grandfather, Pete, opened the business in 1910 as The Victoria in the first block of East Market Street. Since dry cleaning was not yet invented, The Victoria was a place where you could get your shoes shined and your hat cleaned, Papadoplos said.
In 1920, the business moved to Public Square and was re-named Liberty Hat Cleaning and it also included a barber shop, a shoeshine stand, hat cleaning and suit pressing.
Papadoplos said dry cleaning arrived in the 1930s.
“This was the place you could come into town and get all spruced up,” Papadoplos said. “We stayed on Public Square until 1977 when we moved to our current location here at North Main and Union streets.”
Stacey’s father, George, took over for Pete and Uncle Ted also joined the business.
“Yeah, I get teased now,” Papadoplos said. “They say ‘Pop opened the business and you’re closing it.’”
You could tell Papadoplos struggles with that reality, but he knows that despite full racks of freshly cleaned clothes awaiting pick up, that it really is time to move on.
“It does feel odd, closing my family’s business” Papadoplos said. “But it had to happen sooner or later.”
For decades, Papadoplos has opened and closed the store. The hours used to be 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Those hours have changed to 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“Like I said, I will miss the people for sure,” Papadoplos said. And smiling, he added, “And I will really miss the pay.”
The cars
Papadoplos loves cars and he has several he can’t wait to pay more attention to. He has a 1973 Z-28 Camaro, a 1970 Oldsmobile 442, a 1986 Buick Grand National, a 1955 Chevrolet, and a 1999 Corvette.
“When I get in my Camaro and drive, I feel like I’m 18 again,” Papadoplos said. “I love working on them and I’m sure I will be spending a lot more time with them.”
Celebrity stories
There are pictures of celebrities hanging on the wall at Liberty Cleaners. Papadoplos said he didn’t meet most of them, but he did clean their clothes. Among those celebrities are autographed pictures of Yanni and Neil Diamond.
“One day, a man walked in and said he was here to pick up Joe Cosgrove’s clothes,” Papadoplos said. “The man looked familiar and then it hit me — it was Martin Sheen, the actor.”
Epilogue
Several customers arrived to pick up clothes. They all had the same question: “Where are we going to go now? Papadoplos recommends A.D.S. Dry Cleaners, 173 Main St., Luzerne. The response is usually, “All the way over there?”
Papadoplos assures them that A.D.S. will do a good job.
But that isn’t the point the customers were trying to make. They were trying to send a message to Papadoplos — that they will miss him and they will miss Liberty Cleaners and they will miss a part of their lives that they have relied on for many years.
From the long ago days of shoe shines and hat cleanings and having a place where you could get all spruced up, to a reliable dry cleaner operated by a man with an endearing personality and a passion for the muscle cars of his youth, an era is about to end.
Mixed feelings, yes — everywhere you look.
Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.
