Armando Sodano of Armando's on Grafton Street

Born in Italy, Armando Sodano grew up wearing the designers most of us dream about ~ Armani, Versace, and Dolce and Gabbana. His mother worked for a retail store in Naples, Italy, so when most boys were wearing overalls and t-shirts; he was wearing cashmere sweaters and designer jeans. Growing up in an era where everyone seemed to dress, Armando fell in love with fashion as a child.

"If you went to a restaurant or a night club, you couldn't get in without a sports coat" Armando remembers.

A Graduate of North High School, Armando's favorite store was the "The Last Exit", located on Pleasant Street. He shopped there every Saturday until it went out of business. When they closed, he had a hard time finding a place to shop until his "Pretty Woman moment." He walked into an up-scale store (that will remain nameless) in his shorts and t-shirt and they would not wait on him. He pulled a wad of cash out pocket and the sales people were all over him, but Armando left without spending a cent.

"That's when I knew, I needed to open my own store, because everyone should be treated with respect no matter what they are wearing."

On April 11, 1981, the 26 year-old opened Armando's, a 350 square-foot shop on Grafton Street in Worcester. He offered men's and women's clothes, just the basics, including baggy pants and Jordache jeans.

"The hardest thing about starting out was finding a location and deciding what to sell," explains Armando.

A couple years later he opened an 11,000 square-foot store across the street and with a much bigger selection ~ and that's when he decided to sell just men's clothing, everything from designer suits and sports coats to shoes and accessories.

"Women are distracting! Honestly, women like to shop around, when a man finds something he likes, he buys it."

Having more of a male clientele, Armando imported much of his clothing from Italy. He used to get his apparel manufactured at the same factories as Armani and Versace.

"I would be able to sell my customers cloths from the top designers, just with-out the label. I could sell the same silk shirt for $69 opposed to $450."

One trend he does not want to see make a return? "The Michael Jackson jacket with all the zippers, although I did sell a lot of them at the time."

Armando shared that his most satisfying moments are"...when I put something together for a customer that makes them feel amazing One Client told me he was at wedding with 300 people and 299 of them asked where he got his suit. That's what makes it all worth it."