Jeanna Duerscherl | The Roanoke Times

Jeff Wendell, owner of John Norman Clothiers, shows tailor Fahima Melki alterations that need to be made to a garment.

A retail fixture that built a Roanoke presence during the Great Depression is shutting its doors after 75 years in business.

John Norman Clothiers will close its Roanoke County store at West Village on Dec. 24. Jeff Wendell, owner of the men's and women's apparel shop, said he's leaving retail to spend more time with his 14-year-old son.

But Wendell, 63, also hinted at some business reasons for shutting down the store, housed in an 8,000-square-foot building that he owns and helped design from the ground up.

On Tuesday, while sitting back on a sofa inside the store on Electric Road, he said more competition has risen up in recent years. Along with the increased presence of retailers that sell suits for discount prices, such as S&K Menswear, there have been more pressures on consumers' wallets.

Take the cost of a tank of gasoline, for some $40. "That's a shirt," Wendell said.

Retail, however, is ever changing, and "everything impacts everything," he added. In the past 34 years, he has seen quite a bit of change at John Norman Clothiers.

John Norman, a native of Henry County, opened his first namesake store in 1932 on Jefferson Street in downtown Roanoke. The store thrived at a time when downtown was a hotbed for local retailers, particularly menswear shops.

That included the locally owned Davidsons, which opened it 1910 and now has three Roanoke Valley stores including one that's still in downtown Roanoke.

John Norman stores initially carried only men's clothing, but in 1958 added women's apparel.

In 1971, Norman sold the business to Wendell's family, including his father, Arn Wendell of New Jersey. In 1973, at 29, Jeff Wendell moved to the Roanoke Valley from Washington, D.C., to help run John Norman. Five years later, he took over.

The store has had different locations locally, including spots at both Tanglewood and Valley View malls, Towers Shopping Center, the New River Valley Mall and the Corners Shopping Center in Roanoke County.

In 2006, Jeff Wendell moved John Norman to West Village. It was the first store to open at the retail center besides Fink's Jewelers. Other locally owned stores and restaurants have moved in, and another section of the center is being constructed.

Daily Grind and Studio Metalworks rent space inside the John Norman building. Wendell is looking for a retailer to lease the store's soon-to-be-vacant space, which measures about 3,154 square feet.

There's also a separate and smaller retail space above Daily Grind.

On Thursday, a store-closing sale will begin at John Norman. Wendell wants to sell all of the clothing and store items, such as antique furniture, oak tables and other fixtures.

Though the holidays are the biggest sales period for many retailers, John Norman's closing during the season is a strategic move to get rid of merchandise quickly.

"This is the time of year when most of the business is done in menswear," said Larry Davidson, owner of Davidsons. "It's not unusual for the menswear business to see 40 percent of business from mid-November to the end of December."

Davidson said John Norman's store-closing sales likely will affect business at Davidsons stores in the coming month.

Still, Davidson said, "It's just sad to me and a concern to see one more independent specialty store go out of business."

He said he is not considering moving his store to John Norman's space, because "we have pretty solid leases where we are."

Wendell does not have immediate plans after leaving John Norman, though he wants to push a particular community project that is unrelated to retail.

While on several visits to Austria, he discovered a stoplight that blinks the color green twice before it changes to yellow, cautioning drivers before the light turns red. Wendell, who has been an amateur race car driver, wants to introduce the stoplight design to local lawmakers.

He does have one goal for next year. It's a challenge that many people face who work during the holidays.

Next Thanksgiving, Wendell wants to spend the holiday with his family in the Northeast.

"I haven't had Thanksgiving at home for 34 years."