Yechiel Feifer packages every suit, shirt, or hat with a slice of Lakewood life

Photos: Avi Gass

It’s like a crowded intersection and a beis medrash coffee room all in one, but really, all you need is a pair of pants. In this Lakewood landmark run by Yechiel Feifer, who started out in a dingy basement 20 years ago, the controlled chaos is a sea of white and black and shades of blue and gray

IF an unassuming bargain hunter in Ocean County were to type “formal men’s clothing store” into his search bar and land on this Lakewood address on Avenue of the States,
he’d be in for quite a surprise.

Instead of the standard men’s apparel shop, where a handful of customers wander leisurely through aisles aided by fashionable — if somewhat bored — salesmen, this expansive store pulses with controlled chaos. It feels like a crowded intersection, a wedding hall lobby, and a beis medrash coffee room all in one, with the typical color wheel replaced by thousands of white shirts and a suit palette overwhelmingly confined to black, blue, and gray.

Instead of the typical classical soft music and hushed tones of quietly browsing customers, a nervous energy and joyful chatter dominate the floor. Salesmen call out sizes, bochurim laugh together, garments are pulled off racks as quickly as they’re restocked, and then comes the sound that seems to define the room: the sharp hiss of the hat steamer, rising in a plume of vapor, announcing that another decision has been sealed. The steady metallic shuffle of hangers scrapes across rods, and a parakeet gawks loudly in the background, providing what the manager here calls, “The best babysitter in Lakewood.”

Welcome to Hat Box, a men’s clothing store located in the heart of Lakewood, New Jersey. Step inside this shop on one of these pre-Succos days and you’ll see a microcosm of the population of this Orthodox boomtown: hundreds of yeshivah bochurim with that first-days-of-bein-hazmanim bounce in their step, catching up with one another as they attempt to make their purchases; mothers hovering behind pre-bar mitzvah sons, shepherding them into the suit section to be fitted with a suit that can work for Yom Tov but also withstand a solid game of tag at the playground on a long Shabbos afternoon; fathers comparing the cut of a jacket, or selecting shirts to refresh the stack that will carry them through the season; and families visiting from out of town availing themselves of the opportunity stock up on the best frum male fashion has to offer.

At peak hours, the scene teeters on the edge of bedlam. Hat boxes pile near the entrance, waiting to be moved over. The fitting-room doors slam open and shut. Customers wait (patiently or not) for their turn at the mirrors as salesmen weave between racks with armfuls of suits, answering two questions at once, promising to check on a third. Yet with all the energy in the room, one figure carries it forward: the Hat Box’s legendary and long-serving manager, Yechiel Feifer.

Yechiel, a broad-shouldered, salt and pepper figure with a neatly trimmed beard, open smile, and the easy stance of someone comfortable in a white shirt and black slacks, moves through the store with purpose, juggling fittings, sales, and questions while keeping everyone happy, even entertained, in the process. He has a line ready for every moment, turning a choice between two suits into a shared laugh and giving even the wait at the counter a touch of theater. Customers don’t just leave with clothing that fits; they leave with the satisfaction of having enjoyed the process. In a store built on blacks, blues, and grays, Feifer provides the brightest color.