Gregory's

Gregory’s Tailor was a branch of a white-owned cleaning business known locally as Gregory’s Superior Cleaners and Hatters. It was listed in the Green Book from 1950 - 1955 as “Gregory’s---1219 Ft. Bragg Road” under the “Tailors” sub-heading. This branch moved to 1213 Fort Bragg Road in 1951, then to 1229 Fort Bragg Road by 1953.¹

In 1950, an advertisement ran in the Fayetteville section of The Carolinian, a Raleigh - based African American newspaper, for Gregory’s Superior Cleaners and Hatters. That same year, the branch of the business located at 1219 Fort Bragg Road was listed in the Green Book. This was the same branch advertised in The Carolinian; the advertisement also listed washerettes located at Hay Street and Cool Street. Gregory’s added additional branches on Hillsboro, Person, and Spring Lake Streets in later years, but only the branch at 1219 Fort Bragg was advertised in the Green Book. The branch at 1219 Fort Bragg Road moved to 1213 Fort Bragg in 1951, then to 1229 Fort Bragg Road by 1953. 1219 Fort Bragg is listed as vacant in the city directory in 1951 and no longer appears in the city directory after 1953.²

Gregory’s was a white-owned business established by William Andrew and Mima Willis Gregory. The couple, who resided at 800 Greenland Street in Fayetteville, opened their first cleaning business - Royal Cleaners, located at 541 Hay Street - in the 1930s. In the late 1940s, William and Mima sold Royal Cleaners and opened a new business, Gregory’s Superior Hatters and Cleaners, with initial locations at 509 Hay Street and 1219 Fort Bragg Road. William served as the business’s president; Mima first served as vice-president, then served as secretary and treasurer beginning in 1956. The business’s offices were located at 851 Bragg Road.³

Gregory’s was advertised as a “complete laundry and cleaning service.” It did not specifically advertise tailoring services during the time it was advertised in the Green Book, although later advertisements do list alterations as a service provided by Gregory’s. During the period the business was listed in the Green Book, the business was advertised at various times as offering refrigerated fur and winter garment storage, fur glazing, rug cleaning, washerettes, and pick up and delivery laundry service. The branch at 1229 Fort Bragg Road shared a building with Haymount Shoe Repair.⁴

By 1957, the 1229 Fort Bragg Road branch of Gregory’s was no longer open, and Haymount Shoe Repair was the only business operating from this address. The buildings that housed this branch at both 1219 and 1229 Fort Bragg Road do not appear to still exist.⁵

Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2019

Notes

1. Victor Green, 1950 Green Book, 62; Green, 1951 Green Book, 53; Green, 1952 Green Book, 53; Green, 1953 Green Book, 53; Green, 1954 Green Book, 53; Green, 1955 Green Book, 53; Hill’s Fayetteville (Cumberland County, N.C.) City Directory, 1948-49 (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co. Inc.), alphabetical listing pp. 203, 419, street directory p. 748; Hill’s Fayetteville (Cumberland County, N.C.) City Directory, 1951  (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co. Inc.), buyer’s guide pp. 46, 62, alphabetical listing, p. 176, street directory p. 55; Hill’s Fayetteville (Cumberland County, N.C.) City Directory, 1953  (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co. Inc.), alphabetical listing p. 178, street directory p. 48; Ad, The Carolinian, February 4, 1950, p. 8, accessed from http://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn80008926/1950-02-04/ed-1/seq-16/.
2. Ad, The Carolinian, February 4, 1950, p. 8; Hill’s Fayetteville, listings for 1948-9, 1951, 1953; Hill’s Fayetteville (Cumberland County, N.C.) City Directory, 1954-55  (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co. Inc.), alphabetical listing, p. 130, street directory p. 48.
3. Hill’s Fayetteville (Cumberland County, N.C.) City Directory, 1937 (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co. Inc.), alphabetical listing p. 114; Hill’s Fayetteville (Cumberland County, N.C.) City Directory, 1948-49 (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co. Inc.), alphabetical listing pp. 203, 419, street directory p. 748; Hill’s Fayetteville (Cumberland County, N.C.) City Directory, 1956 (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co. Inc.), alphabetical listing p. 157.
    
4. Hill’s Fayetteville (Cumberland County, N.C.) City Directory, 1954-55  (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co. Inc.), alphabetical listing, ad on p. 7,  p. 130; Hill’s Fayetteville (Cumberland County, N.C.) City Directory, 1951  (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co. Inc.), buyer’s guide, pp. 46, 62; Ad, The Carolinian, February 4, 1950.
    
5. Hill’s Fayetteville (Cumberland County, N.C.) City Directory, 1957  (Richmond, VA: Hill Directory Co. Inc.), alphabetical listing, p. 209, street directory, p. 63, buyer’s guide, p. 143; “1219 Fort Bragg Rd,” Google Maps, https://maps.google.com.