 "Photo: DTH/Nicolas Gullett")
Give Milton Julian a swatch of fabric, and he can tell you which company in England produced it.
Julian owned the Franklin Street Milton's Clothing Cupboard from 1948 to 1990 and sold to everyone from college students to jazz singer Nat "King" Cole, basketball star James Worthy and former governor Terry Stanford.
As he turns 90 today, Julian still remembers the names of customers from decades ago and calls his son after making a good sale.
"I wanted to be Johnny Appleseed and spread the clothing around," he said.
A Brockton, Mass.-native, Julian brought the Ivy League look down south, including the flat-front khaki pants and alligator belts, his son Bruce Julian said. Milton Julian owned six stores in North Carolina, Georgia and Texas that have since closed.
He shares his love of clothing with other family members, including brother Maurice and nephew Alexander Julian, who helped design the men's basketball uniforms and owns a shop of his own on Franklin Street.
Milton Julian used unique promotions to attract customers to buy his preppy looks.
In the 1950s and '60s he hid turtles all over campus, some of which students could trade for ties at his store.
"Some of the women won, but they didn't want to part with their turtles," Julian said.
For the All-Night Screaming Zonker Sale, students lined up on Franklin Street an hour before opening to search for the $5 suits hidden in the stocks of clothing.
The sales would get better every hour.
"My job as the head of stock was to go up on the roof and throw free clothes off," said Bruce Julian, who now owns a menswear store in Charlotte.
Julian's seven children all helped at the store, and today he boasts of 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, with one more on the way.
"We all at some point worked in Dad's store," Shannon Julian said. "All of us grew up in the back of that store."
Harvey Cannon started working part-time for Julian in college and considers him a mentor, friend and brother. Cannon later became the manager at three of Julian's stores and opened his own store like many of Julian's former employees.
He said Julian taught him to treat customers "with respect and appreciation for their business."
Julian, UNC class of '41, studied pre-law in the morning but sold shoes and socks in the afternoon and briefcases at night.
Once, he and his wife, Virginia, snuck into the stadium to watch football great Charlie Justice and the Tar Heels beat Texas who "was supposed to beat the daylights out of us" by 35 points.
After three and a half years in the U.S. Air Force, Julian said he "got a hankering to maybe do something in retail." Julian's store moved into 1951 to the space where Franklin St. Pizza & Pasta is today for $250 per month.
Julian and Virginia live on a farm outside of Chapel Hill where they keep horses and have worked out three times a week for the past 28 years.
He continues to sell menswear to his customers at their offices and homes. Shannon Julian said he calls it "Milton's Without Walls."
Longtime customer Walter Daniels remains loyal because of Julian's good products and great service.
"He has always been an icon in the Chapel Hill community," Daniels said.
"It is hard to imagine any person who has established the personality of Franklin Street more than Milton."
Julian celebrated his birthday Sunday with family and friends at Shannon Julian's house.
"He does not have a negative bone in his body," Bruce Julian said. "He does not know anything but positiveness.
"It rubs off on you and you want more of it."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
