How a Boy Who Made Suits in a Sicilian Home Factory Became a Bay Area Legend

The real reason why we have to come here is because America is a land of opportunity. The clothing is in my blood. I'm a tailor. I'm one of the best tailors that's around. Yup. Google is the one that can tell you all about me. Even AI has me listed as top one tailors. Amazing. Today we're joined by Peter Cassara, a longtime Bay Area business owner whose story is deeply rooted in immigration, craftsmanship, and community. In this conversation, Peter reflects on leaving Italy for the United States, building a clothing and tailoring business from the ground up, and serving the same community for over 50 years. He shares what has been most meaningful in his work, the challenges of a changing industry, the importance of family and personal relationships, and why he's now returning to Sicily while reflecting on what home truly means. This is Bay Area Innovators, and I'm your host, Steve Esposito. Peter, welcome to Bay Area Innovators. Thank you. So, you've been in the community for 50 years, you've been doing suits and tailoring. I want to start with how did you come to the U.S.? You came from Italy in the 60s. How did you come to the U.S.? Yeah, so basically, 1958, my oldest brother, Joe, he's in the left skate business. He came here because his wife was married to her uncle here. So three sisters, and my brother came here in 1958. So 1960 is when my parents followed, because we had to do the immigration papers. So then we were left back home with my sister, all the brothers. So 1963, we got the okay to come to America. I went to do the test, make sure the TB test passed, make sure the physical passed, and they canceled it. And as soon as we were ready to go, they stopped immigration, because at that time, I don't know if you remember, 1963, they killed President Kennedy. Yes, of course. So they stopped everything. No more immigration, I guess, at that time. Yes, they shut down all the people coming in from all over the world to America. So finally, 1965, five brothers, Peter, Tony, Mario, Vince, and Chris came here. One time ever, they say that the immigration, the five brothers came together ever. Ever in the U.S.? From Italy to America. Wow. So we landed in Palo Alto on Seal Avenue and Waverly Street there. And so basically, what happened is that when we- So before you go there, why did you leave? Why did you leave Italy? Is it because your brother came? Yeah, so the real reason why we had to come here, because America is a land opportunity. So the way we worked there, we used to work, make suits at home with a little factory inside the house. In Sicily? In Sicily, yes. Palermo. Palermo, Monreale, the town. So here we go, we were making suits. So we take it, when they were done, me and my brother would deliver the suits to Palermo factories. The problem was, every time you go there, they always find an excuse to pay you. To not pay you. Yeah. And then, so we would have to take the suits back and then make adjustments, bring it back again. So we were just, you know- Tired of not getting paid, right? No making money there. So I was a young man, not 10, 11 years old. So we came here for a land opportunity to make a better living. That's why we all left. Wow. So you would not get paid? Yeah, they'd say, come back tomorrow, or come back next week, you know? And in the meantime, you know, you got to survive. So I mean, my dad was on landscape at that time, and you know, he could do what he can. But when we were on our own, my parents came here, we were by ourselves making suits. But it was really, nobody would pay anything. So then you're in Palo Alto, so you arrived and then- So we came in Palo Alto in 1965. December 5th, 1965, came in Palo Alto. Two days later, Palo Alto Times came to the house and took a picture of all of us. We're actually in Palo Alto Times, saying that- The brothers. Five brothers came from Sicily, Italy. First time ever five brothers came together, which is kind of really cool, you know? So that was kind of fun. So that's not just from Italy, it's from anywhere in the world, I guess, that you have five brothers. Yeah, you know, ever five brothers, you know, that's amazing, right? So that's how you started the business. So then we came, so we came in Palo Alto, then we moved in Mountain View. And then in Sunnyvale, at that time I was younger, but I already knew how to be a tailor. So my brothers decided to rent a place in downtown Sunnyvale, 125 Murfrees Street, right across the street at the theater. And so they started- So now that whole street is closed, right? It's all business. Yeah, now it's all closed. Yeah, because of the pandemic, right? No, no, but I'm like, there's no cars, right? It's just pedestrians. Yeah, that time was, yeah. It was open. It was all open. It was, yeah. You see people, you know, go back and forth and stuff all the time, you know, walking. Nice clothes, right? Yeah. So that time, it's funny. The first, my brothers, the first suit they made, Gio Di Maggio, they made his first suit. That's a famous baseball player. Baseball, of course. Of course. He made this suit? Yeah. And then some other, Chris, Mario, and Tony, they made a suit for him. At that time, I was kind of involved with the brothers, but I wasn't really 100% vested, right? And so then what happened is, so they started, like I said, $400, a sewing machine, and we started doing alterations. My brother started working with- Wait, $400 sewing machine back then? Yeah. Yeah, one sewing machine, and $400, you know, enough for the rent. So my brother started working there. And then eventually, they opened a place on Grant Road in Mountain View. And then they decided to open one in San Antonio Road, Casara Brothers, so the Casara Brothers. That's one of the ones I remember, one of the earliest ones I remember. Yeah, everybody remembers. I mean, I've been doing this 50 years in my business, so basically, they remember Casara Brothers. I'm the youngest in the family, though. Peter Casara, right? Yes, yes. So eventually, what happened is, I decided to join my brothers, because I went to school, De Anza College. I went to San Jose State to do business administration management. I was more like a PR guy, a guy to be doing advertising. So I joined them. At that time, I was living with my parents in downtown Sunnyvale, which was on Waverly Street. So I refinanced the house, and I got $17,000. I was 21 years old. At that time, you could get along, right? And I joined the Casara Brothers. So I bought myself into business, actually. Nothing was given to me. I did it because I wanted to prove to them I'm the best. So you had to buy into it to put the money down? Yes. So my brothers got $17,000 at the time. They get the money themselves. So you became part of the- I became a partner of Casara Brothers. It was now Tony, Mario, Peter, and Vince. So when I started- That's a lot of money at the time. That's a lot of money. I could buy another house at the time. But the nice thing is, I was working for Ames Research as a computer operator. I was running all the tests for the Apollo mission. The thing is, I was making $800 a month at the time, which was good money in the 70s. So my brothers decided, hey, why don't you come and join us, which I did, and I doubled my salary. Well, not only that, when I started with my brothers, I opened two more stores for the Casara Brothers. That's where we expanded the whole Santa Clara Valley. That's where the Casara Brothers were known, because I did advertising with it, and it took off early. In the 70s and 80s, I used to do a lot of TV, Channel 36, Channel 4, all kind of local stations. At that time, they used local stations, right? And so that's what it came about. So that's so far. So you have pretty much, they have suits, shirts, shoes, everything, pretty much what they're wearing right now, right? Yeah. These are all Italian suits. Yeah. So my idea was to start importing from Italy. So I started bringing, I would go to Italy and bring suits back, made in Italy. At that time, there was not many Italian companies except the expensive ones, right? So we specialized Italian clothing, nice fabric, they call it Super 150. The lighter suit you're wearing is a Super 150, lightweight, and that's most popular. And then we would order in advance, they make it for the ship to us. But then the taxes start kind of getting really high. So we start going shows in Vegas, Beverly Hills, and then we would order in advance suits from Italy to the manufacturers to ship to us. So it'd be cheaper, of course, right? Yeah. So tell us, why is this important to you? Why do you like doing the business? What's more satisfying? Well, you know something? I think the clothing is in my blood. I'm a tailor. I don't make suits, but I can tailor to make. So satisfying is when a person comes to the store, right now I know his size, I already know what he needs, I put him in a suit, I fix him up, I tell him when he come back and pick it up, he says, wow, is that me? My satisfaction is I make people happy. And the referral, the referral people all the time. If you ever want to know about me, Peter Kocera, just go on Yelp, and there's a history, five stars about me. Unfortunately, I'm going to be retiring soon, so. Yeah, we'll talk about that soon. I can vouch for a lot of this, because you helped me with picking suits, and it was a very, very good experience. So we actually took some footage, some B-roll, in your office, in your suit store. And then we took this video where you are shortening the pants, and it took you like a minute. Yeah. You know? So that was so amazing. Yeah, yeah. Tell us, how do you do that so quick? I mean, it's just unbelievable. You think that it takes a day or something for other people. Well, not a day, but. Well, the thing is. You're used to it? Yeah, people come in, they want to do something while you wait. I don't want to come back, waste gas. If I'm not busy, I can do it in one minute. And I think what's crazy is that these days, it doesn't happen much, right? No. Most stores, you go, you buy something, it doesn't fit, sorry, you know. Yeah, come back tomorrow. 3.30. Next week, right? Yeah. No, but even to do alterations. Not many people do alterations, right? No, no. That's the place. Lost art. So alterations is probably lost art. That's why there's not many tailors left. Just me, my bear. Yeah. You know, the menswear houses, people work for them, but they're just basic seamstress, they call them, not tailors, you know? Yeah. Sorry. Because we're in the business of everyone wants to sell more rather than sell a new one. Yeah, they just want to sell and go home, you know? And then after return customers, they never go back because they're not happy. I'm sure some are happy, but most of them, they come to me to fix the problem. My store is by the menswear house. So their problem, they send them to me, I take care of their problem. Saturday they want to make a sale, the tailor's not there. They come to me, I do the tailoring, and they're happy. So that's the teamwork, right? So now you had your store, again, you've been in the Bay Area for like 50 years, so many people heard about you. So you had the Casara brothers in San Antonio Road, in Los Altos. And then what happened? So what happened is, 1987, one of my brothers left, and he went to Modesto. Then two years later, another brother left, Tony left. So I was left with my brother, Mario. And so what happened, I wanted to go on my own. So my brother Chris used to have a store on Bannerman Snail in San Jose. So he wanted me to take over his store. At that time, he was very sick, he had a liver transplant. So I figured I would help him by taking over the store. So 1993, I was at Bannerman Snail for two years. Well, that was a disaster, because the location wasn't what I wanted. So I decided to go and look for another location, and I found a location on 3474 Camino Real in Florida Vista, in Santa Clara. So I went there, and I started up the business again, and get new clientele again, just kind of started all over again. So 10 years later, I wanted to move on from there, because what happened, the people around us started changing. There's a lot more Indian, Koreans, and they don't want to spend money on Italian suit. So I said, well, here goes here. So I changed the store another time. And I finally went back to Sunnyvale on 842 West El Camino Real after 35 years in Sunnyvale. So I'm back in Sunnyvale, starting all over again. So that was a challenge. But the store was still operating. So I changed my name to Pinico Sarcodios, because I don't want to give my brothers competition, you know? And so everything was fine. So I was there for now 20 years, I'm going to my 21st year. So that's what's going on right now. So why you guys separated? You just different ideas, or just wanted to run your own way, the business kind of thing? Do you believe in 20 Indians or African Indians? Too many chiefs don't have Indians. Well, everybody will start doing their own thing. And so when that happens, it's hard to work with family. Me, I'm the youngest, had to keep the family together. Everybody start going their own. So I decided, hey, there's nothing I can do anymore. I want to have my own thing. So that's why we left. Also, one business had to support four families. So everybody, we should have had our own storage, one of us. But then it will never happen, you know? What were some of the more challenging times you went through, and how did you come out of it? I personally, the most challenges was when I went on my own, I had to start all over again. But then as it was going on, the first 10 years in Santa Clara was no problem. But then when I went to Sunnyvale, we had the 2008 breakdown of everything, you know? So that was really hard. Yeah, the crash, you know? The crash. Yes. People wouldn't want to buy any clothing. They were worried about eating before buying clothing. Especially nice Italian suits. Yeah. So everything started melting down. And then it took another two years to come up again. And the other jump was every 10 years something happens. Like fashion. Fashion change every 10 years. Economy changes every 10 years. So 2008 breakdown. Then what? The pandemic. Yeah. 2019. Yeah. That was a hard one. But thank God that I was able to hang in there. I was closed for three months. I was able to negotiate some leases with my landlord. And I was just at the store waiting and waiting. But nothing would happen. No people. Nothing. So at the end, I just want to start working again and start making phone calls again and reach out to my customers that I'm open. And Yelp helped. Yelp. We did a commercial on Yelp and stuff. So that was fantastic. The last was fantastic, yeah. How do you wish the community remembers you? They know you for 50 years. And people I talk to, they know about. What do you want your legacy to be as far as the community? Well, you know something, let my customers figure that out. Because people love me. People respect me. People know that I'm retiring for a good cause. I will retire, walk, and still walk. Enjoy my life. So my goal is they remember me. I gave many of my friends and customers my personal phone number. If they come to Sicily, come to Palermo, we'll have dinner together type of thing. So people are looking forward to come and visit me whenever they come and they're welcome to my house in Sicily. But people will never forget me because I'm one of the best tailors that's around. And Yelp, Google is the one that can tell you all about me. Even AI has me listed as top one tailors. Amazing. Well, I'll definitely give you a call if I go to Palermo. I've been there in 95. Ah, nice. I've been to a fish market and had the best fish sandwich I've ever had. I still remember that. And it was pretty amazing. Now, there's a lot of wise guys there, but I think we don't worry about it. Oh, don't worry. You go with me. You're under control. I'll take care of you. So you're going back, you're retiring like in a couple of months, right? Yes. My goal is to go there. I'm going to retire on March 31st. I'm having a huge closeout sale, of course. And then when I go to Sicily, I go three months later, like May, June, July. Then I have to apply for citizenship again. I'm Italian, so I have to become a citizen again. So it's a big process. So I can get the benefits there, I can't get sick. But here, I'm all set. And that's what it is. Just go back and forth and visit all my friends in Europe, basically. That's what you're going to do? Yes, yes, yes. So how important is it to personal relationships, because you interact with people all the time, like family and personal relations? Because we live in an age where with AI and technology, people don't really get together, right? They're mostly on the line or something. So when you go back, you think you're going to be interacting with... As far as going to Sicily? Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. We're still close. I mean, we talk to our families all the time now, thank God that you go through WhatsApp and stuff. Yeah. And we're very close. We're actually close now. You know, one year's distance, I think you're closer than being together. So we're very close. We're going to go there. We've got family there. I've got a lot of my cousins there. Unfortunately, I lost all my aunts. So I've got like a thousand cousins there. My wife is also from there, so she's got her brothers and sisters still alive. So yeah, we talk to each other. They will wait for us. We go there every other year. It's very important. That's the whole niche. Italian family never changes. Tell us about some of the stories, you know, with customers along the years in the Bay Area here. Like you said, your brothers did a suit for Joe DiMaggio, which is pretty amazing. Yeah. Other stories you have that kind of touched you? Yeah. So in the 80s, we used to do a lot of suits for the 49ers. We used to do Steve Wallace and a couple of the kickers, Brian. So even up to a couple of years ago, I had a couple of 49er players I did tailing for, Bernard Davis, which I did all his world group. And I had a lot of John Lynch, which is a 49er assistant coach or whatever. So I had a lot of big people to become full players, like from Stanford come. And so I had a lot of important people that I did suits for. No movie stars, though, unfortunately. But that's satisfying to you, to work with these people, for them to come back, to share the goodness, I guess. Yeah. Well, the thing is, the nice thing is once I make somebody look good, because full players are hard to fit. Yeah. Once they look good, they come to me, I want to look like him, too. That's what makes me feel good, bring people in. I have big guys come in and they bring their big friends because there's nobody can take care of them. So the satisfaction is to make them look good as far as who they are, because you have to be careful. When you're big, you have to make it look small, right? That type of thing. Yeah. That's what it is. So how would you describe the Bay Area, you know, the community in the Bay Area for all these years? Did it change over the years? Yes. The community in the Bay Area has changed a lot. Now I'm finding out in Sunnyvale, there's a lot of older community, which they're passing or they're dying. But they're still around. Now the kids, they don't care anymore about dressing up anymore because they got money and they want to be casual. But everything's changed completely. I mean, I do a lot of casual stuff, you know, which I carry like Tommy Bahamas for the guy who wants to just be basic, you know? And the suits, of course, for wedding and funerals, right? But a lot of people don't dress up like before anymore. They come to me because online, they buy the suit, they bring it to me, and I tailor it to them. It might cost them as much to tailor it, but at least that's what they get from me, the final product. How did the online shopping change your business? It really didn't. It helped me because people buy stuff, they can find places to fix it. So they come to me and I fix it for them. So thank God for online, you know, I make money with that. Yeah, my 60% is alterations, 40% is sales. So that's what it is. So Peter, thank you so much for your time. You know, I think we appreciate, the community appreciates you being here for 50 years. Any final thoughts, anything else you want to share with our audience, you know, on your way to Italy? Yeah, as a matter of fact, if you want my opinion, when you find a tailor, keep them because there's no tailors around. Now I can tell you one thing, personally, I can send all my customers to Los Altos store. The store was mine for 18 years. So if anybody needs to do any tailoring, go to San Antonio Road, Mario Jr. is his name. I teach him everything he knows, he'll be able to take care of you guys. So that's all I can say. That's your nephew, right? That's my nephew. And also I have a nephew in Dublin, Tony Jr. So anybody up north, go see Tony Jr. Caseros in Dublin or Los Altos, San Antonio Road. But before that, come and see me in San Diego. Peter, thank you so much for your time. Thank you for your time. Thank you for everything, sir. Thank you. Thank you for watching another episode of Bay Area Innovators. If you enjoyed this episode and you know someone who should be on our show, please send us an email at sfbay at epochtimes.com. We would love to hear from you. Thank you and see you next week.