March 6, 2017

Meet Tony Pacheco of Dr Blue Jeanns in the San Fernando Valley near Hollywood

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tony Pacheco.

Tony, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My first job after leaving the service (Air Force) was working as a driver sales for the Seven Up Bottling Company of Los Angeles. It was during this time that I took up Custom Tailoring as a hobby. I went to night school at L.A. Trade Tech to learn custom tailoring. I eventually made a custom made suit for the president of the company. Soon after I went on my own and opened up a small neck tie shop in the hope of providing custom made tailored suits with the help of a skilled coat maker. Well that did not work out to well; however, I got overwhelmed with coat and pants alteration work. I noticed that customers would bring in denim jeans that most tailors would not work on because of the technical construction and the expensive equipment needed to work on them properly. I got the idea that perhaps I could specialize on denim jeans. It was something that most tailors did not want to do. I slowly acquired the necessary equipment needed to do the work. I decided to call the name of my new business venture Dr Blue Jeanns. Because I wanted to get attention and provoke thought, I added an extra” n” to the name “jeanns”. Well before long I was getting well known around town. I have been written up in the Los Angeles Times, the L.A. Daily News and I have been featured in the television news a number of times. One day a customer came in and asked me if; after shortening a hem, if I could distress it or sew the original hem back on to make it look original. Well I fooled around with the idea for a few hours and came up with the re attached hem. That was back in 1977. Well it seemed to have caught on worldwide. No body that I know of did this before me. Then along came the designer jean craze. Jordache, Sergio Valente and Big Star were hot items of the day. Well business blossomed and soon other tailors started doing what I was doing. Now there are denim repair shops all over town. I consider myself the pioneer.

When people bring in expensive jeans they want the work to look original. We specialize in denim jean alterations that keep them looking original. We do it all, patch, repair, distress, take in the waist, cosmetically let out the waist, convert fly zippers to button fly and button fly to zippers and so on. People mail them in for repairs from all over the country. In short, we are still jean alteration specialist. Our prices are reasonable and affordable. No fancy prices here. I am also working on private label line jeans which should be out in two or three months.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The only struggles were made when it got too hot; 90 to 100 hundred degrees or it rained a few days steady, then not many people came in. Business would be recouped on sunny days.

Dr Blue Jeanns – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
What sets me apart from others is the quality of my work.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The proudest moment would be when I finish my line of private men’s jeans.

Pricing:

Regular 1/2 in factory hem- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 11.00
Re attach regular hems – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 21,00
Tapering and heming; depending on seam construction, could cost between 31.00 to 41.00 dollars
Basic Waist adjustment about- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 36.00 to 46.00
Zippers on average is – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 24.00
We also completely replace front pockets. Convert zippers to button holes and repair and patch holes and worn out areas.

Contact Info: