Husband and wife open Standard Thread in Merrick

At Standard Thread, a menswear shop in Merrick, owners Jeffrey Fletcher (pictured l-r) and wife Karen Fletcher design fabrics that go into their collection of dress shirts and casual styles. Credit: Standard Thread

As the back-to-the-office trend continues to pick up steam, Standard Thread menswear shop in Merrick has things buttoned up in terms of good timing.

Owned and run by Bellmore-based spouses Jeffrey and Karen Fletcher, the new shop specializes in handcrafted dress shirts and more casual styles.

"We recently changed over to spring and we have very fine cotton and linen shirts," says Jeffrey, who was raised in Yonkers and has lived on Long Island since 1994. "We’re also doing some performance fabrics that are generating a nice buzz."

What's distinctive about Standard Thread is that shirt fabrics — solid hues, florals, plaids and other patterns — are all designed in-house by the Fletchers. The shirts are then made overseas.

Jeffrey began his career in clothing in the late 1970s at the Manhattan-based textiles giant J.P. Stevens. He went from the mailroom, he says, to designing fabrics for the likes of Liz Claiborne and Oscar de la Renta.

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He's worked for a number of companies in the industry, as has Karen. After years of working for others, Standard Thread was an opportunity to shine on their own.

The 6-month-old shop, a handsome space dressed in colors of sand and sky, complements WhiteDressShirts.com, an online shirts collection made in Fall River, Massachusetts, that Jeffrey founded in 2001.

A keen eye for detail can be found in each shirt, right down to the catchy logo. It's a stylized bird perched on a sewing needle.

"Everyone that comes in has a story and we love hearing them," says Karen, who adds she was considering retirement before the shop materialized. "We’re people persons."

Standard Thread shirt prices range from around $69 to $125. Available in slim fit and classic fit, sizes run from small to triple XL. Customers range from millennials to boomers and beyond.

Standard Thread is located at 39 Merrick Ave. in Merrick. Shop hours are 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday; closed Monday; 516-208-6537; standardthread.com.