A business that is not too big for its britches.

• Position: Joe Sugar's men's wear store has all sizes to fit for all kinds of customers' builds - Tar Heel Tattler - Brief Article

The salesman at Joe Sugar's tried to circumnavigate the 410-pound man, but there was more midsection than measuring tape.

"I'm a size 62," the man volunteered. Yielding to experience, the clerk pulled a size 66 from a table groaning with pants and pointed him to the fitting room.

The salesman lost no time finding a size 68 and had it waiting when the man's hand shot from between the dressing-room curtains. "The ones you tried on were cut very small," said the salesman with practiced sincerity.

Just business as usual at this St. Paul's clothier, whose motto is: "If you have a figure - we can fix it."

At Joe Sugar's, it's not just the sizes that are ample. In a town of 2,000, here's a shop with 11,000 pairs of pants, 7,000 suits and sport coats and 2,000 shirts. Within its 12,000 square feet are suits in 227 sizes. Pants have been custom-made up to size 89.

Its massive inventory allows Joseph Lawrence Sugar, grandson of the store's Lithuanian immigrant founder, to boast that he has more men's sizes under one roof than any other store in the Southeast.

Just off Interstate 95 18 miles south of Fayetteville, the store's 75-year reputation attracts loyal customers from as far away as New Jersey and Florida.

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