Darrell Cleveland saw a niche in Mt. Airy that needed to be filled. Fortunately for him, that specific niche was in line with his interests.

"I'm a fashionista," Cleveland said. "I've always been into clothes."

And Mt. Airy didn't have a business that sold custom-made suits, shoes and other similar apparel.

Cleveland came up with the idea of starting his own clothing brand a couple of years ago but didn't plan on opening up a store yet. When the space at 7150 Germantown Ave. (formerly occupied by Be Sure Girl Unique Boutique) opened up in late 2011, however, he saw an opportunity he hadn't anticipated.

"I just thought, in this area, there's really no tailors in the area," he said.

Cleveland lives in West Oak Lane and frequents Mt. Airy often. For that reason and others—including the fact that areas in Center City, Manayunk, Northern Liberties and South Street already have their own high-end male tailor shops—he wanted to open up here.

He moved quickly when he saw the place open up. The building is adjacent to Rothe Florists and is owned by that store's owners.

The store, called Doc C Custom Clothier, will have its grand opening at the location at 7 p.m. Friday.

He's going to sell custom-made suits from the location. It will take one to two fittings to get things set, and once that process is finished, Cleveland will ship out the measurements to one of the suit-makers he works with around the world and the garment will be made.

He'll do the same with shoes, although he'll have pre-made suits and shoes in store for people who aren't looking for custom made items. Cleveland will also sell high end Swiss timepieces from Edouard Lauzieres. This is the first time they'll be sold in the United States.

The custom clothing will range from $800 to about $1,200, on average.

Cleveland has been a college professor and said he was attracted to going into the business world because it often requires you to dress up every day.

He's excited, however, for this new venture to come to fruition.

"I put a lot of time energy and resources into this," he said. "I'm glad to see that (this) is finally going to come to reality."