It’s been 100 years since Charles X Block opened its doors in Tamaqua to provide men with fine, tailored attire along with some of the best customer service around.

To mark the milestone, the store will celebrate Thursday with what owner Ralph Richards is calling the “Sale of the Century.”

“We are trying to engage the public as we continue to survive the pandemic. We are calling it our ‘sale of the century,’ of course, because of our 100 years of sales,” Richards said.

In addition to rock bottom prices on suits, customers will be invited to sample wines from Weathered Vineyards and Cellar Beast Winehouse, enjoy hors d’oeourves and browse the store’s many offerings.

The celebration will be held from 4-8 p.m., and Richards said the store will be offering customers “the best sales that we can offer.”

Every suit in the store will be sold at $100 less than the lowest listed price.

Another sale happening from the 251 W. Broad St. store was first introduced during its 90th year: the “Give Your Man a Makeover” promotion.

“We say, ‘Ladies: get your man a makeover, a new suit and a sport coat for $369 - tailored free,” he said. “We’re bringing that back by popular demand 10 years later for the same number.”

The third major sale is called “Everything but Your Underwear” - and it’s just that.

Through it, men can get a suit, shirt, tie, socks and shoes for $329. Normally, Richards said, the items would total more than $500.

“Everything will be tailored free from all of these sales, which is our policy for every day of the year so this will be no different,” Richards said.

The store has sport coats, formal wear, sweaters, suits, shirts, slacks, shoes, gloves, scarves and more.

But what’s most special, Richards believes, is the personalized service customers receive.

Charles X Block is not like a box store, where customers pull something off the rack and hope it fits, Richards said.

“It is the experience of what it is like to walk in as a man with your wife, girlfriend or whoever and literally have your body get measured. You’re put into something unique and then we customize it to your body,” he said.

Charles X. Block founded the store in 1923, and his son, Ted, operated it from 1964 to 2010, when Richards purchased it.

Since then, Richards has been celebrating the store’s birthday on the week before Thanksgiving.

In 2019, he recalled, the area received 15 inches of snow on the evening of the sale celebration.

“That was the start of Charles Block being in rough financial shape,” he said.

At that point, he had ordered his stock for 2020 - not knowing that the crippling COVID-19 pandemic was looming.

Weddings and proms would be canceled, and the store would be forced to close. But thanks to a strong customer base and community support, Charles X Block continued its business.

“It survived through the Great Depression, World War II, Vietnam, Korea, the great gas shortage of the ’70s, the Great Recession, the Gulf Wars, the fall of the Twin Towers - and COVID,” he said.

Still, Richards said, Charles X Block counts on the annual November sale.

“This sale is the thing that helps us carry through the slow months of January and February, when quite frankly, every little sale helps keep the lights on,” Richards said. “It’s really a two-way street this year. More than ever, this sale is really a lifeline for Charles X Block.”

Richards said customers often say the store is a cornerstone of the community.

“We want to remain strong and stay that cornerstone. But to do that, we do need the continued and wonderful patronage that our local community does with us. Because without them, that would not happen,” he said.