Flemming Clothing

“We sell comfort, value, and durability,” says Frank Flemming of his family’s store at 108 W. Main Street in Marion. Customers drive from Grand Rapids, Petoskey, and Midland to have him fit their hunting or work boots. “We give a free pair of socks with every pair of boots we sell,” he continues, and we’ll buff some polish into your new books,” he says with a grin. The store is widely known for a deep inventory of Red Wings (“Up to size 14”), Carhartt workwear of all kinds, and blue jeans from Wrangler, Lee, and Levi’s. 
Flemming Clothing has been family-owned for sixty-nine years. After his big sister Rose Mary started the store, Frank Flemming, now together with his wife, Janet, assumed ownership in 1958, when he graduated from Michigan State University. Today, Frank and Janet share shopkeeping duties with their daughter Jane, their granddaughter, Lydia, and with Joyce Mayle, who has worked with them for decades. The building has been expanded over the years, now including one of Michigan’s ten most active Red Wing Shoe and Boot departments.