BOARDMAN — Against their better judgment, Suzanne Kessler, her mother and sister opened a tennis shop on the strip in Niles.

The year was 1975 and area steel mills were already showing signs of fatigue due to foreign competition, increasing operation costs and outdated facilities.

“I was young and stupid,” she joked, explaining that steel mills in the area were closing during her first few years in business, people were out of jobs and the local economy tanked.

She wagered that with people out of work, they’d have more time for leisure and to take up hobbies such as tennis.

She wasn’t wrong.

“It was a steady progression upward,” she said of her early success.

In those early days, Kessler worked the shop with her sister, Kathy Kane, while her mom, Marjorie Cless, made tennis warm-ups on her sewing machine. Her dad, Eli Cless, also pitched in, stringing tennis rackets on a machine set up in the storeroom.

“It was a family business,” she said. “We all had our part.”

And 50 years later, although the focus of her business has changed, Kessler said her six employees are like family and they also share in the success of Suzanne’s.

Vicki Antenucci is one of those employees. She was a customer first and taught Kessler’s son, Henry, in her honors English class at Liberty High School.

She retired in 2017 but quickly found herself back in the workforce.

“I was retired for two days when I came here,” she said.

Kessler said her son and husband, Jack, have also pitched in when needed.

Henry Kessler is vice president of a public relations firm in New York. He grew up working at Suzanne’s and still helps coordinate the store’s social media.

The boutique sells women’s apparel including athleisure, dressy attire, casual wear, handbags, jewelry, socks and scarves. Sizes range from extra small to extra large, and much of her inventory is one-size-fits-all.

One of Suzanne’s most popular brands is Softies, what Kessler described as “marshmallow soft” lounge pants, tops and socks that have made Oprah Winfrey’s favorites list for years.

She also sells handbags made from repurposed Gucci and Louis Vuitton leather purses and hats.

She carries designers from around the world but said much of her inventory is made in the United States.

She spent 20 years on the strip in Niles, and the last 30 at 813 Boardman-Poland Road.

Despite her longevity and success, Kessler said there were some tough years.

She lost her sister in 1984, and her mom passed last year at 93, but she carried on.

Kessler said the COVID-19 pandemic also was trying, but she was able to find a new niche, selling stylish masks from a designer in Los Angeles.

“That kept us going,” she said. “That was terrible for everybody at that time.”

Kessler said she still has the sort of enthusiasm she had when first starting out, and though many might have thrown in the towel by now, she said, “I’m just not ready to stop yet.”

Kessler is proud of what she’s built and knows her family would share those sentiments, adding, “Sometimes I wish I could just call her and say, ‘Mom, we made it to 50 years.'”