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HEADLINE: BURBANK FIRM OFFERS CLOTHES FOR THE DISABLED;
APPAREL: THE FOUNDERS BUY OFF-THE-RACK PRODUCTS IN OTHER STORES, THEN ALTER THEM. THE IDEA IS TO LET THE CUSTOMERS DRESS LIKE EVERYONE ELSE.

BYLINE: By JANE APPLEGATE, TIMES STAFF WRITER

The most frustrating part of Tom Pirruccello's old job was shopping for clothing for the developmentally disabled people at the residential facility where he used to work.

Trips to the department store were ordeals because of difficulties in transporting and fitting clothing for Pirruccello's clients, many of whom were in wheelchairs.

But out of that frustration came the idea for a company that is now two years old and will log sales of $350,000 this year.

Pirruccello and Kurt Rieback, the young founders of Professional Fit Clothing in Burbank, have built a thriving business by buying off-the-rack clothes and altering them to fit disabled customers. They choose clothes for their style and durability, but the primary purpose is to help the disabled dress like everyone else.

"People think disabled people should wear plaids and polyesters," said Susan Hart, administrator of Jackson Place, a residential facility for 104 disabled adults in Santa Ana. "Our clients have a pretty tough life as it is,
without their clothes looking odd or unusual."

Dressing properly may also become more important because of the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act, which was signed into law Thursday.

The law, heralded as a major victory by disabled rights activists, is aimed at requiring and encouraging business owners to hire more disabled employees. This means that handicapped people now working in
sheltered workshop situations, or in menial jobs, may soon be out applying for more mainstream positions, according to administrators who run the group homes and centers that care for the disabled.

Administrators said they welcome Professional Fit's personalized shopping services because taking even one wheelchair-bound person to visit a local shopping mall can be exhausting and time-consuming.

In addition to fitting properly, the clothes boost morale for both the clients and staff members who take their charges into the community to work and play.

"It's an incredible service -- I'm really pleased with it," said Dave Kittleson of the United Cerebral Palsy/Spastic Children's Foundation center in Chatsworth. "They could become leaders in the field.

Kittleson, who recently ordered 72 bathing suits from Professional Fit, said most of his clients have money to spend, because they receive about $80 a month in government aid to buy personal items, including clothes.

Professional Fit's clothing prices are comparable to those of a department store. For example, a pair of pants sells for $22, with a $2.50 charge for alterations.

What sets the company apart is the idea that came to Pirruccello, 27, when he was an assistant administrator in a residential facility for the disabled in Baldwin Park.

He thought that other administrators would welcome the shopping service because one of his most onerous tasks was buying and keeping track of his clients' clothes. "It was so difficult to take them out shopping," he said.

About two years ago, while he was driving on the freeway, Pirruccello spotted Rieback, an old friend from high school. He signaled Rieback to call him so they could catch up. At the time, Rieback, 26, was working in the downtown California Mart, selling three women's swimwear lines.

"I gave up a real lucrative job for this, but I knew it would be rewarding," said Rieback, who with his wife, Sandra, handles the buying and fashion selection for Professional Fit.

Rieback said he knew that the business would take off when the first administrator they met with gave them an $8,500 order on the spot. That first order spawned a business that now grosses about $350,000 a year.

But their small business poses definite challenges. Sometimes Rieback and Pirruccello must measure clients who are violent, incoherent or severely crippled. "Some people hit me or try to pull my hair,"
said Pirruccello. Other clients tear or chew their clothes and must be dressed in extremely durable fabrics.

"Sometimes we have to find appropriate clothes for a 60-year-old man who wears a boy's Size 10," said Pirruccello.

Despite the difficulty in dealing with some clients, the pair personally tries to measure every person in a residential facility. Then, with everyone's measurements on file, administrators and staff members can easily
order new clothing over the phone.

To make dressing easy, they seek out pants with elastic or drawstring waists, zippers near the ankles and pull-on shirts and sweaters with roomy necklines. But they can also take a regular sports shirt with buttons and make it easy to put on by sewing a Velcro strip behind the button placket.

GRAPHIC: Photo, Tom Pirruccello, left, and Kurt Rieback of Professional Fit Clothing with client Tim Yarach. ; Photo, Professional Fit Clothing often substitutes Velcro for buttons. ELLEN JASKOL / Los Angeles Times

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