For a time, Easter was the biggest day, with Vince fitting out neighborhood kids in brightly colored suits.

“Easter was the bread and butter,” said Vinny Talotta, who first went to work in the shop while in high school.

Eventually Vince Talotta expanded the Sixth Street shop into a sprawling, two-story showroom. He remained committed. When he fell ill in 2012, he made sure to hang on through Easter.

“He stayed strong until after the busy season,” said Janice Talotta, Vinny’s wife, who helps during communion time.

In 2016, Vinny Talotta sold the old shop and moved into the storefront near Broad and Shunk, right next door to his childhood home.

By then, Goldstein’s had long ago cornered the white suit market.

“We probably sell as many white suits as any store in the country,” estimated Rehr. “And we’re just a little store.”

Children have worn white for First Communion for centuries, said the Rev. Dennis Gill, director of the Office of Divine Worship for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. White, the priest said, signifies the new life celebrants receive in the body of Christ.

For Goldstein’s, white suits represent continued tradition. Bygone days when parents, godparents, and grandparents crowded into the local clothing shop to gush over Junior and his new white suit.

“We try to make it fun for them, too,” said saleswoman Bernadette Robison of the boys who come in the shop. ‘‘I try to tell them, ‘you work with me, I’ll work with you, and I promise I’ll get you out as fast as I can.’”

At the store with his mother, Drew Kersic, who is 9 and attends Christopher Columbus Charter School, wanted out fast. He had things to do on this rainy Saturday.

“I wanted to stay in my room all day and play Fortnite with my friends, Connor, Sam, and maybe Jake,” he said, having to admit he looked sharp in white.

Despite gentle urging from his parents and grandmother, Henry Franchi, 8, wouldn’t budge on white. The color isn’t mandatory for First Communion at Our Lady of Hope in Blackwood. Henry preferred navy blue, allowing for only a white bow tie.

“I wore a white suit to my communion,” his father, Anthony Franchi, said with a laugh. “He sold me out.”

Cullen Robb posed proudly in white.

Rehr knotted the boy’s white paisley tie, before offering some advice.

“White is white,” he said. “You gotta be careful. Even a man has to be careful with a white suit.”

©2024 The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC. Visit at inquirer.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.