ANGELA AND KEITH MARESCA

Bringing Premium Menswear to the Lowcountry

story by JENNIFER BROWN CARPENTER           photos by PAUL NURNBERG

If you’ve made your way down Bay Street in Beaufort over the last year, you may have noticed the “new kid in town,” offering something to the Lowcountry that has been missing for far too long. Quartermaster, sitting at 709 Bay Street, provides men’s clothing that is fashionable and built to last. Behind the belief that exceptional style should always come with uncompromising quality sit husband and wife team: Keith and Angela Maresca.

Angela grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, attending the Cincinnati Art Academy for about a year. As that year went on, Angela realized that she needed to pursue a different path, so she transferred to the University of Cincinnati and studied business. While there, she got her very first retail job. “It was a job to pay the bills, but I fell in love with it.” She was working for a department store in Cincinnati, B. Altman and Company, before going to work at another store, Parisian, which is a Southern-based chain. While working there, Angela was asked to come into their executive training program. “That is kind of how I started. I started right there in the men’s fashion area.” When asked what drew her into retail, Angela shares that every day was different. “It was just the key for me — it wasn’t the same 9 to 5 every day.”

Angela was promoted at Parisian from department manager to HR manager, and it wasn’t long before she was recruited by Saks Fifth Avenue, where she worked as the assistant general manager of Human Resources and Operations. It was an opportunity for her to get her foot in the door, and she knew that it would help her get back to where she wanted to be: merchandising.
She worked in that position for about a year. Her general manager allowed her to expand and gave her the men’s department. She worked there until 2001 when she started to work for Bloomingdale’s in New York, all in the men’s area. During these years, Angela says, “I learned how a man should dress, how to sell to a man, I think I just fell in love with that notion — that menswear is an investment rather than just throwaway fashion pieces.”

Keith Maresca was born and raised in New York, and he attended college for business. At age 18, he joined the volunteer fire department, where he got his drive for civil service. He got an associate degree from SUNY Farmingdale in business. After that, “A bunch of my friends in the volunteer fire department were taking the New York City Police Department test, so I also took the test,” he says. “I became a police officer at 21 years old.” He rose through the ranks of the police department, becoming a lieutenant.

Around 2000, Keith met and started chatting with Angela through an online platform. “We are the OG, met-online couple,” Keith says as Angela laughs. At the time, she was still working for Saks and had business in New York, so she was able to meet Keith in person. Eventually, Angela would take her position with Bloomingdale’s and move with her daughter, Brooke, to New York City to live with Keith, three weeks before September 11, 2001.

The morning of 9/11, Keith was sleeping at home when his mother called to tell him what happened. “I jumped up and was getting ready to go get my partner and head to the World Trade Center when Angela called and was worried for my safety. She didn’t want me to go, but I told her it was my job.” Keith worked in the precinct next to where the Twin Towers were. “I spent pretty much every single day down there from September 11th until January when I was promoted to sergeant,” Keith recalls. He asked Angela to marry him in November 2002, they eloped to Las Vegas the very next day, and their daughter, Gia, was born in 2003.

Angela continued working at Bloomingdale’s until 2006 when she was asked to become the director of retail services for men’s designer Joseph Abboud. “I always wanted to go to the wholesale side and give that a try. I felt like I was ready to make the jump. It was a great job. I had done every aspect of retail at that point, except for opening a store.”

Keith continued to work in the New York Police Department for 20 years, at which point he retired in 2012. He had owned a security company in New York while he was working as a police officer and continued after his retirement. “I worked for Middle Eastern royalty, doing bodyguard work for these royal families in New York City, and I also produced a podcast network for a friend of mine, working with the top comedians and radio personalities throughout the country.” After a while, Keith knew he needed a change and decided to start his next chapter in life as a yacht broker for Knot10 Yacht Sales.

Right after COVID-19, Angela was diagnosed with breast cancer, which she battled through operations, chemotherapy, and radiation throughout 2021. After she finished her final surgeries, they were able to begin looking forward to the next chapter of their lives: moving to the Lowcountry.

“We were looking for a slower type of lifestyle, something more easygoing.” Keith and Angela were big into boating, going out on the water every weekend from April to November. “We googled ‘best boating communities in the South,’ and Beaufort came up as one of them.” Their passion for boating was a key deciding factor in visiting Beaufort. They came down and looked around at several different areas, landing on Dataw Island in the fall 2022.

When asked how the conversation to open their men’s clothing store, Quartermaster, came about, Keith says, “One day, Angela said to me, ‘You know, there’s no place to buy you a shirt between Savannah and Charleston.’”

And I said, “Well, that’s a shame.”

And then, not too long after that, Angela said, “I want to put a men’s store in downtown Beaufort.”

“And I said, ‘What?’”

Angela told Keith she was bored, and he told her to take up pickleball, bocce, or tennis. After some discussion, Keith realized this was a dream Angela always had. So, they decided to open a men’s store in downtown Beaufort. “The town needed it, we had to do it,” Angela says, laughing.

They took time to lay out their plans to their business advisor, accountant, and a great friend of Angela’s that she had worked with previously through Joseph Abboud. “It was a no-brainer. Everyone was telling us to jump on it.” Once they had the all clear, Angela started making phone calls to the connections that she still had in the industry. “It was fun to reconnect and get referrals. We hit the ground running pretty fast. We signed the lease in February 2024, and we were open by May 1st.” Keith and Angela’s brother did most of the work, hanging rails and lights, and painting. They kept the bar in the store that had been used by the previous business. “It’s become a cool hangout spot where we can chat with customers, turn on some golf or Formula 1 Racing. It’s a great space to meet Beaufort residents on First Fridays,” Keith says.

Quartermaster has met a need in the community. Angela knew what was important to her coming from her background. “I knew what I wanted the store to look like, and I knew that I wanted premium vendors to be available to people, vendors they would gravitate toward even if they didn’t know the brand.” Some of these vendors include Coppley, Bugatchi, Peter Millar, Magnanni, David Donahue, Edward Armah, and more.

Quartermaster offers a little bit of everything: men’s sportswear, men’s tailored clothing, sports coats, trousers, dress shirts, ties, shoes, and special-order suits. “Customers come in and look around and if they buy something, they’re usually coming back the next month, and the next after that. We’ve built up a nice repeat business and a loyal customer base.” With the tourist season in full swing over the spring and fall, weddings are an every weekend occurrence in Beaufort, and for Angela, that means extra business. “There will be men standing at the front of the store on Saturday mornings when I get there, looking through the windows because they forgot their shoes or shirt or tie. When I opened, I didn’t have tuxedo shirts or bow ties, but within two weeks, I learned. I quickly shipped tuxedo shirts and bow ties to the store, and those are two big sellers.”

The name Quartermaster speaks to Keith and Angela’s desire to serve their military and civil service community. “The quartermaster is the person that dresses the troops. So here we are in a military town and whether or not you’re military, I can help dress you,” Angela shares. They provide a discount to all active military, first responders, and healthcare workers. The wall behind the cash register in the store has photos of Angela’s grandfathers, father, brother, and her husband, who all served in the military or civil service.

“We enjoy being part of the community and we love the small-town living,” Keith says. Angela will have been in remission for five years in February, and they are thriving, both in their personal lives and in their business. They look forward to continuing to engage in the community. “We want to get involved with different events and charities. After everything we’ve experienced, and our life in the city which was so crazy and hectic, to be here … to be a part of the community … we can give something to the community that they need, and the community is giving back to us, just as much.”

You can learn more about Quartermaster by visiting their website www.quartermastersc.com or by visiting the store, open Sunday noon to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday 11a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.