DJ Tone Hollywood walked into James Carter’s men’s clothing store one day with a goal of getting “hooked up” with a good suit.
He left with something more befitting — a friend. Carter not only shares his passion for mentoring youths, but is one who pioneered their annual trips to teach third-graders how to tie neckties.
Carter owns Empire Ltd. Haberdashery and Tuxedos, an upscale men’s consignment shop in downtown Greer. He’s also the founder of Empire P.R.E.P (Pride, Respect, Effectiveness, and Preparedness)  Academy, which teaches young people social and wardrobe etiquette.
That program will be transitioned to Carter’s new nonprofit, Royal Threadz, to help educate a wider range of disadvantaged people with the skillsets.
Carter’s long-time interest in shaping the lives of young people led him to start P.R.E.P. Academy, according to Doug Garrett, a Royal Threadz board member.
That interest also led to Carter being named a Community Hero Greenville.
The Community Hero Greenville program, sponsored by the Greenville Federal Credit Union, is a way of highlighting the generous, noble, and selfless work of those among us who work tirelessly — often behind the scenes — to make our community a better place.
Carter, a Master Certified Manners & Etiquette Coach, designer, stylist, wardrobe consultant, and educator, said he is “ecstatic” to be selected as a Community Hero.
“It’s a tremendous honor for me,” he said. “I’m very happy to be recognized for some of the work that we’re doing at our store, Empire, as well as our nonprofit, Royal Threadz.”
When Carter was a young man, he didn’t have the skillsets he now offers to the young — and some older — adults.
“I had to learn a lot of it in real time on the job,” he said. “I fell in love with clothes. I fell in love with fashion. I fell in love with helping people understand the need to look good, feel good and do good.”
Carter’s wife of 32 years, Veronica Carter, said her husband has always been a giving person who “goes over and beyond” in doing so. She has countless stories and examples.
But, she said, he has never been one who looks for accolades or a pat on the back in return. Giving is just something he has in his heart to do, she said.
James Carter’s parents died when he was a teen, Veronica Carter said.
“The one thing he remembered that his father had said to him, and it’s not a quote that hasn’t been quoted before, but it was the way that it rang,” she said. “With James it was  ‘if you look good, you’ll feel good. If you feel good, you’ll do good.'”
That has been his motto, she said.
James Carter opened his Greer store in 2014, relocating it from a smaller location in Fountain Inn.
Prior to that, he’d spent 30 years as a chef and a food and beverage director, working in upscale hotels and owning his own restaurants and night clubs.
James Carter told The Greenville News in an archived article that he was working as a chef at Pendleton Place for Children and Families in Greenville, when he devised a concept to help nonprofits by doing something he loves — designing and manufacturing bow ties to help raise money for nonprofits.
Garrett, president and manager of Watkins Garrett & Woods Mortuary, Inc., said it was 12 or 13 years ago when a friend told him about Carter.
“I wear bowties and I had a lot of regular ties that I didn’t want to discard,” Garrett said. “A friend of mine told me who could take regular ties and turn them into bow ties.”
He visited Carter’s shop and the two men struck up a friendship.
“He’s become one of my dearest and best friends over the years,” Garrett said. “We’re like brothers.”
Carter’s nonprofit will impact the lives of young people “in a manner of showing them how to dress for success, proper etiquette in business situations and just enriching young people’s lives,” Garrett said.
“He’s always been about that,” he said. “He’s also willing to be a partner in helping others enrich their business in anyway that he can.”
Sharon Self, marketing and research director for Greer Development Corp., said when Carter started talking to her about wanting to start Royal Threadz months ago, she told him she absolutely would want to be involved.
“He’s someone that I respect,” she said. “I know where his heart is and that he will put 100% behind this effort. “
Self said as she’s learned more about Carter’s background and what led to Royal Threadz, she’s seen his commitment to giving back and to make sure that he’s helping the next generation.
“He’s not just going to help them get clothes and dress right,” she said. “He wants them to know why it’s important and how it can help them excel in life. And it’s not just ‘dress for success.’ It’s self worth to some extent. That’s how he sees it. That’s the heart of the program.”
Empire’s P.R.E.P. program was started eight years ago. The young men and women in the program are also taught how to sew, iron and shine shoes.Â
During the pandemic, the thought of a nonprofit became higher on Carter’s list.
“People started to believe that it was much more lucrative to donate clothes directly to us than to (nonprofits like) Goodwill or Salvation Army,” he said. “We acquired quite a bit of inventory and now I have enough inventory stored away along with what we’re going to donate, to open up our nonprofit Royal Threadz resale store that will help finance our programs.”
Herb Johnson, who recently retired as the chief diversity and inclusion officer at Michelin and is a Royal Threadz board member, said Carter understands and appreciates the need to give back to the community and to share skills that have helped make him successful.
Carter’s willingness to share that information with young people who may not be getting it at home, for whatever reason, is one reason Johnson said he is proud to serve on the Royal Threadz board.
Hollywood, a popular radio personality at Summit Media’s 107.3 Jamz, had seen Carter on television before deciding to visit his shop in search of a suit.
He was amazed when he learned that Carter actually teaches kids how to tie ties.
A friend of Hollywood’s teaches a classroom of third-grade boys. Each Friday, she teaches the boys a new skill. When she invited Hollywood to be a presenter on one of those Fridays, he invited Carter.
In less than 30 minutes, they’d taught the boys how to tie neckties “like grown men.” But the boys haven’t been the only ones impacted.
Carter, Hollywood said, “created a path for me to want to further my mentorship” by not only teaching some of the youth the proper technique and proper etiquette when you’re going out to eat, speaking to an adult or when you’re on a job interview, but taking it a step further with their appearance.
“That’s something that a lot of young males are lacking these days,” Hollywood said. “They don’t have the skills or that male role model teaching those things. Hearing that he (Carter) was doing that, I was like, ‘OK. I’m with you, and any way I can support it, I’m with it.'”
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