Wakefield, who gave his name to the Martin’s and Wakefield’s clothing stores across the region, had been in declining health for years due to a series of strokes, said his friend and business associate Charles Doster.
Wakefield’s was a men’s clothing store in downtown Anniston when Martin Wakefield took over the family business in his late 20s. Over the next few decades, he would navigate the company through waters that wrecked many a small business, competing with local rivals and big-box competitors and absorbing the loss of Anniston’s main employer, Fort McClellan.
“He was someone who really hustled,” said Doster, a member of the board of directors for Wakefield’s company. “When he wanted it done, he got on it and did it.”
For more details, read Monday's edition of The Anniston Star.
