Alexandra’s Alterations Serves Loyal Clientele

Walk into Alexandra Korman’s busy alteration shop, Alexandra’s Alterations, and you’ll likely run into some of the most fashionable people in Atlanta. For some two decades, she has attracted a following of loyal customers who trust her every stitch.

Located at Mount Paran Walk shopping center in Sandy Springs, Korman’s shop is bustling and filled with clothing. Hers is a success story earned through dedication and hard work. Korman is from Odessa, a city on the Black Sea in Ukraine.

She and her husband, Alexander, and children, Igor and Flora, immigrated to the United States in 1990. At the time, the Kormans did not yet speak English, but with the help of the Atlanta Jewish community — who sponsored them that fateful March — they were able to get settled in their new home. Eventually, Alexandra was able to open her own business. Her husband, an expert wallpaper hanger, also began his own business, Atlanta Wallcoverings.

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“We had a case worker who spoke English and Russian and taught us everything we needed to know,” Korman recalled. “It made all the difference in the world. We left Odessa because we couldn’t practice being Jewish and wanted a better life for our kids and for their future.”

Alexandra and her husband, Alexander, who immigrated to Atlanta from Ukraine, are grateful for the Jewish community’s support.

She said that, in Ukraine, “we did not have hot water in the summer or nighttime. When we immigrated, we did not have to worry about hot water, it was available any time you needed it and that was amazing to us.”

Odessa was also where Korman learned her craft. “All my tailoring talents were learned from my mom’s father and grandfather, who was a tailor in Ukraine,” she said. “Even when I was a young girl, I made all the clothes for my dolls. I studied, graduated college and am educated, and my grandfather listened to my ideas as a young girl. We learned from each other.”

Now, after years in business, she can recognize hundreds of customers by their clothing. “I opened Alexandra’s Alterations at Fountain Oaks for 16 years and relocated to Mount Paran Walk,” she recalled. “I have a wonderful staff from Israel, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Russia, and they all speak Russian. I love what I’m doing and enjoy seeing people and making them feel beautiful, which is most important.”

Loyal customer Marty Alterman said, “Alexandra is like the ever-ready battery. She never stops until her husband insists. Also, she is an incredible person, talented, kind and humble. I just love her.”

The Korman family enjoys time by the sea, which reminds them of their hometown, Odessa.

Another customer, Lori Simon, mused, “For 20 years, I have used Alexandra’s Alterations. Over that time, Alexandra has come to know me and my family, making sure we always look our best for our most important life events. But Alexandra is not just an expert at alterations. She is someone who cares deeply and brings warm feelings into your life. That is why my mom would bring all of her alterations with her each time she visited from Florida. Seeing Alexandra was an essential part of any visit to Atlanta.”

Korman is intensely proud of her work inside the shop and out. “I would not be proud of my life if it was just my success,” she says. “I’m so proud of my family, who grew up to be really good people. My entire family is my pride. After 9/11, my son, Igor, decided he wanted to give back, protect his country and enrolled in the Marines. He is married and has three children.”

Her daughter, Flora, graduated from Georgia State University with a degree in business management. Flora and her nine-year-old daughter, Ava, help Korman in the shop occasionally. Ava, something of a budding entrepreneur herself, told her grandmother to “please wait for her to grow up, so she can have the business.”

Korman says she’ll be working “until I’m a 100, God willing.”

“I am a Jewish woman,” she says, “we enjoy the Jewish holidays and I surround myself with family. I love feeling a part of a simcha and I want to see photographs and hear all about how the entire party was from my customers.”

She laughs and adds, “Of course, then right back to work!”