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34 Hartford Business Journal • November 26, 2012 www.HartfordBusiness.com Celebrating 20 Years of Business News STORIES 20 Years of By Lisa Hayner G. Fox & Co. and Sage Allen & Co. weren't the only retail names to disappear in 1993. In October of that year, Grossman's Inc., a lumber and hardware retailer based in Braintree, Mass., announced it was closing 22 stores in the Northeast, five of them in Con- necticut. The company, feeling the pressure from Home Depot, held onto its Manchester distribution center awhile longer. Also, Metropolitan Hartford Magazine, which used to be called Hartford Monthly until it was scaled back to semi-monthly, is suspended publication, citing a lack of adver- tising support. While 1993 was a particularly bad year for familiar retail names, change is the name of the game. In 1994, the Bank of Hartford was forced to assume liabilities of sister banks Maine Savings Bank of Portland and South State Bank of Massachusetts. By June, the Bank of Hartford was closed down by the State Banking Commission and all seven branches reopened as branches of Eagle Federal Sav- ings Bank. The Bristol based bank purchased the $273 million in deposits which were held in 24,100 accounts. Hartford's Clarion Hotel closed its doors Aug. 25, 1994, citing unfilled rooms and finan- cial difficulties. The closing of the Clarion, open only 15 months, was just the latest in a line of hotels that couldn't survive on that site. Burdened by a decline in distilled spirit consumption, Heublein Inc. closed its Hart- ford plant, eliminating about 250 manufac- turing jobs, in 1995. The corporate head- quarters were to remain in Farmington, and a research facility was to remain in Hartford. The merger of Grand Metropolitan and Guin- ness less than a year earlier, creating United Distillers & Vintners North America, ensured the obliteration of the Heublein name. All traces of the Heublein name would be gone from Hartford by the end of 1998. Only 30 of Heublein's corporate employees were moved relocated to the Stamford headquarters. The Caldor Corp. a Norwalk–based dis- count department store company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October of 1995. Efforts to revitalize the corporation failed and it closed its doors in 1999. Rival discounter Ames had a rollercoaster ride before closing in 2002. The Rocky Hill- based firm filed for bankruptcy in 1990, emerged in 1992 and returned to profitability in 1993. By 1999, it was back in bankruptcy court and started closing stores a year later. By 2002, Ames was gone. At its height, it oper- ated about 700 stores. Today its corporate headquarters remains empty and for sale. Enfield-based Bernie's closed up shop in 2010, after a similar rollercoaster ride through bankruptcy, back to profitability and again into collapse. Bernie's once had 15 stores across New England. After 25 years in the Connecticut market, WaWa Food Markets pulled out in later 1996. Its 22 convenient stores were sold to HAS Invest- ment Group Inc. of Edison, N.J. All 350 employ- ees of the stores kept their jobs when the stores reopened under the Krauszer's name. The Pelican, a New York-style fashion store in the American Airlines building at the corner of Main and Pratt Streets in Hart- ford, closed its doors in early 2003. After 20 years, owner Carol Bascetta said American Airlines' decision to move out of downtown was the end for her shop. Law firms weren't immune. Dewey & LeBoeuf, an international firm with more than 1,400 lawyers, closed its Hart- ford office in 2008. The office opened in 1988 and was the center of national and interna- tional environmental practices. Thelen LLP, a San Francisco-based law firm, dissolved late in 2008. Thelen had 40 attorneys based in Hartford and was the city's 11 th largest law practice. Robinson & Cole picked up many of the displaced attorneys. g Familiar retail names vanish Pelican, on Main Street in Hartford, closed its doors in 2003. E arly in the Hartford Business Jour- nal's history, the demise of Sage Allen and G. Fox was part of the news. Since retailing was an important part of my business career, I'd like to share my take. In 1992, both major department store chains in town were struggling. In the early '90s both Main Street department store loca- tions were closed – Sage Allen in 1992 and G. Fox on Jan. 26 of 1993. What happened? The demise of down- town department stores came when the employees dramatically reduced their shop- ping during lunch hour and as people found the suburban shopping malls more conve- nient. It wasn't just Sage Allen and G. Fox that left our region in the 1990's. It was also D & L Stores (Davidson and Levinthial) headquar- tered in New Britain, Steiger's headquartered in Springfield, and EJ Malley's of New Haven. The crumbling of the department store model throughout the United States hap- pened as competition with larger department stores like Macy's, the discount stores like Bradlees and Caldor increased. The large chain stores were able to negotiate much bet- ter pricing from U.S. and overseas' vendors putting price pressure on smaller chains. In addition, specialty store chains like locally owned Weather Vane, Casual Corner and later Brooks Brothers, changed the shopping patterns of the new generation. The ability of specialty stores to offer selection and service made the local department store business model clunky, inefficient and unprofitable. And, the amount of markdowns and promo- tional activity that was needed to stimulate consumer purchasing in the early 90s made profits even harder. There are many fond memories of these stores — Beatrice Auberbach's white glove test for cleanliness, the Mr. Fink's blueberry muffins and pumpkin pies, the men's suit department, the delivery trucks, the chicken pot pies in the Connecticut Room, visiting Santa, the organ music at Christmas, paying your utility bills and your department store bill at the same counter… and more. I began my business career right out of college in the management training program at Sage Allen Department store. Over my 18 years there, I held many positions ending as a divisional merchandise manager for dresses, cosmetics and intimate apparel. It was a very sad day as the announcements came, …first the closing of the downtown location, then the announcement of the merger with Addis & Dey department stores in Syracuse, N.Y., and then the final closing of all eight remaining stores in March of 1993. The G. Fox chain became Filene's in 1993. All buying and administrative functions were shifted to Boston. With both of the stores closed, over 1 million square feet of space needed to be re- invented. There were many ideas of ways that the space could be used. In April of 1993, HBJ reported on the ideas including: • Cutting a hole through the seven floors of the G. Fox building to create "Magic Mountain" a place for attractions and rides for children; • Converting the area into a mixed use facility with its major tenant being a metro- politan arts area; • Using the G. Fox cafeteria as an incuba- tor for small specialty food producers; • Creating an urban learning center; • Creating "Foxtown, the Spirit of the USA", an entertainment-amusement arts center; • Developing the Hartford World Exchange, a centralized shopping dining, entertainment and information center with an international emphasis. Great ideas — maybe we should revisit some of these! In 2002, the G. Fox building was opened as a mixed-use commercial complex known as 960 Main. The building now houses street- level retail space, office space, meeting facili- ties, and the campus of Capital Community College. In 2005, University of Hartford announced that 136 students would be housed in the newly renovated Sage Allen building. Thanks to Phil Schonberger and many other city lead- ers, the building became student housing, condominiums and retail space. And, the Sage Allen clock, which has been a fixture on Main Street for years, still remains. Of course lots of other retail news has happened over the years…. Nordstrom's coming to Westfarms, the development of Blue Back Square, Evergreen Walk in South Windsor, the closing of the JC Penney ware- house in South Windsor, the closing of Ames department store headquarters in Rocky Hill. And, of course, there's the internet…. but that's a story for the 25th anniversary. g Gail Lebert is publisher of the Hartford Business Journal. Retail changes took toll on Hartford By Gail Lebert "Remembrance" G. Fox building on Main Street, 1998.