The Edw. Malley Co.

The Edw. Malley Co., often abbreviated Malley's,[3] was a prestigious[4] department store in Downtown New Haven, Connecticut, from 1852 to 1982.[3] Company produced postcards promoted the establishment as "The Metropolitan Store of Connecticut".[5][6] In 2007, it was ranked among the "landmark consumer paradises" of New Haven's past, along with Macy's, Shartenberg's Department Store, and Grant's.[7] The second site was regarded as "a crucial appendage" to the success of the Chapel Square Mall.[8]

The Edw. Malley Co.
IndustryRetail
FateBankruptcy
FoundedNew Haven, Connecticut; 1852
Defunct1982
HeadquartersNew Haven, Connecticut
ProductsClothing, housewares, books,[1] patio furniture[2]

History

Beginnings

In 1848, Edward Malley started displaying merchandise in the front room of his aunt Rhoda Mallory's house on North Front Street in Fair Haven. He traveled throughout New England, opening up stores briefly and then moving on.[9]

Original site

The business started out as Malley & Co., a dry goods store, in 1852.[3] It was originally located directly across from the New Haven Green, at 65 Chapel Street. Malley rented a 15- by 20-foot (6.1 m) store for $75 a year, using $250 in cash and a credit line of $550 to stock his store.[10] With such limited space, Malley hung goods from wires strung across the room and used barrels topped with planks as counters. The store made deliveries by way of a mule named Maude who pulled a cart through the streets of New Haven.[11]

By 1856, the premises had been "greatly enlarged", which Malley attributed to liberal advertising without regard to expense.[12] It was described that October as "the largest and busiest store of its kind in the state". At that time, it employed about 100 people, had four show windows, a 75-foot (23 m) front, 120-foot (37 m) depth, and was three stories tall. The building was further improved in 1866.[10] Malley partnered with one William Neeley, and changed the store to William Neeley Co. in 1868.

The store caught fire in 1875, and was completely destroyed by a second fire in 1882, with a loss estimated at $175,000.[13]

The store was rebuilt, and in 1893, renamed Malley-Neeley Co.. The name was changed a final time to The Edw. Malley Co. in 1898,[14] and enlarged in 1899 as a nine-story Beaux-Arts style building.[10][15] It continued to remodel and improve, adding New England's first self-leveling elevator in 1923, and escalators in 1958.[14] A 1938 travel book said of Malley's, "Young shoppers are fascinated by the big cage of live birds in the children's department."[16]

It was demolished and relocated two blocks south at 2 Church Street when the now-defunct Chapel Square Mall was constructed on the original site in the early 1960s.

Second site

The second location, which opened October 25, 1962,[14] measured 266,000[17] square feet and had three levels above ground and two below.[3] It was connected by a walkway on the second floor to Macy's, across the street, which was, in turn, connected by bridge to the Chapel Square Mall, leading to the New Haven Green.[18]

Churchstreeter clothing label

Features included a branch post office and a fix-it shop, a gourmet shop, bakery, 300-seat restaurant,[19] beauty salon, photographic studio, jewelry and watch repair service,[20] and shoe repair.[21] Live radio could also be heard playing.[22] During this period, Malley's offered its own brand of clothing called Churchstreeter.[23]

Malley's brought its bird cage along to the second location. A former shopper wrote about the store's features: "Toys, Santa, Candy, a Soda Fountain, Fur Salon, Beauty Salon, Bridal Registry, but most importantly, on the 2nd floor, by the blue elevators, across from the Photo Studio and down the aisle from the Restaurant, in the Children's Shoe department was a big beautiful bird cage, about 8 feet tall and 4 feet wide."[24]

With business doing well, The Edw. Malley Co. announced plans on March 18, 1970 to build its first branch store, a full-line department store in a proposed shopping mall in Hamden.[25] The project was blocked by residents and nearby retailers, tied up in court for about a dozen years, then never built.[26]

Decline

Malley's was a family business until 1971, when Edward Malley died, and it was sold to developer Richard Stevens, the man responsible for construction of the 1962 building.[14][27] Urban parking garage stigma resulted from the 1973 murder of Penny Serra in the adjoining Temple Street parking garage, and area business declined.[8] After that, the store was purchased in 1978 by The Outlet Company for $100 plus assumption of Malley's indebtedness.[28]

In 1979, an outside retailer, Bargain Mart, began renting 3,456 square feet (321.1 m2) of ground floor space from Malley's.[29] Local businessman G. Harold Welch rented the building from 11 people who were collectively known as the Malley heirs. Though buying and selling the department store business, he retained control of the land and rented to The Outlet Company.[29]

Malley's was sold again in 1980 to United Department Stores when The Outlet decided to focus only on broadcasting. UDS itself went bankrupt in 1981, resulting in the store's closure in February 1982.[14][30] Malley's Auto Center and Bargain Mart remained open for several years after the store closed.[31]

Post-closure

A court-ordered probate auction in November 1985 was given to high-bidder Mordecai Lipkis of Brooklyn, New York.[32] After a search for tenants, Lipkis entered a partnership and made the purchase with Joseph Gindi and Ceasar Salama[33] for $4.15 million plus $3.35 million on back taxes, improvements and carrying costs in December 1986.[32][34]

New Haven planned to use the land as part of the aborted University Place mall.[8] When the mall developers' offer to buy the property for $8.5 million[35] didn't materialize, Lipkis fought a lengthy battle with the city to open an indoor flea market, Ceasar's Department Store.[36] Ceasar's featured vendors at 140[37] out of 167[38] rented booths, including a Hyundai automobile dealership.[39] The department store opened November 3, 1988,[39] and closed in late April 1989.[40]

Lipkis' further efforts to use the space included courting retailer ABC Carpet, and in 1992 proposing "New Haven Medical Center", a facility with physical therapy, urgent care, AIDS care, and an in vitro fertilization clinic.[41] Still, the building remained empty, and in 1994 a water main burst on the third floor, causing extensive damage.[42] This was followed by a fire in the adjacent abandoned Auto Center blamed on homeless people months later.[43]

Demolition

The empty building was regarded as an eyesore,[44] as it was the first thing visitors saw upon exiting the Route 34 Connector. A mural and assorted paintings were mounted over boarded up windows and other layers of graffiti.[45] Stories were said to "abound of realtors, city officials and others showing off the city who found alternate routes into downtown just to avoid it."[46] Indeed, it has been called a "black hole",[47] a 'vacant carcass sitting at one of the most strategic corners of New Haven',[48] symbolizing "blight and despair",[49] and a "symbol of an empty past with no promises of the future."[50]

Lipkis tried for years to force the city to pay him to settle a legal dispute over the building. In late 1997, he gave the building to the city upon dropping his lawsuit and receiving a $3.4 million settlement.[51]

A final tour of the building revealed "mold-encrusted escalators" amid a "cool, musty, post-cataclysmic building" reminiscent of Beneath the Planet of the Apes.[52] Demolition commenced in October, 1997. Over $160,000 was allotted for asbestos removal[53] for the $3.247 million job.[54]

In an effort to develop the property, Mayor John Daniels established a Retail Mall Advisory Council to explore the possibility of a Taubman Center.[55] The city of New Haven directly courted Starter[56] and IKEA.[57][58] The Long Wharf Theatre was also considered for relocation to the spot, and a biotechnology research facility was another proposal.[59][60] Gateway Community College opened a campus on the site in 2012.[61]

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References
  1. The Publisher's Weekly, Volume 83, Part 1, p. 679, February 22, 1913
  2. Serra case sentencing put off until September at New Haven Register, July 17, 2002
  3. The Edward Malley Company & Macy's New Haven at Retail Memories From Coast to Coast
  4. ROSE D'OR Antiques
  5. The Edw. Malley Co., Chapel Street, c.1905 at the Yale University Library
  6. The Edw. Malley Co., Chapel Street, c.1905 at the Yale University Library
  7. "Whose Downtown Is It?" at The New Haven Advocate, December 13, 2007
  8. The Great Malle - One city's never-ending search for urban renewal Archived 2011-07-14 at the Wayback Machine, by Paul Bass, 2008
  9. Fair Haven - A Journey Through Time, by Doris B. Townshend, 1976
  10. Three Centuries of New Haven - The Tercentenary History, by Rollin G. Osterweis, 1953
  11. An Ethnic History of New Haven
  12. Palladium, May 19, 1856
  13. Edward Malley's Store Burned: A Loss of $175,000 Caused By Fire Yesterday in New-Haven at The New York Times, March 1, 1882
  14. The New Haven Enterprise Hall of FameBusiness New Haven, February 5, 2007
  15. Malley's Department Store at Emporis
  16. Connecticut, a Guide to Its Roads, Lore, and People, written by the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration in 1938
  17. Ceasar's: The rise and fall, New Haven Register, June 25, 1989
  18. New Haven, 06510 at The New Haven Advocate, January 13, 2005
  19. This may have been Tony's Sandwich Shop - Feta & a Feast at The New Haven Advocate, August 21, 2003
  20. This day in history at New Haven Register, September 2, 2002
  21. Home and Garden - Best Shoe Repair at The New Haven Advocate, May 19, 2005
  22. Witz End at The New Haven Advocate, April 15, 2004
  23. Browsing the Shop Windows on Memory Lane at The New Haven Review, September 17, 2009
  24. Pat of the Family - Handsome Dan and Friends Have A Special Place in Elm City Lore at the New Haven Register, October 27, 2010
  25. Pages from the Past, New Haven Register, March 18, 1990
  26. Farmland in Hamden finally being developed, New Haven Register, November 20, 1997
  27. The death and life of Chapel Square, 24 Jan 2002 - accessed 01 Oct 2010
  28. United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. - 673 F.2d 34
  29. High court upholds Bargain Mart lease, New Haven Register, July 11, 1989
  30. Remembering Great American Department Stores - Malley's, New Haven
  31. Missing Stories, New Haven Register, March 8, 1994
  32. Long road to Ceasar's opening, New Haven Register, June 3, 1988
  33. Judge bars Ceasar's, New Haven Register September 1, 1988
  34. Ceasar's gets final OK to open, New Haven Register, October 19, 1988
  35. Malley flea mart looms as sale stalls, New Haven Register, February 9, 1988
  36. Ceasar Salama was a co-owner of the store. Given the spelling, it was likely named after him rather than the historical Caesars. The store was "sometimes referred to as Ceasar's Bazaar", but that was only the name of the company that owned the store.
  37. Vendors at Ceasar's grumble, New Haven Register, November 30, 1988
  38. Owners, 18 vendors to reopen Ceasar's, New Haven Register, May 4, 1989
  39. Feisty Ceasar's opens today after 17-month fight, New Haven Register, November 3, 1988
  40. Today in business, New Haven Register, June 13, 1989
  41. Old Malley 's may be medical center, New Haven Register, February 7, 1992
  42. It's going to stay ugly, New Haven Register, January 17, 1994
  43. Malley fire may have been accident, New Haven Register, March 9, 1994
  44. Fallen idols among idle thoughts at New Haven Register, July 17, 2002
  45. 'Art Attack' transforms city eyesore into an outdoor 'Never Ending Gallery', New Haven Register, March 29, 1992
  46. Battle over Ceasar's sure to remembered, New Haven Register, October 23, 1988
  47. A drab tag sale finishes Macy's, September 4, 1993
  48. ‘Demolition by neglect’ continues in New Haven at New Haven Register, July 6, 2011
  49. DeStefano outlines `vision' for downtown, New Haven Register, June 18, 1993
  50. Shartenberg Syndrome, R.I.P. at New Haven Advocate, November 6, 1997
  51. The Juice Man Is Back at New Haven Advocate, July 23, 1998
  52. Malley building tour leaves no doubt about its future, New Haven Register, February 21, 1997
  53. Hamden insurance agency under scrutiny for payments at New Haven Register, August 30, 2001
  54. The Bucks Start Here at The New Haven Advocate, April 1, 1999
  55. 'Colorblind' mayors can instruct Dawson at New Haven Register, March 5, 2002
  56. Malley's building proposed for Starter, New Haven Register, June 30, 1994
  57. IKEA later opened a store in New Haven on Long Wharf.
  58. Pirelli building site may house IKEA at New Haven Register, April 18, 2002
  59. Theater talking of move Gateway also eyes Macy's site at New Haven Register, April 17, 2002
  60. City denies Republican mayoral candidate renewal role at New Haven Register, August 17, 2001
  61. About Gateway at Gateway Community College, retrieved September 5, 2009
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