The Edw. Malley Co.
 | |
| Industry | Retail |
|---|---|
| Founded | New Haven, Connecticut; 1852 |
| Defunct | 1982 |
| Fate | Bankruptcy |
| Headquarters | New Haven, Connecticut |
| Products | Clothing, housewares, books[1], patio furniture[2] |
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]
History
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 store for $75 a year, using $250 in cash and a credit line of $550 to stock his store.[9] 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.[10]
By 1856, the premises had been "greatly enlarged", which Malley attributed to liberal advertising without regard to expense.[11] 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 front, 120-foot depth, and was three stories tall. The building was further improved in 1866.[9] 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.[12]
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[13], and enlarged in 1899 as a nine-story Beaux-Arts style building.[9][14] It continued to remodel and improve, adding New England's first self-leveling elevator in 1923, and escalators in 1958.[13] A 1938 travel book said of Malley's, "Young shoppers are fascinated by the big cage of live birds in the children's department."[15]
It was demolished and relocated two blocks south 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,[13] 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.[16]
Features included a branch post office and a fix-it shop, a gourmet shop, bakery, 300-seat restaurant[17], beauty salon, photographic studio, jewelry and watch repair service[18], and shoe repair.[19] Live radio could also be heard playing.[20] During this period, Malley's offered its own brand of clothing called Churchstreeter.[21]
Malley's brought its bird cage along to the second location. In 2006, 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."[22]
The store was a family business until its 1971, when Edward Malley died, and it was sold to developer Richard Stevens, the man responsible for construction of the 1962 building.[13][23] 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.[24] It was sold again in 1980 to United Department Stores, which went bankrupt in 1981, resulting in the store's closure in February 1982.[25][13]
Post-closure
Following a court-ordered probate sale to Mordecai Lipkis of Brooklyn, New York, the city fought the new owner over his plan to open an ABC Carpet on the site. New Haven planned to use the land as part of the aborted University Place mall, and viewed a carpet store as "too downscale" for an envisioned luxury shopping district.[8] Lipkis then opened an indoor flea market, Ceasar's [sic] Bazaar, which closed within months.[23][8]
The empty building was regarded as an eyesore[26], as it was the first thing visitors saw upon exiting the Route 34 Connector. 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.[27] The building was demolished in 1997. Over $160,000 was allotted for asbestos removal[28] for the $3.247 million job.[29] At the building-breaking ceremony, Mayor John DeStefano, Jr. called the building a "symbol of an empty past with no promises of the future."[30]
In an effort to develop the property, Mayor John Daniels established a Retail Mall Advisory Council to explore the possibility of a Taubman Center.[31] The city of New Haven directly courted IKEA[32].[33] The Long Wharf Theatre was also considered for relocation to the spot, and a biotechnology research facility was another proposal.[34][35] Gateway Community College plans to open a campus on the site in 2011.[36]
The Malley Family
The namesake of the family was Edward W. Malley,[37] (August 6, 1827-July 26, 1909[38]) a native of Ireland.[13] He was fond of fishing, and went blind toward the end of his life.[39]
During the time of the 1882 fire, Malley's son, Walter, and his nephew James Malley Jr., were in jail awaiting trial in the Connecticut Supreme Court for the alleged murder of Jennie Cramer.[40][41] The case drew international attention,[42] and the defendants were acquitted, but charges that the Malleys had bought their freedom dogged the family for decades. Walter Malley was outspoken in efforts to bring the real killers to light, but the case would remain unsolved.[43] The case was a focus of the 1999 book "Arsenic Under the Elms: Murder in Victorian New Haven".
E.W. Malley's will, processed by probate in 1909, stipulated that his property remain undivided, with only the interest being available for his heirs, Walter E. and Jane Malley. A large sum of shares was bequeathed to his grandson Wallace, on the condition that he remain in the store's employ.[44]
In 1990, Edward H. Malley, Sr. was noted as a retired director of Malley's.[45]
Despite sale of the company, the Malley family estate, Malley Properties, retained ownership of property in Downtown New Haven into the 21st century.[46][47]
References
- ^ The Publisher's Weekly, Volume 83, Part 1, p. 679, February 22, 1913
- ^ Serra case sentencing put off until September at New Haven Register, July 17, 2002
- ^ a b c d The Edward Malley Company & Macy's New Haven at Retail Memories From Coast to Coast
- ^ ROSE D'OR Antiques
- ^ The Edw. Malley Co., Chapel Street, c.1905 at the Yale University Library
- ^ The Edw. Malley Co., Chapel Street, c.1905 at the Yale University Library
- ^ "Whose Downtown Is It?" at The New Haven Advocate, December 13, 2007
- ^ a b c d The Great Malle - One city's never-ending search for urban renewal, by Paul Bass, 2008
- ^ a b c Three Centuries of New Haven - The Tercentenary History, by Rollin G. Osterweis, 1953
- ^ An Ethnic History of New Haven
- ^ Palladium, May 19, 1856
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d e f The New Haven Enterprise Hall of FameBusiness New Haven, February 5, 2007
- ^ Malley's Department Store at Emporis
- ^ Connecticut, a Guide to Its Roads, Lore, and People, written by the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration in 1938
- ^ New Haven, 06510 at The New Haven Advocate, January 13, 2005
- ^ This may have been Tony's Sandwich Shop - Feta & a Feast at The New Haven Advocate, August 21, 2003
- ^ This day in history at New Haven Register, September 2, 2002
- ^ Home and Garden - Best Shoe Repair at The New Haven Advocate, May 19, 2005
- ^ Witz End at The New Haven Advocate, April 15, 2004
- ^ Browsing the Shop Windows on Memory Lane at The New Haven Review, September 17, 2009
- ^ Pat of the Family - Handsome Dan and Friends Have A Special Place in Elm City Lore at the New Haven Register, October 27, 2010
- ^ a b The death and life of Chapel Square, 24 Jan 2002 - accessed 01 Oct 2010
- ^ United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. - 673 F.2d 34
- ^ Remembering Great American Department Stores - Malley's, New Haven
- ^ Fallen idols among idle thoughts at New Haven Register, July 17, 2002
- ^ The Juice Man Is Back at New Haven Advocate, July 23, 1998
- ^ Hamden insurance agency under scrutiny for payments at New Haven Register, August 30, 2001
- ^ The Bucks Start Here at The New Haven Advocate, April 1, 1999
- ^ Shartenberg Syndrome, R.I.P. at New Haven Advocate, November 6, 1997
- ^ 'Colorblind' mayors can instruct Dawson at New Haven Register, March 5, 2002
- ^ IKEA later opened a store in New Haven on Long Wharf.
- ^ Pirelli building site may house IKEA at New Haven Register, April 18, 2002
- ^ Theater talking of move Gateway also eyes Macy's site at New Haven Register, April 17, 2002
- ^ City denies Republican mayoral candidate renewal role at New Haven Register, August 17, 2001
- ^ About Gateway at Gateway Community College, retrieved September 5, 2009
- ^ The Best of Times, the Worst of Times at The Connecticut Business Journal, May 4, 1999
- ^ Edward Mailey at FindaGrave.com
- ^ An Angler's Paradise at The New York Times, June 12, 1904
- ^ 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
- ^ Jennie Cramer Murder Trial: 1882 - An Inquest's Second Thoughts, The Elm City Tragedy
- ^ Jennie Cramer Murder Trial: 1882 - An Inquest's Second Thoughts
- ^ Jennie Cramer Murder Trial: 1882 - The Elm City Tragedy
- ^ LEAVES $2,000,000 IN TRUST.; Edward Malley of New Haven Does Not Give Principal to Children at The New York Times, August 29, 1909
- ^ Christine Warden Wed To Edward Malley Jr. at The New York Times, June 3, 1990
- ^ Downtown Changes Afoot at New Haven Independent, January 24, 2008
- ^ Booted Wine Shop Finds New Home at New Haven Independent, November 14, 2007
