One of the more popular luncheonettes on Northampton Street in the 1950s and 1960s was Art's Place, located at 1650 Northampton Street.
Dating back to the mid-1920s, the 1650 Northampton Street location had a succession of confectionary stores operated by Avelino Peccioli (1925-1934), Alexander Adelson (1936-1937), Leo Lucchini (1938-1945), and Wilfred J. Boutin (1946-1948).
From 1950 to 1955, Emilio B. Gonnella operated the Northampton Street Spa, a restaurant which featured sandwiches, spaghetti, and sundaes.
In 1955, Arthur Cournoyer, who lived in the Highlands, purchased the business and renamed it Art's Place. The new owner had seven years of experience working at Nick's Nest and Gannon's Seafood.
The business was primarily a luncheonette, offering daily specials alongside an array of fried seafood dishes. The company also sold groceries, ice cream, candies, snow cones, cigarettes, and cigars. It was one of several locations that accepted Gas & Electric payments.
In 1966, Arthur Cournoyer sold the luncheonette to Francis Labrie, who lived in Elmwood. The business's name was changed to Fran's Place.
Two years later, the Maurer family, which had owned the 1650 Northampton Street real estate since October 1946, sold to Falls-Mechanic Saving Bank. In August 1969, Fran's Place advertised merchandise at 50% off and offered for sale store fixtures and equipment. The building was razed to construct a branch office of Community Savings Bank. Several other banks followed, and as of this writing, the site is home to a Westfield Savings Bank branch office.
Citations:
Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican; publication dates and pages are shown.
Price & Lee City Directories, Holyoke, Massachusetts, Holyoke Public Library
Registry of Deeds, Hampden County, Springfield, Massachusetts
Assessors' Office, City of Holyoke, Massachusetts, MapGeo
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