The 1924 Holyoke City Directory lists twenty-two furniture stores operating in Holyoke. This is the story of the twenty-third, which commenced business in that year: Weinstein Furniture Company.
Samuel Weinstein was born in Poland in December 1900. He arrived in the United States in 1921 and settled in Syracuse, New York.
In 1924, he moved to Holyoke, intending to start his own furniture store. The original Weinstein Furniture Company was located at 57 Sargeant Street until the end of June 1925. Samuel Weinstein was a carpenter and cabinetmaker by trade, dealing in the buying, repairing, and selling of used furniture.
He relocated to 461 Main Street, at the corner of Sergeant, in early July 1925, which provided some additional space to carry more inventory. The new store site was located in one room of the E. H. Friedrich Building. The building also had additional stores running north along Main Street. The new store was crammed with furniture, rugs, baby carriages, oil burners, and toys. His mother, Clara (Colodny) Weinstein, was an integral contributor to the business operation for many decades. An early photo of the store is shown below.
The furniture store space was previously the popular Geissler & Klinke tavern, which closed during the Prohibition era. The furniture store retained the tavern's original character, including old gas lights, oak-paneled walls and beams, bottled glass windows, and one-foot-thick quarry-stone floors in its showroom.
On September 23, 1929, the business incorporated using its present name, Weinstein Furniture Company.
In 1932, a second store location was added at 472-474 Main Street, and it was named the Cut Rate Furniture Store. This was a showroom for selling trade-in used furniture and closeout items from the main store.
In 1934, additional items were made available for sale, including radios, appliances, and furniture suites. The furniture store was keeping up with changing times.
The store was growing, and Mr. Weinstein needed to expand. Work was done to convert the former apartments above into additional showroom space, and Weinstein Furniture now occupied the first three floors of the E. H. Friedrich building in 1938.
In April 1948, a small fire damaged some mattresses in a storehouse behind the furniture store. There was some smoke and water damage to the main store's interior. A sale of slightly damaged goods took place at 468-476 Main Street.
The E.H. Friedrich Company building, located at 449-461 Main Street, was purchased by Samuel Weistein from Marius V. and Hugo C. Canova in 1948. In 1950, a grand opening celebration was held for Weinstein's Bargain Basement, a remodeled space that sold juvenile, breakfast, and bedroom furniture, as well as mattresses and appliances.
In the early 1950s, Samuel Weinstein's son, Charles, entered New York University Graduate School to pursue a Master's Degree in Retailing. He had received his Bachelor's Degree in English from Syracuse University in 1948. He also had served two years in the army and was a graduate of Holyoke High School. He started working in the store at age 13 and began making deliveries soon after receiving his Driver's license. He joined his father in the store operation upon graduation.
The store continued to expand its diverse inventory in the 1960s. Air conditioners, gas heaters, and televisions were available, making this a one-stop shop for furnishing much of a customer's home.
On March 20, 1964, Samuel Weinstein passed away. His wife, Clara (Colodny) Weinstein, and son, Charles, and his wife, Sandra (Brodsky) Weinstein, continued to operate the business.
In 1976, the Weinstein Furniture Warehouse was shown at 435 Main Street. The former Cut Rate Furniture Store at 472-474 Main Street had been previously sold and demolished to accommodate the Holyoke Machine Company. Samuel Weinstein had previously purchased buildings at 339-341 Park Street, 433 and 435 Main Street, as well as the expanded main store at 449-461 Main Street. Some of the buildings were upper-floor residential rentals. In 1981, a warehouse was noted in the former Studebaker Auto building at 362 Race Street.
By 1987, there were approximately eight family-owned furniture stores in Holyoke. Holyoke's population was declining, and economic times were challenging for many residents. Fortunately, Interstate 391 increased the store's accessibility and attracted customers from the Longmeadow area and northern Connecticut. This, along with creative print and television advertising, as well as word of mouth, greatly contributed to the store's longevity.
Several of the imaginative and eye-catching ads developed through the notable Darby O'Brien Advertising agency are shown below for your enjoyment.
In late July 1995, Charles Weinstein announced his retirement and the closing of the 71-year-old store. A going-out-of-business sale was conducted, and the store closed in late August 1995. On December 29, 1999, the E.H. Friedrich building was sold to Nueva Esperanza. I intend to write more about this historic building in a future installment.
Citations:
Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican; publication dates and pages are shown.
Ancestry.com (paid subscription), Price & Lee City Directories, Holyoke, Massachusetts.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Holyoke, Massachusetts, 1915
Registry of Deeds, Hampden County, Springfield, Massachusetts
Facebook, Growing Up in Holyoke, Massachusetts
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