Page 24 - North Haven Magazine Issue 27 Winter 2023

WHALLEY SAMPLE SHOP

by Stephen W. Hoag, Ph.D.

Nestled near the center of Whalley Avenue in New Haven, which be-
gan as a farm soon to become part of Litchfield Turnpike in 1797, is
the time-honored and citizen-revered Whalley Sample Shop on 59
Whalley Avenue.
The shop purchased and designed as a ies of goods. No two
used men’s clothing store by Lew Lehrer men are built exactly
on March 18, 1960, gradually became the alike, just as no two
epicenter for men’s attire for the “every- women have the exact
day man” to the high-profile gentleman height, weight, and
who opted to conduct his life more on hair color. Still, as men
an elevated plateau. Over the years, Lew became conscious of
and his wife Anna committed the Sample how they looked in
Shop to more than just a retail venue, but public, skilled tailors
rather a place where people could share with their fabrics,
the caring smiles of daily life while se- needles and scissors Original sign
lecting garments that weren’t a matter of emerged to craft a suit
necessity but personal choice. of clothes for a man
based on his individual require-
Lew, Anna, and their sons, George and ments. To this day, the Whalley
Alex, fled the persecution of Jews prev- Sample Shop recognizes this
alent in Russia since the time of Czar basic principle of “attrectans
Nicholas. Lew would come alone to virum,” or the attiring a of gen-
America, first by way of Poland, then to tleman.
Israel, and then Anna with George and
Alex in tow would follow. Lew settled in Lew Lehrer recognized that
the New Haven area and bought the store although a tiny hamlet might
for $1,200.00 in 1960. With all Lew had have only one tailoring or
seen and experienced in the anti-Semit- seamstress establishment or
ic atmosphere of Russia, he developed a many, the need for the most
deeply compassionate heart that defined committed craftsmanship in
his approach to the Sample Shop. every garment sold in retail An early newspaper ad
clothing (tailoring) was palpa-
ble. This requires each store to and style mean little to the retailer. It is
be acutely sensitive and accommodating only a matter of size as it relates to cook-
to customers’ wants and needs. The men’s ie-cutter garments in a mass production
clothing stores could not afford to make industry. The Whalley Sample Shop has
(tailor) stacks and stacks of identical gar- never lost its skills as tailors and how all
ments in the hope that men of different things fit together, from shoes to socks, to
sizes would flock to their store and sub- ties, to hats, and everything in between.
sequently purchase identical garments When a boy or man walks out of the
unless the purchases were generally re- Sample Shop, he is individually distinc-
garded as work clothing. Heretofore, a tive. What more can a male hope for in
Nestled into Whalley Avenue is the personal touch to customer relationships the common desire to be “all he can be”?
legendary Whalley Sample Shop and merchandise was necessary if the re-
To fully appreciate the incredible mosaic tail store was to survive the competition A “haberdashery,” the title given to a
of the Whalley Sample Shop, one must over many generations. men’s clothier that addresses the total
seek its European origins. From the time male client/customer from head to toe,
of the ancient Greeks, merchants of all Henceforth, the challenges of the cloth- was, and still is, the highest level of com-
manner of goods and services would ad- ing industry in the 20th century, with its prehensive men’s clothing store and the
join in markets, where people of all walks constant shifts in trends and styles, par- rarest indeed. As the loyal and time-test-
of the community would purchase those ticularly men’s clothing stores, required a ed staff of the Sample Shop all attest, each

items to live as well as they could afford. total commitment to the individual male person that walks through their door is
Of the time-honored necessities of life, customer if the retailer hoped to sustain a treated as a long-standing friend and
food, clothing, and shelter, clothing has long-run on Main Street America. Un- those thousands of clients over the last
always garnered the most personal pur- fortunately, what once was a stylized per- seven decades always return, albeit for a
chases. sonal industry designed for a man’s shop- tuxedo for a son’s marriage, or the appro-
ping enjoyment was dashed on the rocks priate hat(s) to top off the Easter outfit of
From Eastern Europe to America of the casual “one size fits all” mentality, a father and son.
emerged emporiums that sold all variet- where individual preferences in fashion

North Haven Magazine - Winter Issue 2023
24