Big Box Retail Pioneer Robert Hall Clothing Store Opens In Watertown, NY, In 1960

Long gone but having changed the landscape of retail, low overhead and big box pioneer Robert Hall Clothing, founded by Jacob Schwab, opened its original Waterbury, Connecticut store in 1940.  Though some reports have its founding in 1937/38, it officially celebrated its 25-year anniversary in 1965, five years after opening a store on the Watertown – Adams road, commonly referred to in the present as outer Washington Street, about a mile from the city across from the Watertown Bowl.

Plans for the local Robert Hall store began in 1959 and a 20-acre site was chosen and purchased from Roy T. Squier.  Work commenced in April of 1960 with bulldozers clearing 15 trees and shrubs while leveling the land comprised of 900 feet of frontage on the highway with a depth of 1,200 feet.

The facility, proposed as one story high, 120 feet long, and 72 feet wide, was constructed by Adelaide Realty Corporation of New York City which subcontracted the work.  According to plans, the building was equipped with a modern air-conditioning system.

The location was, at the time, considered a prime one as Route 11 was once the prime arterial between Syracuse and Watertown.  The store opened a year after the completion of the stretch of I-81 from Adams to Pamelia, but gaps existed elsewhere between Syracuse which were not completed until December of 1961.

It’s unknown if any of I-81’s development was taken into consideration, but interesting to note considering the bulk of retail today centers around I-81 exists.  Kmart, once on outer Washington Street, eventually relocated closer to the I-81 on Arsenal Street years before its closing, too.

On August 13, 1960, the Watertown Daily Times published an article regarding Robert Hall’s quickly approaching grand opening–

Robert Hall Clothes will soon open a new family clothing center to serve the Watertown area.  Scheduled for a September opening, the new clothing center is located on outer Washington Street, opposite the Watertown Bowl. 

The new one-floor salesroom will be an 8,400-square-foot structure of contemporary modern design.  Streamlined throughout, the interior will be equipped with every modern convenience to simplify family shopping in the easier, quicker semi self-service way.  Shopping hours will be from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturdays.  A lot adjacent to the building will provide plenty of free parking space.  

The opening of the new Robert Hall clothing center will contribute approximately 40 new full and part-time jobs in the area.  

Below: a catchy jingle from Robert Hall on YouTube.

In 1965, Robert Hall Clothes celebrated its 25th anniversary, according to an article printed in The Times, stating the chain and grown from its modest beginnings in 1940 in Waterbury, Conn., to a giant retail clothing chain with 380 stores from Main to Hawaii.  There were no signs of slowing down, either, as the company planned to open its 400th store the following year.

The following year, burglars broke a three-foot hole into the local Robert Hall store’s cinder block wall.  Sheriff investigators reported that approximately 16 cinder blocks had been removed. After failing to gain access to the company’s safe, the burglars managed to make off with about 50 men’s suits and women’s garments that had been stolen.  Though nothing appeared to be missing at first, an inventory uncovered the thefts.  In 1976, a group of 35 “Gypsies” from Illinois who had stolen money from a number of Robert Hall Stores, including $408 in Watertown, and $2,200 in Fulton, were stopped in Malone after being chased out of a Canton store by employees.  

Unfortunately, Robert Hall lost over $100 million in the span of three years in the mid-1970s, forcing bankruptcy and the sale of all 367 stores’ assets in the summer of 1977.  The sudden downturn was reportedly due to competition from other clothing retailers and manufacturers’ offshoring production, whereas Robert Hall produced a majority of its clothing in the Hudson River Valley and North Carolina. The company, however, attributed it to store locations, most of which were in urban centers instead of increasingly popular suburban shopping malls which happen to be easily accessible off major highways.

The Watertown Daily Times spoke to the local store manager at the time–

Richard L. Frangione, manager of the Robert Hall clothing store on outer Washington Street, is “shocked” by the announcement that the nationwide retail operation will be “phased out” by its owners.

The local store, on the east side of Route 3 opposite the Watertown Bowl, has been in operation since August, 1960.  It employs six persons in sales and office work.  Mr. Frangione, 1131 Academy St., has been manager of the Robert Hall store here for nearly 13 years.

“We just completed remodeling the store, with a new line of display,” said Mr. Frangione, adding that he had received no notice from the company about possible closing.  He pointed out that Robert Hall had recently opened six new stores in Florida and had plans for more locations elsewhere under an expansion which included revamping some of the existing stores.

Below: a short 1958 jingle from Robert Hall clothing, via Variety & Co.’s YouTube channel:

While the stores initially closed at the end of June in 1977, they were reopened a few weeks later for liquidation sales which drew crowds.  Four employees were rehired to handle the sales, but within a matter of hours the casheirs had run out of single dollar bills prompting some shoppers in the crowd eager for a good deal to dip into their own wallets to help out.

Below: a couple of more earworms, er, jingles, from Robert Hall on YouTube.