Sage-Allen & Co., Hartford, Connecticut



Sage Allen occupied a variety of buildings at Main and Temple Streets, just south of competitor G. Fox & Co.'s immense store

 
Sage-Allen entrance on Temple Street

In 1968, the store was modernized inside and out
Sage-Allen & Co.
902 Main Street
Hartford, Connecticut

JAckson 4-8771


DOWNTOWN STORE DIRECTORY

Lower Street Level
Drugs D59 • Health and Beauty Aids D140 • The Pantry D56 • Bakery D56 • Jack Handlen's Cheese Shop • Luncheonette • Utility Desk
Sage-Allen Budget Store

Main Floor
Jewelry D12 • Watches D45 • Leather Shop D34 • La Bagagerie D34  • Gloves D1 • Hosiery D3 • Bra Bar D27 • Hat Bar D182 • Fashion Accessories D16 • Spectator Sportswear D31 • House and Town Dresses D21 • Maternity Shop • Fashion Shoe Salon D192 • Cosmetics D38 • Stationery D36 • Books D36 • Barton's Bonbonniere D32 • The Candy Bar D32
Men's Shop Furnishings D8 • Sportswear D5 • Clothing D79 • The 900 Shop D79 • Shoes D197 • Lafayette Place

Second Floor of Fashion
Miss Boulevard Shop D55 • Town Shop D46 • Country Casuals D57 • Dress Biz D54 • Contempo D19 • Coats D66 • Car Coats D25 • Sports Gallery D6 • Cabana D6 • Modern Woman D65 • Coat Salon D67 • Better Dresses D52 • Oval Room D24 • Fur Salon • Bridal Salon • Millinery D190 • Apropos Shop • Loungewear D28 • Lingerie D17 • Sleepwear D18 • Foundations D41 • Clip Shop D186 • Beauty Salon D186
Junior Village Junior Sportswear D11 • Junior Dresses D15 • Junior Coats D15 • Young Juniors D69 • The Apartment D24
Infants' Shop D7 • Infant Furniture D59 • Children's Shop D7 • Girls' Shop D61 • Boys' Shop D9 • Young Boys' Shop D44

Third Floor
Notions D10 • Homemaker Shop D4 • China Shop D68 • Silver Gallery D68 • Lamp Shop D68 • Casual Furniture D33 • Draperies D33 • Bedtime Shop D22 • Bed 'n Bath Shop D22 • Table Linens D23 • Luggage D35 • Stereo Shop D56 • Fashion Fabric Center D20 • Needlework Shop D10 • Uniforms D29
Fourth Floor
Lincoln Laurel Room • Cashier • Credit Office • Travel Centre • The Fawn Shop (Christopher the Talking Fawn)


BRANCH STORES (1930-1974)

West Hartford (Nov. 12, 1930)
981 Farmington Avenue








East Hartford (Oct. 18, 1940)
1044 Main Street








Wethersfield (Mar. 15, 1960)
Wethersfield Shopping Center









Old Saybrook (Jul. 16 , 1963)
Old Saybrook Shopping Center
(Original resort shop opened 1937)

Windsor (Aug 18, 1964)
Windsor Shopping Plaza








Vernon (Apr. 8, 1968)
Tri-City Plaza








Enfield (Nov. 4, 1969)
Enfield Mall
38,000 sq. ft.







Avon/Simsbury (Nov. 6, 1972)
Farmington Valley Mall








Westfarms Mall (Aug. 26, 1974)
Farmington/West Hartford
83,000 sq. ft.
The Top of the Mall

81 comments:

  1. The Westfarms store also had a restaurant on the second floor called The Top of the Mall

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    1. I went all the time with my mother. We always had the chicken salad on a croissant and the raspberry drink

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  2. Today the West Farms Store (which sat empty for several years) is a Macy's Men's store. This was previously a Filene's Men's store (when they took over the large G Fox store and didn't want any competition in the mall). Today it is very tacky.

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  3. The Sage-Allen store in Old Saybrook was very nice back in the day.... when it closed it became a very nice Cherry-Webb-Toulane. When Cherry Webb closed it sat empty and is currently a Marshall's. The beauty of the building, the grasious service, and the entire atmosphere has gone down hill.

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  4. You're missing a few branches. they had a store in Mansfield at East Brook Mall, and another iat Bristol Centre Mall. Sage's Westfarms store was always tacky. The ceiling was open and the only decoration was a large number of hanging cards, which looked like colored note cards. They really weren't competitive with G Fox at this location. their downtown and smaller branches did better business.

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  5. My Dad, John Ceraldi worked at Sage Allen for 25 years. He was a truck driver then was in charge of the distribution center on Pitkin Street, East Hartford. My sister, Pat worked in the office on the 4th floor, my brother John worked in the DC with my Dad and I worked in the main store as a gift wrapper.
    I am so shocked and happy to see this web page :)

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    1. The name is so familiar. I was a buyer in the
      Late 70’s and early 80’s. I was always at the distribution center.
      Ate


      70’s

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  6. You're missing the branch that opened in 1982 in the Hawley Lane Mall in Trumbull as well :)

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  7. The bakery in the down town store was amazing. The sticky buns were so spicy they almost burned the tongue. I have Never had any before or since that were that good.
    Oh , what our descendants are missing !
    P.S. the aroma fro the bakery wafted up the escalators literally pulling you down to the basement !

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  8. Trumbull branch in Hawley Lane Mall. Worked there for 10 years--loved working there!

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  9. Hyman Fink,the owner/manager of the restaurant and bakery of the department store died on nov. 24,2011. He wa 100 years old. What a wonderful, kind, generous man he was. We will all miss him

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  10. Can someone please shed some light on 'Christopher the talking fawn' that's mentioned above in the store directory (fourth floor)? It sounds vaguely familiar to me but I can't remember any detail...

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    1. Yes, Christopher and his village was designed by my Dad Jud Landon, he was Sage-Allen's Display Manager for over 30 years 1950's,60's-early 70's, also with G.Fox & Co in the late 40's after the war. The display dept crew would work on Thanksgiving through the night & wee hours creating Christmas magic decorating all of the 8 stores. Christopher was able to see and talk to the children allowing them to share their Christmas wishes and stories about their delightful anticipation of the Holiday. The village was a shoppe designed for children to shop for their families

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  11. bings back so many of my child hood memorys

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  12. I believe there was a branch in Stamford as well, it took over the old Gimbels location that is now a Sears...or am I mistaken?

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    1. I worked in the Hartford store as a teenager during school vacations from 1954-1956. In "Notions" which was on the first floor then. And also in "Gloves and Hosiery" also on the first floor...and in basement bargain women's wear. And for a short time in the basement room where the money containers shot down pneumatic tubes to be processed and get change. I remember we had to wear dark blue skirts and white blouses and stockings. And we ate in the restaurant ....I especially remember the huge muffins. Most of the saleswoman were old (or maybe that was just my perception at the time).

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  13. I also believe that Sage-Allen expanded to Massachusetts in the mid 1980s. They were located in the Searstown Mall in Leominster and I believe they displaced one of the last two-remaining branches of Boston's "R.H. White's" department stores.

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  14. My mother worked at Sage-Allen for years in the 60's & 70's in accounting. People would come in to pay their S.A. bill or utility bill and old people would pay with coins going back to the late 1800's (whatever they had) or gold coins, we heard some cool stories. The family treat was that Mom would bring home the most delicious chocolate chip cookies, frosted gingerbread and poppy-seed coffee cakes from the bake shoppe on special occassions. My big thrill was her letting me bring a friend and we would all drive in together on a Saturday, she would work and we would walk around Sages, G. Fox, JJ Newbury and walk Constitution Plaza. Hartford was great then and yes, Sage-Allen did have a branch at the Eastbrook Mall, but it wasn't that great.

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    1. How about Korvettes? The record dept!

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    2. Grants also had a pretty good record dept and a pinball machine too. Gottlieb's Card Trix was one of them.

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  15. The History of Hartford would not be as rich as it was without Sage-Allen.

    I also worked in the Lunchonette 1960 through 1967 and this was the BEST WORK enviroment anyone could experience in preperation for a lifetime career.
    I was able to meet and Marry my wife at SAGES.

    As BOB HOPE WOULD SAY: " THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES"

    Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to share your mwemories with us.

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    1. I discovered the Lunchenette during this time period and had my first piece of Boston Creme Pie there. Has many more after that! Wonderful memory.

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    2. Oh my gosh....my mom would take me on the bus from
      West Hartford down Farmington Ave. to shop and have a tuna melt in the Sage Allen Luncheonette. You were probably there!

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  16. Mr. Fink was a wonderful man. He had a sign in the cafeteria—"Confucius say put brain in gear before putting mouth in motion."

    The raspberry pie was wonderful.

    I worked from 1960 to 1966 in Hartford, and in 1967 in the Windsor branch. It was my first job, I had many great experiences, met wonderful people and learned a lot.

    I remember one Christmas when Miss Lincoln would
    kiss people as she walked from her car in the subbasement to her office on the 9th floor to see if they had been drinking. One fellow had a pint bottle that broke in his breast pocket.

    My most vivid memory is of Merchandise Manager Lafayette Keeney coming to tell us JFK had been shot. I'll never forget the look on his face.

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  17. I love your blog! It would be great if you could add tags so we could browse by department store and location (city or state).

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  18. In lieu of that, just go to the welcome page, scroll down to the list of cities, stores and states. Then you can browse from there.

    Bruce

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  19. There was also a location in Concord, NH that opened in about 1991 at the Steeplegate Mall. That location became The Bon-Ton when the chain closed.

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  20. Does anyone know if the receipt for the famous , jumbo cupcakes exist and if so where? Thank you, maher47@comcast.net

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  21. There was also a location in Westfield MA which closed sometime in the 1990's and became a Bon Ton.

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  22. I worked at Sage=Allen from 1984 to 1989, I was the personnel manager. The Westfarms Mall store was tremendous in those days. It out performed every other store, including downtown, by a huge distance. It was remodeled from it's original industrial appearance and had sleek and fashionable look by the time I joined the company. It really was beautiful. Good people worked there. You are also missing the branch store opened at Buckland Hills Mall in Manchester, CT and a branch which I personally helped open in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.

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  23. I believe you are also missing the one in Simsbury/Avon at what I grew up calling 'the little mall" at the corner of route 167 and 44..

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    1. I think that's the one that is called Farmington Valley Mall.

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  24. Sage's was my favorite department store! Sure, G, Fox was bigger and more grand, but Sage's was where I'd meet my Mom for a late lunch when I'd get out of school earlier in the day. Many years later, I really wanted the recipe for their fantastic pumpkin muffins, so I wrote to the Food Section of the Courant, and they tracked one down. Only problem? The quantities of each ingredient were huge, because obviously it was a recipe for bulk "catering"! I still have the recipe, but the list of ingredients and the amounts of each told me I would be way outta my league trying to make them! (From memory, the one thing I recall without fetching the recipe is that the muffins called for both cake flour and "regular" flour -- I didn't even know there was such a thing as cake flour!)

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  25. If you would be so kind as to provide the recipe on this site, I would be happy to convert it to home baking quantities. Although it is possible, sometimes due to a conversion, some ingredients may need tweaking or adjustments (such as leavening) to obtain a deisired outcome.

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  26. Or, if you both want to email to bakgraphics@comcast.net, I can put you in touch with each other privately, you can share the recipe, convert it, get it back to me, and I will be happy to post it.
    -Bruce

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    1. I cant seem to find that welcome page you mentioned

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    2. You simply click on the header of this page (that says "The Department Store Museum") Sorry, I have not checked the email associated with this site due to the illness I suffered last year and now Coronavirus.

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  27. Hello - I worked at the Simsbury/Avon Store. Filled in once or twice at the Main Store when they were closing that location. I left in Oct of 1990 [started in 9/1986] - but sometime before then - they did open a big lavish store up in New Hampshire. All the department managers got to go - lots of memories of the people and the place.

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  28. I worked in the West Farms Mall store during high school in the 80s, my classmates worked at Top of Mall. The store was in a great location, I had a prime view of all the mall happenings from the young men's department on the second floor. My aunt was also a manager at the West Hartford store.

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  29. I am 64 now,when i was a teenager always in trouble,which by todays standards would be normal behavior,your father John Ceraldi and a man named Shell were the only people that would hire me ,I was a high school dropout and had very long hair but they never judged me.I am now a retired business owner and when doing my hiring always gave the underdog a chance and it always worked out in my favor,so whoever you are ,thanks to your father and that man named Shell...

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  30. Can someone send me that recipe? I used to love the muffins!!

    pianopianobuck@gmail.com

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  31. I recall loving the Italian Grinders made in the cafeteria. I wonder what made them so good. Maybe they improved over time (:

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    1. I've been looking for someone to reveal what and how those Italian grinders were made. No luck yet.

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    2. They were the best and the raspberry soda!

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  32. When I was 17 i was hired to replace the man that drove the brass elevator in the front lobby. Very good memories henry goodin

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    1. I remember running the shiny brass elevator. I would also bring all sorts of items to the four floors including the candy room which was in basement. Sorry it left us,was fun with all the cute girls and the cafeteria was great.

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    2. Wasn’t there a person his name was Tim?

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  33. Does anyone have any old pictures of the Lunchenette? I always hear my parents talking about how amazingly long the lines would be during the lunch rush and how sweet and kind the people that worked there were. I always remember my dad bringing home those amazing HUGE cookies for us from work. I would love to really have that vivid sense of what you all remember! Pictures of the cafe seem few and far between.

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  34. I worked in the Bristol store back in the early 80s. As I recall the Bristol Centre Mall had a bakery further down in the mall and I think it may have been owned by Sage-Allen but not sure. Mr Rupar was the manager and they sent us to the Hartford office a few times for training and it was quite fun. Two people I worked with ended up meeting and getting married. Great times.

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  35. Anyone have Mr. Fink's chocolate chip cookie recipe? Husband says they were the best ever on the planet!

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  36. I worked in the store in Old Saybrook during summer breaks from college in the late 1970's. It was a wonderful store and I really enjoyed working there!

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  37. I worked at the manchester store with a manager named nancy therrialt.. i would love to talk to her again. 860 617 5733

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  38. Can anyone put me in touch with Nancy therrialt from the manchester store?

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  39. Can anyone put me in touch with Nancy therrialt from the manchester store?

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  40. I worked at the manchester store with a manager named nancy therrialt.. i would love to talk to her again. 860 617 5733

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  41. I worked at the manchester store with a manager named nancy therrialt.. i would love to talk to her again

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  42. I worked at West Farms in 1974 and all during high school. Mr. Kumm was manager and he died within the last year. What a nice smart man. Mrs. Bijoux was manager of handbags accessories, jewelry. What a gracious store where the customer was always right. Women employees could not wear just 2 pieces, like pants and a blouse...it had to be a suit or a 3 piece outfit. Go to the mall now and see how they are dressed. I miss the old days.

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    1. I worked there in 78 to 80 and I was in the hosiery dept at Westfarms. I worked with Vivian Montgomery. She was an older woman and I was just out of high school. I remember Mrs Bijoux.with her black french twist bun. She was always nice to me. I rememer going to the Hartford store for our monthly hosiery breakfast. My uncle Jack drove a delivery truck for many yrs.very fond memories.

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  43. My friend's mom worked in the East Hartford store. It was a nice small store, but it had two floors - the basement with an exit to the rear parking lot and the main floor which you walked in from Main Street. Downtown Hartford was wonderful with G.Fox Brown Thompson and Korvette along with Sage. Meet me at the clock...wonderful....

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  44. I have wonderful memories of shopping there with my mom. She would take my sister and I twice a year, just before school started and then before Christmas. We loved looking at all the Christmas displays in the windows. Our treat was to go to the luncheon area and get a cream cheese on date nut bread sandwich. I miss those days!

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  45. Went to the Hartford store and had lunch there many times in the '70's. The Italian grinder and tuna fish sandwiches were so good, as were the chocolate frosted brownies, wrapped in cellophane and the giant cupcakes. They had great coleslaw and bread too. I also liked the raspberry lime soda, quite a novelty at the time.

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  46. I worked @ the Wethersfield store during HS and college from 1988-1993- Best place I ever worked

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  47. I worked at the Wethersfield Store in HS and college 1988-1993-when the store closed- Loved working for that store great leadership and employees-great place to work

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  48. No toy department

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  49. I modeled for the catalogs when I was a kid. It was so much fun

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  50. I worked in the café many years under Louie & Mr. Fink. What made everything taste so good was the love & attention that went into everything. We were one big happy family. Most items were made without a cookbook it was all in our heads. Mary the cook could make outside lettuce leaves into SPRING GREENS which always sold out.

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  51. Was wondering if anyone has info about Sage Allen having a beauty salon.
    My dad told me his grandmother used to manage it. We are thinking sometime between 1920's-1940's time frame.

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    1. Sage-Allen of Hartford had a beauty salon on the second floor. There are many ads for it in the Hartford Courant. You can access it with a subscription to newspapers.com (publisher extra) or perhaps through your library.
      -Bruce
      (The ad I saw was from 1956 and promoted the visit of "Mr. Ricardo" who was an orchestra leader, WWII paratrooper, and finally a hair stylist, ". . . endowed with that special talent for hair design that so many gifted people of latin descent have . . . "

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  52. I loved Sage Allen's dress department. There will never be another like it. You could go there and find a dress for any occasion. The best part was the staff. If you described what you wanted the dress to be like. They would go right to that dress and have exactly what you were looking for. It was magical. I will always miss the store and the experience.

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  53. Would love to find receipe for boston crean pie?

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  54. Does anyone have the recipe for Sage Allen's tunafish salad?

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  55. Looking for information on china doll kits sold by Sage They were marked Tudor and referred to in 1980/81 ad as Tudor House dolls. Doll Researcher. Thanks

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  56. I worked in the Men's Department from 1981-1984. I missed Wanda who thought me so much and prepared me for treating others well in corporate America. Great days

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  57. I am so surprised to have stumbled upon this gem! My grandmother was the timekeeper in Hartford for 59 years until the late 80s. My parents met at the Hartford store, my mother worked there in high school and college and my father eventually became the EVP and CFO until 1983 when he passed away. I have a lot of wonderful childhood memories of several of the stores. So many wonderful people.

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    Replies
    1. I may remember the name. Seidman or something like that?

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  58. I worked at Sage-Allen as a teenager during the Summers between 1966-1969.
    It was the BEST job I ever had. Does anyone remember the name of the lady that was the Personnel Manager in 1967? I am going bananas trying to drag it out of the depths of years of memories! Thank you, in advance. CJ

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  59. Hello, I work for a real estate developer and property management company named Lexington Partners LLC and Lexington Property Management. We are currently remodeling the leasing center lobby of an apartment community in downtown Hartford, CT which once was the location the Sage Allen department store on Main Street in Hartford. We would like to purchase any photos or negatives that depict the exterior of the original Sage Allen building, the Sage Allen sign, or the clock that still stands in the front of the building on Main Street. We would like to take the film negatives or prints and digitize these images to enlarge, print, and display in the remodeled lobby. Would anyone on this site be able to assist? Thank you in advance. Please respond to mdacunha@lexingtonct.com.

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