After nearly nine decades as a family owned business in West Hartford’s Elmwood neighborhood, Puritan Furniture is closing up shop, which leaves space for developers to reinvent the multi-acre lot.
In a recent letter sent out to customers — which customers posted and discussed on social media — the Singer family announced the closing and a corresponding liquidation sale.
“After 88 amazing years of Puritan Furniture being in business, the time has come to close our doors,” the letter said. “I have now decided to retire having had the distinct pleasure and privilege of serving so many wonderful customers in Connecticut and the surrounding states.”
The New Britain Avenue business has not yet announced an official closing date. Puritan President Bruce Singer declined to comment on the record.
The store is both a West Hartford landmark and a family institution. Singer’s father, William Singer, opened the store in 1931, the Courant previously reported. Puritan originally focused on manufacturing upholstered furniture. But through the decades, the store grew away from manufacturing and began focusing on retail sales.
Several months before announcing the West Hartford store closure, Puritan closed its Wethersfield location. In spring 2019, the store consolidated its Wethersfield staff and inventory to the Elmwood location, according to minutes from the May meeting of the Elmwood Business Association.
The flagship West Hartford location occupies a large showroom at 1061 New Britain Ave., which places the store kitty corner from a CTfastrak bus station and at the border of the Home Design District, which runs along New Park Avenue.
The store also sits on a sizable chunk of land — online land records show the parcel is 2.7 acres.
The property’s location and size make it attractive to developers, according to Dr. Rick Liftig, the president of the Elmwood Business Association.
He said he began fielding calls about the property as soon as the business community heard that Puritan was on its way out.
“Whatever is developed there is going to be very significant in Elmwood, especially with its location next to the transit station,” Liftig said.
In addition to the property that the store sits on, Puritan also utilizes a parking lot across the street, which Liftig said could be another opportunity for development. Online land records show the parking lot sits on about an acre of land.
West Hartford Economic Development Specialist Kristen Gorski said that multiple developers have expressed interest in the Puritan properties in the past, before the store announced its closing. But since the news broke, the town has not been heard from the Singer family or any developers about what’s to come.
“We haven’t gotten any indication of any future use, if there will be a future use,” Gorski said. “We don’t have any indication of what happens next.”
Although the store is in a commercial area, Liftig said he can picture a housing development taking over the site.
“It would not be out of the realm of possibility that we’re going to be talking about some kind of housing,” Liftig said. “It’s mainly a commercial area, but I’m hoping whatever goes in there is just going to be spectacular.”
Liftig predicted that a new developer would tear down the existing structures and start from scratch, because of the buildings’ age. Online land records show that two of the Puritan buildings were built in 1955 and the third in 1969.
A new build would give the town more sway over the development, Liftig said, under a zoning ordinance that pushes developers toward mixed-use and pedestrian-friendly designs.
Gorski said this sway comes from a zoning overlay that covers the eastern portion of Elmwood. Although she said the overlay has not come into play before, it was designed to “incentivize” developers to fit with a certain aesthetic, such as building closer to the road and placing parking lots behind the buildings.
Although Puritan’s closing marks the end of an era in Elmwood, Liftig focused on the opportunities on the horizon. Store closings are just a part of business, he said.
“I’m sorry Puritan’s going to be leaving the neighborhood,” Liftig said. “They’ve been here a long time, but things change.”
Emily Brindley can be reached at ebrindley@courant.com.
