Perelmutter’s Department Store

765 Grand Avenue (demolished)

Perelmutter’s Department Store, at 735 Grand Avenue, was another local business started by a Jewish immigrant. Benjamin Perelmutter was born in 1883 in Rovno, Ukraine. His father died when he was nine years old and at fourteen-and-a-half, Benjamin was already the general manager of a store in Rovno. He emigrated to Canada at 21 to live with his brother before marrying Bessie Horowitz (also from Ukraine) and moving to New Haven, where Bessie’s aunt lived. Once in New Haven, Perelmutter worked as a peddler, traveling around Connecticut selling clothes, dry goods, and yard goods to people’s homes. After two years, he saved enough money to open a storefront. The couple worked alongside each other for 16-17 hours per day, selling men’s and women’s clothes. The business did well, and Benjamin was able to purchase other buildings for his business. The couple spoke Polish and Russian, so some of their customers were of Polish and Russian descent, but customers represented the diversity of the neighborhood. Bessie organized fashion shows for the neighborhood after the business expanded to selling baby clothes, women’s hats, and wedding dresses. Bessie passed away in 1968 and Benjamin continued the business until 1969, when he sold it to Michael Rachlis, one of his employees, and continued working with him. After a fire broke out in the store, Rachlis moved the business to 63 Boston Post Road in Orange. The Perelmutters were members of B’nai Jacob Synagogue and are buried in the B’nai Jacob Cemetery in New Haven.