EBLENS: “Born in the streets of New Britain in 1949……”
By John McNamara
Eblen’s Streetwear and Sneakers, the Torrington-based sportswear retailer, is closing all of its stores in the coming weeks including its Main Street location in downtown New Britain where it began 74 years ago.
Through the years Eblen’s grew into a modest-sized, multi-state chain in the Northeast. The original New Britain store survived the destructive path of urban renewal and remained on Main Street as retailers left downtowns including New Britain for malls and shopping centers.
From its early days as a “working man’s store” catering to thousands of workers at factories within walking distance of downtown, Eblen’s joined the wave of Army-Navy surplus stores after World War II when navy peacoats, bomber jackets and Army combat apparel became fashionable in the counterculture 1960s. The Eblens’ chain of stand alone stores and occupants of malls and shopping centers adapted and grew at 44 locations “into a premiere retail destination delivering the best and most sought after fashion inspired by today’s urban lifestyle,” according to Glassdoor.com, becoming at its height “a leading specialty retailer in the Northeast offering urban-inspired footwear, apparel and accessories.”
(T. Robins Brown, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Ebner “Eb” Glooskin and Leonard “Len” Seaman teamed up in 1949 to open their family business that they passed on to the next generation. Glooskin, a Hartford native and World War II veteran, lived to 100 years old, and passed away in 2019.
By 2012 Eblens’ became an investment of KarpReilly and in 2017 Prospect Hill Growth Partners and Fidus Investment acquired Eblens.
The chain is now winding down in what numerous press reports call a Chapter 7 liquidation of inventory and assets at the 17 remaining stores in the state. The New Britain store at 480 Main Street will be one of the last to close after a continuous 74-year run in downtown New Britain. All sales are final.
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