When United House Wrecking announced on its website earlier this month that it was permanently closing after 66 years in business, many people assumed the iconic Stamford furniture and antiques store was the latest casualty of the economic trauma created by the Covid-19 pandemic. But co-owner Ross Lodato acknowledged the demise of his family-run business was many years in the making.
“Since 2007, after the crash, it”™s been very challenging,” Lodato said. “The environment has changed, the customer base has changed ”“ every year we were retooling our business trying to readapt. Everything is going toward the internet and people are not shopping on the weekends. Young people not buying quality furniture anymore.”
The strain of trying to keep the business afloat has taken its toll on Lodato, who noted that he “sometimes works hundred-hour weeks. Now I’m not even sleeping ”“ I fell asleep last night at eight o’clock and I woke up at 12. And I’ve done that for maybe four weeks now and it’s not healthy.”
Adding to the strain are the difficulties being experienced by Lodato”™s brother and the business”™ co-owner, Mario Lodato.
“My brother lost his wife four years ago from early Alzheimer’s and his life is changing, too,” he continued. “He”™s 66 years old and the business is very hands-on.”
United House Wrecking came about during the creation of Interstate 95 through lower Fairfield County, with scores of homes condemned via eminent domain in order to accommodate the highway.
One of the properties tagged for demolition was the mansion that once belonged to Schuyler Merritt, the former Connecticut congressman and namesake of the Merritt Parkway. Lodato”™s father was part of the wrecking crew on that luxurious residence.
Lodato’s father quickly recognized that many of the houses destined for destruction had ornate fixtures and abandoned furnishings that could be resold. He joined forces with two of his brothers and a brother-in-law to open the business in 1954 with items salvaged from the I-95 project.
United House Wrecking enjoyed its first 33 years in a store at the corner of Selleck Street and Harvard Avenue. From its beginning, the store attracted a high level of consumer interest.
“We had five acres and two police officers for the parking traffic,” Lodato recalled. “And if you didn’t get down there by 12 or one o’clock, you didn’t get a spot.”
The company”™s second 33 years have been in a sprawling 40,000-square-foot store on a 2.5-acre property at 535 Hope St. Over the years, the business evolved to include merchandise directly acquired from Europe and Asia along with items rescued from unlikely local sources, including old-school commuter hand-straps from the New York City subways, wooden chairs from the original Yankee Stadium and various bric-a-brac abandoned with the end of the Danbury State Fair.
Today, a casual stroll through United House Wrecking will uncover an astonishing mix of items, from delicate tea sets to brilliantly garish wooden carousel horses to the colorful hues of massive stained-glass windows to the metallic jollity of life-size Buddhas. But over the past decade, Lodato recognized that consumer shopping trends were not moving in his favor.
“A lot of my friends in the business were warning me that this was coming,” he said, glumly pointing out the evaporating return on investment within the sector. “The people who invested in true period antiques might never see that money again ”“ they invested in stuff that is one-third of the price now. Something that I was once selling for $1,500 is probably worth $500 if you could find a buyer now.”
The strain was eventually felt within the company”™s operations ”“ a peak 24-person workforce was gradually whittled down to today”™s 13 full- and part-time employees. The beginning of the end of United House Wrecking was sparked by an unsolicited inquiry regarding its location.
“I was sitting here in November, and I normally don’t take cold calls,” Lodato said. “I took a call from somebody from Florida who said, ”˜We’re looking through GPS and we’re very interested in your property. Is it for sale?”™ I said, ”˜Well, it’s never been on the market and we own this. If the money is right, I’d consider it.”™”
The Florida buyer, whom Lodato declined to identify, immediately flew north and inspected the grounds.
“He made us an offer that was very fair and I accepted it.”
Lodato stressed that the company is not being dissolved as a result of financial fraying, insisting that “we pay all our bills, we’re fine.” But how long he could stay financially afloat was uncertain.
“Our taxes doubled $10,000 a month,” he complained. “The business model doesn’t work anymore for a store of this size. To have 40,000 square feet is very difficult and it won’t happen very much anymore. Even the big chains don’t have 40,000-square-foot stores anymore. It’s really hard to maintain this.”
Within the antiques world, United House Wrecking has enjoyed a national reputation ”“ although Lodato observed local appreciation by Stamford”™s city government was another matter.
“About two years ago, we were one of the first attractions in Stamford selected to be a tourist attraction by the state of Connecticut,” he said. “We were going to get a billboard on 95 as an attraction to get people off into Stamford. But the town didn’t want to put up signs to get people from the thruway to here, for some reason.”
While Lodato has yet to hear from anyone in Stamford”™s municipal government about the closing of the business, many longtime fans of the business have responded to the news with shock and sorrow.
Lodato is now running a going-out-of-business sale with prices slashed up to 65% off, and the store is experiencing a spike in foot traffic due to this promotion. The final day of business is scheduled for Nov. 30, the Monday after the Black Friday shopping event.
Lodato, who is 59, does not have any plans for his career after the company closes. For now, he is less focused on his future and more concerned that the last few weeks of United Home Wrecking are conducted with focus and profit.
“The most important thing I’m doing in the next three months is to wind this down properly,” he said. “That’s why I’m not sleeping, and my wife’s all concerned I”™m going to die for this. But I got to do this right. I”™ve got to make enough out of the sale so that I can take care of my employees as well.”
Again? Really?