Carl Bennett, the founder of the Caldor department store chain, passed away at his Greenwich home on Dec. 23 at the age of 101.
Born on Jan. 27, 1920, in Greenwich, Bennett was raised in an apartment above Bennett Grocers, his father’s grocery store on Steamboat Road. He graduated from Greenwich High School and attended New York University before serving in the 466th Quartermaster Battalion during World War II.
After returning from military duty, Bennett became a wholesale liquor salesman for Connecticut Distributors in Norwalk. He opened the first Caldor store in 1951 in Port Chester ”“ the store”™s moniker was a combination of his first name and his wife Dorothy”™s.
By 1961, Caldor was headquartered in Norwalk and became publicly traded on the American Stock Exchange. The company operated 63 stores when it was acquired in 1981 for $313 million by Associated Dry Goods, the owners of several high-ticket department stores including Lord & Taylor.
Bennett retired in May 1985 and devoted his post-Caldor years to philanthropy across Fairfield County and in Israel. The Caldor chain continued until 1999, when poor financial performance forced its closure, and many of its local stores were acquired by the Kohl”™s chain.
Bennett was predeceased by Dorothy in 2008 and is survived by their three children and five grandchildren.
