J. L. Chalifoux & Co.
The J. L. Chalifoux & Co. was a large men's clothing store operating in downtown Birmingham from 1890 to 1907. It was a second location of the retailer founded in Lowell, Massachusetts by Joseph L. Chalifoux, and was managed by his brother, Oliver, with another brother, H. A. Chalifoux, serving the store as "floor walker."
The store originally operated from quarters in the Potter Block on the 1900 block of 1st Avenue North, selling men's and boys' suits and hats. In 1892-93 the Chalifouxes paid J. F. B. Jackson $60,000 in cash for the parcel on the southwest corner of 19th Street and 1st Avenue North, opposite the Morris Hotel and O'Brien's Opera House, and at the turning-point of the city's early dummy lines.
They erected their 5-story landmark building at a cost of $140,000. The store reopened on April 27, 1893 with $100,000 of merchandise displayed between cut flowers and potted plants all over the store, and music provided by Grambs' Orchestra.
To its line of mens', boys' and children's clothing and furnishings, including shoes, hats, and accessories, Chalifoux added ladies' shoes, trunks and valises. In the new, spacious sales floor the was furnished with walnut, poplar and oak dividers and movables, including many lounge areas, retiring rooms, and work areas for clerks of the numerous departments. Each department kept its own books. Department heads in 1893 included H. L. White, men's sack suits; G. Valcourt, men's frock suits; J. Narreau, men's pants; A. Koenig, children's suits; W. Pucket, furnishing goods; and H. C. Leaf, men's and children's hats. Those departments were overseen by manager S. St Onge. The luggage and shoe department was managed by O. A. Powell and was divided into ladies' shoes (A. W. Calhoun), men's and boys' shoes and trunks and valises (Emmet Moncrief), misses' and children's' shoes (Cora Schoppert). The store operated strictly on a cash basis, with no credit offered, even for the "young son of a rich and popular bank president."
J. L. Chalifoux & Co. closed during the 1907 financial panic, and its building burned down soon later.
References
- "Three Hundred Thousand Invested in One Great Birmingham Business Enterprise" (May 3, 1893) Weekly Age-Herald
- "An Industrial Review of the General Business Interests of Birmingham and the cities and towns comprising the great state of Alabama" (1904) Birmingham: Post B, Alabama Division, Travelers Protective Association
- White, Marjorie Longenecker (1977) Downtown Birmingham: Architectural and Historical Walking Tour Guide. Birmingham: Birmingham Historical Society.