Hens and Kelly

Hens and Kelly, established in 1892, was a chain of department stores based in Buffalo, New York. [http://preserve.bfn.org/vanvic/vanvic4.html "Victorian Buffalo: Images From the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library" Hens and Kelly store in 1911] ] Its founders were Mathias J. Hens and Patrick J. Kelly. They were early adopters of S&H Green Stamps as a promotional incentive for repeat customers. The downtown store was located at 478 Main Street at the corner of Mohawk Street. The first branch location opened in December 1950, in South Buffalo at 2262 Seneca Street. It closed in 1959. Other stores followed in the L.B. Smith Plaza in Lackawanna, New York; 2863 Bailey Avenue, in Buffalo; and the Transitown Plaza, in Clarence, New York.

Hens and Kelly opened a $4 million store at South Shore Plaza in Hamburg, New York in 1960, signaling a major expansion of the department store to the growing Buffalo suburbs. The following year a new store opened at Northtown Plaza in Amherst, New York. By the mid-1970's stores also operated at the Como Mall in Cheektowaga, New York, Village Shopping Center in East Aurora, New York, and Summit Park Mall, in Wheatfield, New York. In 1967, the chain was purchased by the Sperry & Hutchinson company and in 1978, by Twin Fair, Inc. The chain closed in 1982.

Former locations

*Buffalo, New York: Downtown, 478 Main Street (closed August 1981)

*Amherst, New York: Northtown Plaza
*Buffalo, New York: South Buffalo, 2262 Seneca Street (former Jahraus-Braun store, 1950 - 1959)
*Buffalo, New York: 2863 Bailey Avenue
*Cheektowaga, New York: Como Mall (later Appletree Mall)
*Clarence, New York: Transitown Plaza
*East Aurora, New York: Village Shopping Center
*Hamburg, New York: South Shore Plaza (demolished 2007)
*Lackawanna, New York: L.B. Smith Plaza (later Abbott Road Plaza)
*Wheatfield, New York: Summit Park Mall (later The Summit)

References

Rizzo, Michael F. (2007) "Nine Nine Eight: The Glory Days of Buffalo Shopping" Lulu Enterprises, Inc.; Morrisville, North Carolina. ISBN 978-1-4303-1386-1.