‘GOOD DEALS AVAILABLE’
United House Wrecking keeps doors open for two more months
STAMFORD — After nearly seven decades in business, a local retail icon will have a couple more months to bid farewell to its customers.
The United House Wrecking home-furnishings store, at 535 Hope St., originally closed on Nov. 30. But it reopened last week and can stay in business until Feb. 28 after gaining an extension of its closing-sale license from the state Department of Consumer Protection.
In its remaining two months, United House Wrecking’s approximately 40,000square-foot showroom will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays.
Through the closing sale, the store has been aiming to move $8 million worth of inventory. Including rugs, it now has about $2 million of goods.
“We are very happy about that decision,” said co-owner Ross Lodato. “We still have quite a bit of merchandise left. We have further reduced prices on our inventory. There are still many good deals available.”
Lodato decided last year
that the time was right to wind down an enterprise that has accumulated thousands of pieces of furniture, decorations and other collectibles from across the country and around the world.
No single factor led to the closing, but he started to consider closing after he received a cold call in November 2019 from someone who offered to acquire the property.
Lodato declined to disclose the terms, but he said the proposal was a “more-than-fair offer.” When the coronavirus crisis emerged a few months later, it solidified his decision.
United House Wrecking started as a demolition business in 1954 when houses were dismantled to make way for Interstate 95. Brothers and West Virginia natives Philip, John and Ross Lodato Sr. and their brother-in-law, Ray Bowling, founded the firm.
The brothers rented a yard in the city’s Waterside section where they could bring the debris from each day’s wrecking to sell to construction companies that would buy from the wreckers the bricks and lumber that could be reused in new construction.
In addition to builders descending upon the yard, homeowners would show up as they looked for items such as radiators, bathtubs and decorative pieces such as mantelpieces, French doors and stained glass.
Eventually, the brothers began buying salvage from other wrecking companies to sell on their lot. The staples of the business were architectural items that could be reused in new homes.
The lot became known for its unique mementos: stadium seats, Manhattan’s old porcelain street signs, subway car straps, wooden hatch covers from World War II ships and old phone booths.
In 1987, United House Wrecking moved from Waterside to its current home, about four miles northeast. The Hope Street location’s silo was relocated from the old place.
Lodato, a Greenwich resident, took over the business as a 32-year-old in 1993 shortly before Ross Sr.’s death.
Under his and brother Mario Lodato’s leadership, United has remained a family operation. A number of other Lodatos work in the business as well.