‘Whatever You Wanted, We Had It’: A Look Back at Breslow’s

Breslow’s, circa 1975. Credit: Syd Greenberg collection, New Canaan Historical Society

In this day and age of specialty superstores and chains, it’s often difficult to imagine the variety store of yesteryear—quaint one-stop shops replete with pretty much everything and anything you’d need to get through the day. Such stores were common throughout suburbia for most of the 20^th century, serving a specific need and purpose in a simpler time.

And here in New Canaan, no one served that need and purpose better than Breslow’s.

Founded in the 1930’s by brothers Ben and Mike, Breslow’s was a New Canaan fixture for nearly half a century, occupying the site of the town’s third firehouse, which—according to the New Canaan Historical Society—had stood at 32 Elm St. (Papyrus currently occupies the space) since 1892.

“When I was a kid we used to slide down the fire pole, it was in our storeroom,” Mike Breslow’s son Howie told NewCanaanite.com. Howie Breslow worked at the store for 40 years, right up until it was sold in 1978. “But when the store got cut off by 40 feet when Elm Street was widened [in 1953], we had to open the storeroom for sales and we had to make a cellar underneath to be a stockroom.”

Breslow’s soon became a destination for scores of New Canaanites due to the fact that they carried just about every item imaginable—candy, newspapers, toys, baseball cards, Wacky Packages, sporting goods, school supplies, record albums, books—Breslow’s had something for everyone. Howie Breslow even recalls a time when the store sold Schwinn bikes and Cub Scout uniforms.

“If there wasn’t an outlet for it in town, we took it,” Howie Breslow said. “This was a catch-all store—whatever you needed, we had it. And if we didn’t have it, the next time you wanted it, we had it. That’s the way it was.”

Howie Breslow at the counter, circa-1978. Credit: Syd Greenberg Collection, New Canaan Historical Society

“Breslow’s was a store you’d go for everything,” 50-year New Canaan resident Cam Hutchins said. “When you were a kid, the first thing you’d go there for was probably candy. As you got older, you’d see magazines—that’s where I got hooked on Mad Magazine, they were my go-to supplier. I just don’t know how they fit all that stuff in that store.”

Breslow’s was a particularly ideal destination for children from the nearby Center School, sometimes helping set whatever trend would play itself out on Center’s rock-strewn, dirt playground.

“They were always like a week ahead of what the current trend was,” Hutchins recalled. “For example, you’d go through “yo-yo season”, and they’d have all the Duncan yo-yo’s. Then all of a sudden it’s marble season and they’re carrying marbles. Then it’s squirt gun season and they’re carrying the Green Avenger, the little one you hold in your hand—stuff you’d probably never bring to an elementary school these days.”

As chains such as CVS—at that time located directly across Elm Street from Breslow’s—moved into town, the Breslow family could see the writing on the wall. They eventually sold the business. Although its successor, Jackson’s, would continue for another 20 years, the era of the variety store was a thing of the past, though for Howie Breslow the memories of being an integral part of the downtown New Canaan fabric remain.

“Do I miss working seven days a week, 10 hours a day? No, I don’t miss that,” Breslow said. “But I miss some of the nice times I had talking with people. You always miss that.”