The owners of a landmark upscale clothing store in downtown Hartford plan to either relocate to a smaller nearby space or close the business entirely.
The decision depends on whether Morneault’s Stackpole Moore Tryon — located at 242 Trumbull St. — can secure funding from a new $2 million retail and restaurant stimulus grant program that Hartford officials plan to launch, according to co-owner Jody Morneault.
Jody and her husband, M. Ronald Morneault, bought Stackpole Moore Tryon in 2007 and later merged it with their own clothing boutique, Tuesday’s, which operated in a building they own at the corner of Ann Uccello and Asylum streets.
Now, the couple are preparing to liquidate their inventory and reopen the store in a roughly 900-square-foot retail space that once housed Tuesday’s, on the ground floor of a mixed-use building they own at 255 Asylum St. The space is currently occupied by the dining room of Vietnamese-inspired quick-service restaurant Banh Meee.
Under the plan, the restaurant would scale back to part of the space it occupied before a recent expansion. Chef-owner Dung “G” Tran said he is open to either option, noting that a smaller footprint would reduce rent and utility costs.
Jody Morneault said the decision to downsize the store stems from the need for her 80-year-old husband, Ron, to scale back his workload.
The store’s lease at 242 Trumbull St. expires at the end of January, and Morneault hopes to reopen in the former Tuesday’s space by March or April. She said doing so would likely require between $50,000 and $100,000 in assistance from the proposed Arena District Retail Initiative, a city grant program that would require matching funds from recipients.
The $2 million program is intended to help retailers and restaurants near Hartford’s newly renovated PeoplesBank Arena upgrade or outfit their spaces to benefit from the district’s broader redevelopment.
Without that assistance, Morneault said she would have to close the clothing store permanently or consider reopening outside the city. She is already eyeing a potential storefront in Westerly, Rhode Island.
It would be a tough move for Morneault, who has long been a key booster and organizer for downtown Hartford revitalization efforts.
“It would be hard for me to leave Hartford, because I feel like I’m part of a tapestry woven into the community,” Morneault said.
Qualifying for the planned retail stimulus program would require some adjustments by city officials, since the proposed target area does not currently include the Morneaults’ Asylum Street building.
Lease negotiations
Two years ago, Shelbourne Global Solutions, downtown Hartford’s largest landlord, announced its $4.75 million purchase of the 324,000-square-foot office-and-retail complex 242 Trumbull St. and 64 Pratt St., along with plans to convert most of the complex into apartments. The complex includes the space currently occupied by Morneault’s Stackpole Moore Tryon.
Shelbourne has since partnered with Hartford-based developer Lexington Partners and Hartford businessman Alan Lazowski, founder of North America’s largest parking company, to redevelop the downtown complex. It has started with an ongoing conversion of 64 Pratt St. into dormitory space for up to 200 University of Connecticut students.
Kevin Kenny, president of brokerage firm NAI Lexington Commercial, said he spent two months negotiating a lease renewal for Morneault’s but the parties were unable to reach an agreement. He said the separation is amicable.
Kenny said his firm is working with Tecton Architects to evaluate potential uses for the Morneault’s space, information that will guide upcoming marketing efforts. In the meantime, prospective tenants are already showing interest.
Even before formal marketing has begun, Kenny said he’s heard from groups interested in leasing the entire space for “experiential retail” concepts such as sports simulators or axe throwing. He described the storefront as “prime-time” real estate, located across from the arena and featuring a sizable patio area.
“There is a lot more interest in that space than even we would have guessed,” Kenny said. “It just kind of goes to show this new event schedule going on with the renovations at PeoplesBank arena are really having an impact on interest at ground level.”