With a hand-painted wooden facade that has changed very little over the years, United Decorating at 421 Washington St. has been one of Hoboken’s most distinct landmarks since it opened over 100 years ago.
America was quite a different place back in 1899. That year, President William McKinley rode in an automobile for the first time and shoppers could purchase a pound of chicken for only six cents.
Electric trolleys buzzed up and down Washington Street as the waterfront bustled with longshoremen, bars and passengers waiting to depart on their transatlantic journeys.
But despite the major changes in the city, the small decoration and costume store still managed to keep its foothold.
When 53-year-old Bill Kirchgessner’s father, George, passed away earlier this year after more than 50 years of working in the store, Bill became the fourth generation to take over the oldest family-owned business in the city.
“There is so much history here,” mused Kirchgessner Tuesday. “Just the other day I was in City Hall and I looked at one of the pictures on the wall and it was my great grandfather dressed in an Indian headdress at a masquerade ball. The amazing thing about it is that just a little bit back, when we were going through some boxes, we found the costume that he was wearing. And that picture must have been taken around 1910. ”
Kirchgessner has been busy for the past couple of weeks, as his company was hired to hang bunting, flags and embellishments for new Mayor David Roberts’s inauguration ceremony. “They came to us wanting City Hall to look like it might have decades ago and give it an old Hoboken type of feel,” said Kirchgessner. “So we took a picture of City Hall from the 1920s and ’30s and tried to make it come out like that. I think in the end it came out looking really good.”
Originally opened by Kirchgessner’s great-grandfather, Robert, it was passed down to his son William, and then to William’s son George. According to Kirchgessner, his son Brian, 27, has shown an interest in carrying the business into the fifth generation.
“I think the real secret to making it work is that you a have to change with the times,” said Kirchgessner. “In fact, for a long time the store specialized in renting costumes for masquerade balls, but as we all know the day of the masquerade ball is long gone now so we have had to adapt. Now we have evolved to a point where we still sell costumes, but now are real active in the selling of flags and other decorations.”
Kirchgessner added that the store has a flag for every occasion.
“Just the other day a family came in and bought every last Brazilian flag we had,” he said. “Their daughter was graduating from school and they wanted to show their pride. That’s the thing about this area, it is so diverse and there are so many different types of people. One week you might sell out of Puerto Rican flags, then the next week it’s Cuban flags. You just never know.”