When Alvin Chodash founded his establishment in 1907, Bayonne was a whole different place. The Bergen Point section was the heart of the city, the place where the city’s mayors and other prominent families lived. Chodash, who was a tailor and furrier, clothed the most prominent people, and Chodash Cleaners rapidly became one of the core establishments of the area.
“Back then, Bergen Point was everything. Uptown was less significant,” said Joseph Chodash, grandson of Alvin. Joseph sold the cleaners recently after 103 years, but the business will keep its name. “Since then, other parts of town have grown,” he said.
Chodash helped clothe some of the most prominent doctors, teachers, and other citizens of the city, including Mary J. Donohoe and others.
“As the city grew, we served people uptown, too.” — Joseph Chodash
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Even after World War II, Bergen Point thrived. Chodash was part of a community of businesses that included Maloney’s Meat Market, a local shoe repair shop, a fish market, a city library, and a deli. Many locals still remember nearby Hassett’s Tavern, and the gas station and ice cream parlor owned by the Bozzo family. Bake Rite Bakery was a popular place, especially on Sundays when people lined up outside.
“We had a candy store there called Leahey Confectionary in the 1960s,” says Ann Leahey, who remembered the Chodash founder as a little girl. “They were nice people. My mother used to clean their house.”
Scheduled to close at some point around Dec. 20, Chodash has been meeting and greeting customers for several weeks, with nearly all of them expressing sadness about his leaving. But he is careful to tell them the store will remain under new ownership; it is his family that is moving on.
In his last week of business, Chodash is near tears, trying to carry on for that last week while he is still owner and for the five days he’s agreed to stay on for the transition.
“I should have this ready by Saturday,” he tells one customer. “I’ll still be here as owner on Saturday, but on Monday or Tuesday, we’re expecting to close.”
The more nostalgic items typically on display on the walls are gone, such as the postcard from early in the 20th century, on which his grandfather’s first store can be seen.
His father and two brothers enlisted in military service during World War II. Al and Irving came back, but his uncle Joe did not.
Young Joe was named after his deceased uncle. His middle name is Alvin after his father.
Meanwhile, Joe’s ncle Irving set up business across the street from Chodash – a hardware store –and the family became a key part of the local business community.
‘I grew up in the store’
He is extremely proud of his family and the business, even if his father did push him to become a pharmacist.
“But I have the garment industry in my blood,” he said with a laugh.
So he went to New York Fashion Institute instead, and when his father passed away in 1982, he took his place, helping his mother run the store.
“I grew up in the store. My father was literally born above it since my grandmother was a midwife,” he said. “I grew up here until I went out to college.”
His father, he said, had been sick for years. When his father passed away at 61, young Joe had to make a tough choice – stay there or move on. He decided to help build up the business.
“I had a great time,” he said. “This is a good business and people are wonderful.”
When his mother died last year at age 85, something went out of him. While the people were still great, he seemed to need to move on.
“Mom’s passing in ’09 was tough,” he said. “I was close with her. She was my sidekick. We had a very good relationship, and it has not been the same since.”
Cleaning out his mother’s apartment above the store proved something of a trip down memory lane, especially when he found long lost – but clearly remembered – items from the past, things that fell behind. It took this move to find them again.
“Selling the business is bittersweet,” Chodash said. “But I have to move on, and when I got this offer, I felt comfortable with it.”
He said it was a chance buyer, experienced people from out of town who made an offer he couldn’t pass up.
But he said he cares about his clients, and asked that the store not only keep the family name, but also maintain the level of service his family gave over the last century.
“It is the end of an era, and I really would like to think back to all the local businesses that are not here anymore, and the good memories of my family, and the service we gave to this community.”
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.