By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo
For generations, Buffalo’s best dressed women shopped on Delaware Avenue. That era was ending with the closing of Par Avion.
The last women’s shop in the area, Mabel Danahy, announced a move to Amherst in 1996. Pitt Petri was the last heritage retailer along Delaware Avenue when it closed in 2011:
April 21, 1994: Era fading on Delaware Avenue: Par Avion’s closing leaves just one women’s shop
“Alison F. Kimberly, owner and manager of Par Avion, which has operated at the corner of Delaware and Tupper since 1967, said she’ll close up shop at the end of May because “times have changed.”
“”Women are working during the day, not shopping,” Ms. Kimberly said.
“And when they do shop, their time is extremely limited, according to the veteran proprietor.
“They call up a catalog at 3 a.m. or they go to a mall where they can make one stop and save time,” she said. “The whole face of retailing has changed since we opened in the ’60s.””
