In 1994, Charles A. Chappell, Jr., the last Chappell family member to preside over C.E. Chappell and Sons, Inc., sold the last remaining Chappell’s department stores to The Bon-Ton Stores of York, Pennsylvania for $7.9 million. The sale concluded the legacy of a family-owned chain of regional stores that had dotted the Central New York landscape for almost the past 100 years. No longer would shoppers leave Chappell’s with their purchases inside highly recognizable bright yellow cardboard boxes embossed with the company’s motto: “Personally yours…Chappell’s.” The era that began with Charles A. Chappell, Jr.’s grandfather, Charles E. Chappell, in the late 19th century had ceased that year. 

Charles Edward (C.E.) Chappell was born in Fulton, New York on Sept. 15, 1861, just after the American Civil War had commenced. After the family moved to Hannibal, the young Chappell became a clerk in a store in the village of South Butler. It was in this first retail job that he learned the art of selling and merchandising. Along with becoming knowledgeable of the retail-store trade, Chappell ventured into the egg business, buying eggs from local farmers, and then selling them in New York City. Soon after saving some of his hard-earned cash, Chappell invested in a general store in Jordan, New York.

C.E. Chappell married Ida Baggerly of Savannah, New York in May 1886 and, over the next 11 years, they would have four children: Clayton, Marion, Donald, and Charles Albert. Unfortunately, Clayton died in 1912 at age 25, but the two other sons and daughter would eventually direct the family business.

A year after C.E. married Ida, he and his business partner, Frank Tuttle, opened the Chappell and Tuttle store in Baldwinsville. However, Chappell watched the city of Syracuse grow and prosper with the Erie Canal traveling though its downtown. Viewing the economic activity with intense interest, Chappell sold his Baldwinsville store to Charles F. Green and, in 1895, partnered with Francis E. Bacon to establish Bacon, Chappell & Company at 205-207 South Salina St. in Syracuse. Downtown Syracuse already had four other major department stores at the time — E.W. Edwards, Dey Brothers, D.M. McCarthy, and L.A. Witherill — but C.E. believed there was still room for one more department store. The original Bacon and Chappell store offered just two aisles of merchandise.

Bacon and Chappell’s retail business suffered during the Panic of 1907, but in 1908 the business was rejuvenated and Chappell decided to expand his store. That same year, his son Clayton, a recent graduate of Syracuse University, joined his father in the business. 

Two years later, Francis Bacon moved to California, and in 1912, the partnership between Chappell and Bacon was dissolved. C.E. decided to expand his store again by leasing two more aisles. The building’s owners also converted the wood structure into a fire-resistant steel and concrete building. William A. Dyer, an officer with Smith Premier Typewriter Company, then became affiliated with C.E. Chappell. That same year, young Clayton died from complications of gall-stone surgery. In 1913, C.E.’s second son, Donald E., joined the business.

The retail store business was officially named Chappell-Dyer Co., Inc. in 1915. Its popularity continued to grow among local shoppers, and in 1917, the business physically expanded into the first and second floors of the White Memorial Building at 201 South Salina St. When the United States joined World War I, C.E.’s third son, Charles A., left Syracuse University to enlist in the Army as a private with Troop D Cavalry, which was reorganized as Company B, 104th Machine Gun Battalion. However, Charles contracted spinal meningitis before his unit set sail for Europe and he did not leave the U.S. When the war ended, Charles A. resumed his studies at Syracuse University, graduating in 1920, and then joined the business the following year.

C.E. Chappell purchased William Dyer’s share of the business in 1924, becoming the sole proprietor. During the next year, C.E., along with his two sons, incorporated the company under the name of C.E. Chappell & Sons, Inc., and purchased the buildings at 205, 207, and 209 South Salina St. The Chappells promoted their new business as “a family store.” 

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Chappell-Dyer Co.’s store sales dropped by half from 1929 to 1934. All store employees had to take three 10 percent salary cuts. But by 1936, C.E. made plans to remodel the second floor and create a new store front. Unfortunately, C.E. did not see his remodeling plans come to fruition. 

In 1937, Charles Edward Chappell passed away at his home at age 75. He had suffered from Parkinson’s Disease for many years and his heart just “fluttered out.” He had lived in Syracuse for 42 years and had built a successful retail business. He also was active in the community, serving as a trustee of the City Bank Trust Company, Onondaga County Savings Bank, the honorary degree committee of Syracuse University, and the United Methodist Episcopal Church. He also was a member of the Central City Lodge 305 of the Free & Accepted Masons. C.E. also was one of the founders of the Bellevue Golf and Country Club in Syracuse. One of his business associates described C.E. as “[a] quiet man, but firm in his decisions. …[H]is word was as good as his bond.” Syracuse University trustees passed a resolution recognizing C.E. Chappell’s personal and business success: “He was recognized as one of our outstanding business leaders and he attained success through his honesty and fair dealing … no person could be found who would speak of him other than in terms of high commendation both as a businessman and as a Christian gentleman.” 

Upon the death of their father, Donald Chappell became company president and treasurer, while Charles A. became vice president. Their sister, Marion, became a company director. The next generation of Chappells instituted successful business modernizations that included advanced bookkeeping systems, a non-contributing employee pension, and profit sharing for all employees. 

C.E. Chappell and Sons occupied the rest of the second floor of the White Memorial Building in 1941 to accommodate additional inventory, as well as the store’s ever-increasing clientele. Toward the end of 1944, the company acquired the building’s third floor. 

During World War II, C.E. Chappell and Sons was closely associated with local patriotic support programs. The business promoted buying defense bonds and stamps with slogans such as “Buy a Bomber a Day” and “Tribute to the Unconquerables,” created patriotic displays in its store windows that promoted the federal government’s Display for Victory campaign, and assisted shoppers with buying products substituted for those that were rationed during the war. 

C.E. Chappell and Sons celebrated its 50th year of conducting business along South Salina Street in 1945. The company hosted a dinner in the grand ballroom of Hotel Syracuse for more than 400 employees. Donald Chappell, Sr. awarded $100 bonds and diamond service pins to employees who had worked for the business for more than 25 years. Those employees with between 10 and 25 years of service were awarded gold pins. In turn, the employees presented Charles and Donald an inscribed plaque recognizing Chappell family leadership. The company also published “The Story of a Store,” a 50th anniversary booklet recording the first 50 years of C.E. Chappell & Sons’ history. 

In 1949, C.E. Chappell and Sons established an executive-training program for younger Chappell family members who apprenticed in other stores before receiving leading roles at C.E. Chappell and Sons. Charles A. Chappell, Jr. and Donald E. Chappell, Jr. joined their fathers and uncles in the family business in 1951. 

That same year, C.E. Chappell and Sons became the first department store in Central and Northern New York to expand into suburban markets when it opened its first branch store in Eastwood in May 1951. Although smaller than the main store in downtown Syracuse, Chappell’s Eastwood store featured the latest building designs, offered three levels of merchandise, and focused on shoppers’ convenience. The large front windows on the James Street façade attracted shoppers who had a panoramic view of the main floor. The store also offered air conditioning installed by Carrier Corporation. A parking lot in the rear attracted mobile suburbanites. 

The concept of a suburban branch store was an immediate success, and in November 1956, C.E. Chappell and Sons opened its third store in Northern Lights Plaza. Chappell’s Northern Lights featured almost 60,000 square feet of floor space on two levels and was the largest suburban store in Central New York at that time. Along with shopping, customers could eat at the store’s restaurant. The Northern Lights store included almost 100 different merchandise departments: clothing, beauty salon, small and major appliances, shoe-repair service, and paint and wallpaper. It too featured air conditioning supplied by Carrier.

The Chappell brothers and their sons assumed new leadership roles in 1958. Donald, Sr. became chairman of the board and Charles, Sr. succeeded Donald as company president. Their sons, Charles A. Jr. became VP and secretary and Donald E. Jr. became VP and treasurer. In 1959, after suffering for many years with asthma, Donald E. Chappell, Sr. passed away. Charles A. Sr., who had shared much of the leadership role with his brother, now presided over the company. In 1964, Charles A. Sr. became the chairman of the board, Donald E. Jr. became company president and general manager, and Charles A. Jr. became VP in charge of fashion merchandising. The business adopted a new merchandising policy in 1968, discontinuing most of the home furnishings, rugs, and general houseware items, while continuing to offer family apparel, gifts, domestic items, and draperies. 

Chappell’s moved its Eastwood store to Shop City, which offered a much larger parking area, in 1971 when its lease expired. That same year, Chappell’s opened its fourth store in the Cortlandville Mall. 

When the Rochester–based Sibley, Lindsay, & Curr Company opened a new Sibley’s department store at 400 South Salina St. in 1969, Charles A. Chappell, Sr. thought that there would not be enough downtown business to warrant another large department store. The opening of Sibley’s, coupled with Chappell’s continued attraction to expand into the suburbs, caused C.E. Chappell and Sons to sell its downtown Syracuse anchor store in August 1974, ending its 78-year relationship with a once flourishing downtown. A couple from Ottawa, Canada, the last two customers at C.E. Chappell’s in downtown, came to spend a gift certificate given to them by Charles A. Sr., and culminated the end of a long, abounding chapter in Syracuse’s retail history. That same year, Chappell’s opened its fifth store in the Seneca Mall in Clay. Three years later, C.E. Chappell and Sons opened another store in the Western Lights Plaza in Geddes. 

Charles A. Chappell III became a full-time employee at the department store business in 1977 after working part-time since 1969. Charles III, the son of Charles A. Jr., was a fourth-generation Chappell to join the family-owned, privately-held business, and the great grandson of Charles E. Chappell. Charles III was named the company’s secretary in 1982 and also served on the board of directors in the 1980s. He managed the Chappell’s store in ShoppingTown Mall in DeWitt when it opened in 1984.

Bracketing the opening of the ShoppingTown store were store openings in Auburn’s Finger Lakes Mall in 1982 and in Penn Can Mall in Cicero in 1986. 

Charles A. Chappell, Sr., who had become chairman of the board, passed away in June 1978 at the age of 80. Like his father, Charles A. Sr. was committed to serving the local community via the United Way, the Cerebral Palsy Association, Consolidated Industry for the Handicapped, and the Athletic Governing Board at Syracuse University. The Post-Standard newspaper described Charles A. Sr. as being fondly remembered by many family, friends, and customers, “whose way of life ha[d] been built on honest dealing, quality merchandise, and service above self.” 

Ten years later, Donald E. Chappell, Jr., died in Houston, Texas at age 63. A life resident of the Syracuse area, Donald E. Jr. had been company president since 1964 and was responsible for increasing the number of Chappell’s stores from three to seven. At the time of his death, Charles A. Chappell, Jr. said of his cousin, “He was very much concerned how we treated customers. He very often would call customers to find out how we did. I’m sure that there are many out there who’ve heard his voice.” 

Two weeks after Donald E. Jr.’s death, company executive VP Charles A. Chappell, Jr., became the president. At the time, he said that the company would continue with its present business strategy. The company’s workforce stood at an all-time high of 1,400 employees. 

In the 1990s, C.E. Chappell and Sons continued to open new stores: St. Lawrence Centre in Massena in 1990, Salmon Run Mall in Watertown in 1990, Carousel Center (Destiny USA) in Syracuse in 1990, Great Northern Mall in Clay in 1993, and Camillus Mall in Camillus in 1993. By 1992, Charles A. Chappell, Jr. had become chairman of the board, and Earl Sherlock, a long-time employee, had become company president. 

However, even before C.E. Chappell and Sons opened stores in Great Northern Mall and Camillus Mall in 1993, the company was suffering from reduced sales, owed 580 creditors about $17 million, and filed for Chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Utica, in January 1992. Chappell’s was just one of many retail stores that suffered economic loss in the early 1990s. The entire retail-sales market had only grown 0.7 percent in 1991, the smallest advance in 30 years. At the time, shoppers were abandoning traditional department stores for discount store chains that could sell the same merchandise at lower prices. That January, one month after an advertising campaign appealed to customers to save the Chappell’s store chain, the company announced that it would close the Seneca Mall, Western Lights, and Shop City stores and lay off or transfer 200 of the existing 900 employees to other stores. Company executives hoped that by closing these three stores their loyal customers would continue to support the business by shopping at the remaining stores. Then, in February 1992, Chappell’s announced that it was closing its store in Watertown.

In 1993, Chappell’s had six remaining stores in Auburn, Cicero, Cortland, Dewitt, Massena, and Syracuse. Chappell’s was looking forward to emerging from bankruptcy as a solvent department store chain. But a sluggish national economy continued throughout 1993 and 1994, and Chappell’s could not repay $7.9 million in loans from KeyBank and Marine Midland Bank. Then, in October 1994, with only 24 hours notice, the banks compelled C.E. Chappell and Sons to sell or liquidate its assets. Within the extremely condensed time frame, Chappell’s sold its assets to Bon-Ton, a department store chain headquartered in York, Pennsylvania with 70 stores and 9,000 employees for $7.9 million. According to the Post-Standard newspaper on October 19, 1994, “The buyout sounded the death knell for the last home-grown department store chain in the Syracuse area.” At the time, Bon-Ton planned to continue operating the six Chappell’s stores and keep 600 full- and part-time employees. “It’s hard to overcome that Chappell’s will no longer exist,” stated Earl Sherlock. Hearing about Chappell’s closing, many long-time customers reacted with genuine grief, some weeping over the loss. Chappell’s would have celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1995. 

Charles A. Chappell, Jr. was the last family member to lead C.E. Chappell and Sons when the remaining stores were sold to Bon-Ton. Known to many employees as “Mr. Charles,” Chappell regretted terminating his family’s department store chain, but was grateful that his employees would retain their jobs. Suddenly without a business to guide, Chappell became more involved with his civic duties and serving on numerous boards. In 1995, former Chappell’s employees paid tribute to the Chappell family by hosting a dinner at Hotel Syracuse at which they expressed their gratitude to the family who gave them careers and employment for decades. Charles A. Chappell, Jr. died in 2014 at age 89. His son, Charles III is now a business-development executive at Service and Supply Chain Solutions in Syracuse. 

C.E. Chappell and Sons was the last privately-owned, family-managed department store that was headquartered in Onondaga County. Its legacy lives on in the hearts of many former employees and customers who fondly remember Chappell family members and positive shopping experiences at Chappell’s department stores. Over 25 years later, former customers still possess the bright yellow clothing or jewelry boxes embossed with Chappell’s renowned motto: “Personally Yours…Chappell’s.” 

In 2018, the Bon-Ton department store chain lost its battle to compete with big box stores and online retailers, declared its own bankruptcy, and liquidated all its remaining department stores, including the former Chappell’s store in Camillus. It had previously closed the stores at Destiny USA, Great Northern Mall, and ShoppingTown Mall. Today, Bon-Ton has no brick and mortar stores and is strictly an online retailer.          

Thomas Hunter is the curator of collections at the OHA (www.cnyhistory.org), located at 321 Montgomery St. in Syracuse.