When Ridley & Sons opened in the Lower East Side in 1848, it was the largest department store in the neighborhood. The store’s business grew considerably, and eventually occupied about 20 lots along Allen and Orchard Streets. The properties at 66-68 Allen Street and 65 Orchard Street, which became New York City Landmarks in 2012, are the only surviving lots. The corner space wasn’t always painted pink, however. Sometime in the 1990s, Dorothy Goldman, the current building owner’s wife, thought that the pink paint would pep up the building’s “dreary” facade.
Edward Ridley, an English dry goods store owner, emigrated from England in the mid-1840s after he was forced to close his shop due to debt in 1843. He then opened a small dry goods store on Grand Street in 1848, which eventually grew into Ridley’s Department Store. The store became notorious for its cheap prices and quality products, and quickly became a Lower East Side staple. By 1880, Ridley’s was bringing in over $4 million (adjusted for inflation) in annual sales.
Before his death in 1883, Edward Ridley began planning another store expansion. Ridley died before the expansion and his sons Arthur and Edward, Jr. continued the plans. The cast iron buildings at 66-68 Allen Street and 65 Orchard Street were built and designed by architect Paul F. Schoen and completed in 1886.
By the 1890s, business began to decline. As the Asian population grew, neighborhood demographics began shifting and large department stores in the Lower East Side such as Lord & Taylor began moving uptown to 5th Avenue. Ridley’s planned to move uptown in 1900s, but it never did. The store finally closed in 1901.
The Ridley’s properties along Allen Street were not only the sites of buying and selling, however. 59-63 Allen Street–now a parking garage–was also the site of multiple mysterious murders.
After the store’s closure, Edward Ridley, Jr. opened a real estate business, which he ran out of a cellar of one of the old department store buildings. In 1931, Ridley’s assistant, Herman Moench, was found shot dead in the cellar. The case quickly went cold when the police were unable to come up with any suspects. After the murder, Ridley hired Lee Weinstein as his new assistant. Two years after Moench’s death, both Weinstein and Ridley were found dead in the same room where Monech was killed. Weinstein had been shot, and Ridley had been beaten to death. Ballistics tests showed that both assistants had been shot with the same gun!
After some investigation, police found a will, said to be Ridley’s, which entrusted $200,000 to Weinstein. It was soon found that the will was a forgery that was created by Weinstein and his two accomplices, who happened to be Ridley’s accountants. Police soon discovered that Weinstein had already stolen the $200,000 even before Ridley’s murder. Though Ridley’s accountants were indicted for the murders, there was no proof connecting them the incident. All three murders remain unsolved.
Both Edward Ridley, Jr. and Edward Ridley, Sr. are buried in Green-Wood cemetery in Brooklyn.
| 1848 | Ridley & Sons Department store opens |
| 1883 | Edward Ridley dies |
| 1886 | Lots at 66-68 Allen Street and 65 Orchard Street are completed |
| 1901 | Ridley's closes |
| 1931 | Herman Moench is killed |
| 1933 | Lee Weinstein and Edward Ridley, Jr. are found dead |