This November, American heritage clothing brand Gant will open a new store at the corner of York and Elm streets, almost 60 years after it opened its first store in New Haven.
“We have recently rekindled an exciting relationship with our birth city of New Haven and look forward to serving as a community resource for students, faculty and residents,” said Ari Hoffman, Gant USA president and chief executive officer, in a press release.
Gant has long had ties with the city of New Haven. In the 1920s, Bernard Gant and his sons began making shirts at 120 Haven St. The family business grew rapidly and opened its flagship store in the city in 1949. The new Gant Campus Store at 238 York St. will offer a limited edition recreation of the original Yale Co-op label, which sold in the Yale Bookstore during the 1960s. Though the company has expanded considerably since then, becoming an international corporation, the core clothing brand continues to bear the name Gant New Haven.
“We are delighted to welcome Gant back to New Haven,” said Abigail Rider, associate vice president of Yale and director of University Properties. “The addition of Gant to the retailers on Broadway reaffirms our connection with our New England traditions and University Properties’ dedication to attracting an exciting mix of quality fashion offerings to New Haven to serve the needs of New Haven residents.”
Hoffman said he hopes the clothing store will once become a more integral part of Yale tradition — like Mory’s, the Yale mainstay just one block over.