Benny's Home and Auto Stores - Waterford, CT

Benny's Home and Auto Stores - Waterford, CT

  May 13, 2018    Robby S.

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BENNY'S HOME AND AUTO STORES
40 BOSTON POST ROAD
WATERFORD, CONN
CLOSED FEBRUARY 28, 2017

Hi everyone! This is my fourth post about Benny's Home and Auto stores, and the conclusion of my four part series of the Benny's stores in my immediate area. Also, be sure to check out BrandHistoryUSA's Complete Directory of Benny's locations, which has some stats for each of Benny's locations up to the time of its closure.
Benny's Home and Auto Stores, as I've mentioned previously, was a New England based hardware store chain which operated in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. Benny's stores had a certain charm to them, as they had this retro sort of vibe that attracted many shoppers.

Inside the Waterford Benny's ©Benny's

The Waterford Benny's opened in the mid 1990s, replacing the former A&P. It was one of the last Benny's locations to open, and incidentally was the first in the chain to close; having closed on February 28, 2017 due to disagreements with the location's landlord.

Sadly, I don't have too many pictures from inside the store when it was open, as it closed just before I started really documenting these old stores.

As it stands today, the store is completely vacant, with no plans announced to reuse the space. This particular Benny's location was one of two locations in the chain not sold off to a Rhode Island-based redevelopment firm which intends to repurpose former Benny's locations due to the fact that Benny's leased the property from the mall's landlord.

This store had two entrances... One entrance/exit on the left and right side of the stores. 

The store's rightmost entrance

While they did paper up the doors and windows, they conveniently left the higher windows completely open. I snapped my phone into a selfie stick and hoisted it up to get a view of the inside.

So it's pretty tough to see past the second set of doors, but there's a quick view into the right entrance vestibule

Now taking a look into the main part of the store... Since there aren't too many windows that weren't covered, the views inside is pretty limited. Originally there were banners that read 'STORE CLOSED' on them, but they since have fallen down, leaving the window exposed.

The store was gutted pretty well, and all the interior fixtures were relocated to another facility.

So you can see from those pictures that not much else is left. All the shelving has been removed and lots of scuffs are visible on the ground. The interior of the store also was pretty dated, too. Contrary to the red-and-blue interior motif of other Benny's stores, this location used a faded pink and cream color scheme, which really doesn't hold up too much today. Out of all the Benny's stores I've been to, this is the only one that feels dated in a negative sort of way. The other stores in the chain had a lot of charm and character.

The leftmost vestibule of the store was largely the same. The doors were papered over, but I was able to stick my phone up to get some pictures.

Besides a note that gave the locations to some other nearby Benny's stores (all of which have since closed), not much else was left from Benny's stay in the Waterfall Place.

The pylon road sign was only flipped, so Benny's can still be pretty easily read today

Well that'll wrap up my four-week-long documentation series on Benny's. Be sure to check out the other articles in the series, and for a detailed list of each Benny's location, be sure to take a peek at the Benny's Complete Directory

Until next time

~RS