Chappell's

Ghost Corp Apparel — resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

Chappell’s was the Central New York department-store institution built by Charles E. Chappell. In 1895, Chappell and Francis E. Bacon opened Bacon, Chappell & Company at South Salina and Fayette streets in Syracuse. The shop grew into a substantial downtown department store, eventually occupying multiple adjoining buildings and four floors of shopping temptation.

Bacon retired from active management in 1907; after a period as Chappell-Dyer Company, Charles E. Chappell became sole owner in 1924 and organized C. E. Chappell & Sons, Inc. The family name stayed on the door, with later generations carrying the operation from its old downtown flagship into the mall age.

By its later years, Chappell’s had stores across the Syracuse area and elsewhere in Central and Northern New York, selling the classic department-store spread: apparel, shoes, jewelry, cosmetics, and housewares. The downtown Syracuse store closed in 1974, but the chain continued from suburban shopping centers—because apparently escalators and food courts were the future.

Financial pressure brought a Chapter 11 filing in January 1992 and the closure of four locations during reorganization. In October 1994, Bon-Ton acquired the assets of the remaining six-store Chappell’s operation for about $7.9 million, ending the independent family chain.

Our Chappell's collection celebrates Syracuse retail grandeur: South Salina Street window displays, family-run merchandising, and the glorious era when a regional department store could sell you a suit, a toaster, and a little civic pride under one roof.