Valenti clan buys the store

A downtown Pittsfield fixture ups the ante

By l arry parnass

PITTSFIELD — When he opened his clothing store almost four decades ago, Steven Valenti wrote his first rent check to Don and Norma Ruffer, owners of 155-161 North St. Last month, Valenti and his son, Evan, made a different kind of payment to the family – the last one, buying the commercial building from the Ruffers’ daughter, Deanna.

And with that act, Steven Valenti’s Clothing for Men, one of downtown’s most durable businesses, declared its confidence in North Street and Pittsfield, its owners say.

“We feel it’s only going to get better, week by week,” Steven Valenti said Thursday, when asked about the state of the city’s downtown.

“We’re confident that this area can be improved on enough so that you wouldn’t want to be anywhere but here,” said Evan Valenti, who is 32 and has worked with his father for nearly 10 years. “We’re right in the middle of everybody. Staying here is a testament to all the people who have walked in the door over 40 years – and a vote of confidence in what the city can do.”

After learning the property had gone on the market, the Valentis “heard rumblings” that some of the investors considering a purchase might seek new tenants.

With their lease up, the father and son decided to control their fate by taking charge of the property. They closed on the sale Dec. 13, paying $285,000 to Deanne Ruffer, trustee of Ruffer Business NT.

The clothing business had once tried to buy the building, but couldn’t come to terms. “We never gave up on it,” said Steven Valenti, who is 71.

How did they get to yes this time?

It helped that 2022 was a banner year in the menswear business, both men say.

Evan Valenti says retailing leapt with the return of proms and weddings. With the pandemic more than two years old, events were back.

Some customers, meanwhile, were finding that after adding COVID-19 pounds, their wardrobes needed updating. “The closets kind of shrank some,” Steven Valenti said.

Neither father nor son liked the prospect of having to quickly find another location for their business, should their lease not be renewed. They now have a tenant, The Soda Chef, which has operat-