Deco Refreshments, Inc.

Deco Refreshments, Inc. was a restaurant chain in Buffalo, New York which operated thirty-nine restaurants in 1929. It was started in December 1926 with an initial capitalization of $150,000.This increased to $250,000 in February 1928. Deco Refreshments, Inc., is significant because of its growth in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Its stock was popular and was included in the portfolio of the Niagara Share Corporation, which held 7,580 shares of Deco Refreshments, Inc., in February 1931.

History of company

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In the summer of 1918, an enterprising young man wanted to earn some extra money to help pay his college tuition. After giving it some thought, 18 year old Gregory Deck went into his yard to borrow the old kitchen table that was riding out its final days in the back shed. True to life, the table had seen better days, but it would serve young Deck's purpose just fine. Next, he took the family charcoal grill and together with the old table, placed them in a small wagon. Deck checked his pockets; six dollars and some change. Just enough to buy what he wanted.

Deck then walked the few blocks from Chester Street, where he lived, up to the local grocers and purchased a bag of charcoal, some pickles and mustard. The butcher shop was the next stop where he purchased some hot-dogs; the bakery for rolls. Now he was ready. After neatly assembling his wagon, he walked from his home to the corner of Main and Lisbon Streets and waited. It was early evening and the sun was just beginning its decline causing a warm reddish-orange glow to the neighborhood. The unmistakable sound of an approaching steam train made young Deck look over to the two railroad bridges that crossed Main Street just beyond where he was set up. A train had stopped on the bridge discharging passengers. Soon, customers approached - then more. He charged them a nickel for a hot-dog; money which they were happy to part with. He had struck gold.

"In the 1930s," recalls Charles Leone, a longtime West Side resident, "the Deco at Niagara and Georgia Streets was always crowded. It was a gathering place for everybody in the area. It was the Depression, no one had a job, so they went to the Deco. You could get one hell of a cup of coffee there."

"Back in the late '50s, I hung out with a bunch of guys who were pretty rough and I started a club called 'The Wanderers,' " says Donald Paddock. "We would drive to the Deco at Main and Fillmore and hang out there almost all night. A lot of times we ended up in fights in the restaurant and the police would come and break it up. We never got arrested, they were just fist fights, not like what kids get into today."

In 1941, Gregory Deck decided that he should retire. He was then 38 years old and felt that he had done all there was to do. He wanted to turn his attention to his church and helping others. He had dedicated his restaurants to the Blessed Mother and had all of the locations painted white and blue, the colors used by most artist when depicting the holy figure. He then turned operations over to his brother Joseph and his son Gregory Jr.. With the daily grind of running the business left to others, Deck dedicated his life to the Catholic Church. He was dean of the Papal Knights in the Buffalo Diocese, a Knight of St. Gregory the Great, a Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher, and a Knight of Malta. He founded the Catholic Pamphlet Society and the Catholic Guild for the Blind, and assisted in the founding of Rosary Hill College. Deck continued his extensive involvement in church work right up until his death in 1969.

By the 1950's, all the Deco restaurants were changed to look like this one; white with blue trim. This Deco is under construction. By the time the 1950s dawned on Buffalo, Deco Restaurants were going through some changes. These same changes were being felt by most businesses in the downtown Buffalo area. Gregory Deck Jr. explains: "During World War Two, all automobile production that had boomed during the late '30s and early '40s, abruptly stopped. The majority of the people didn't own a car so they had to rely on public transportation; everything was key to the downtown shopping district. After the war ended, all the war plants reconverted back to what they were before so all the people went back to their jobs. In the auto industry as well as others, salaries went from $100 a week to around $125 a week. In 1949, the cost of a car was around $2200 bucks. So you had people buying cars like crazy."

The last Deco in Buffalo was this one at 389 Washington Street in downtown Buffalo. The building is still in use as a restaurant. Deco Restaurants hung on until 1979 when the last one, located on Washington Street next to the Lafayette Hotel, closed. Deco is now a part of Buffalo history and was a familiar institution to everyone who lived in Buffalo during its 60 year reign. Each Deco had its own personality, formed by the people who frequented a particular location. The cook, the waitresses, the regulars lingering over coffee, businessmen, policemen and drunks, bikers and motorheads, teen-agers and tradesmen in and out, their favorite selections on the jukebox; it was "their" Deco. They all became part of the passing scene in the city, non-stop, 24 hours a day.

In 1998, the old Deco building 389 Washington Street was still being used as a restaurant; the Sugar and Spice. However, as of 2006, the business was closed. At the time it was known as the Sugar and Spice, the only thing "Deco" was a copy of an old menu hanging on a wall inside. Oddly enough, the building is next to another of Buffalo's losses -- A.M.& A's department store. The chrome sign that spells out "RESTAURANT" was original to the Deco building.

As we look back, let us not forget that this institution is another part of Buffalo's great historical legacy; certainly gone, but definitely not forgotten..

Expansion of company

The business planned an expansion to a total of fifty restaurants. Fourteen locations were opened by the company in the first half of 1929, with fourteen more under construction. Sales rose to $395,315 in the first five months of 1929, compared with $174,313 over a like period of 1928. Profits grew from $10,900 from January to May 1928 to a total of $28,750 during the same months in 1929.