About Us

The Allen family continues to curate their legacy in retail business.

William A. Allen pictured on far right, circa 1885.  The Allen family continues to curate their legacy in the retail business.

The History: 

   AllensUniforms.com is owned and operated by William A. Allen Co., Inc. Our store motto, "Quality and Service ...always" was drafted in 1910 by my great-grandfather, William A. Allen. William was born June 2, 1866, a year after Abraham Lincoln was assasinated.  He started as a stock-boy in the 1870's.  His store in Marlboro, Massachusetts was billed as the largest Cloak Store between Boston and Worcester.   I imagine when he opened lots of people were still riding around in horse and buggy.  He was a model citizen, adored by many in town and died in 1936.  My grand father, John Allen took over and expanded into Framingham and Hudson.  After WW II my father William Allen, graduated from Harvard in May and got married in August of 1950.  He was working at Filene's in Boston, making $25 a week as an assiatant to the glove buyer when my grandfather talked my Dad into buying a store and building on the Main St of Leominster, Mass for $190,000.  His inlaws were furious at my grandfather and rightfully so.  How in 1950 does a 26 year old kid making $25 a week, take on $190,000 in debt and pull it off?  Well, fortunately the store did extremely well and on the birth of my brother John in 1957, my father and grandfather were cutting another deal on a store on the Main St of Fitchburg, Mass.  When my father announced that my new brother John had arrived, my grandfather said, "It must be a sign.  You should buy the store!".  So, we were up to 5 stores but the glory days of being a Main Street merchant were drawing to a close. 

   The 70's recession was brutal to the New England Main Street.  Malls were opening and  factories were closing.  We were lucky to hang onto the Leominster store.  I graduated from college in 1977 and at the request of my mother, I came in, as she said, "to help my father liquidate the business".  They had sold their nice house and we were all living in a duplex.  The store financials on paper were terrible.  My father and I traveled to NYC in the hopes of finding resources that would work with us.  We were lucky.  We ran into Leo Lipschutz, who as a youth had escaped the Nazi concentration camps  and come to America.  Somehow Leo knew he could trust my father and he became a principal supplier for us.  Things did not turn around quickly, at all.  I watched my father's profits from the sale of the house slowly go into the business with no positive results.  In the Fall of 1979, my father was down to his last $5000, and suddenly things started to get better.   We just got lucky.  Digital Equipment was ushering in the computer era just down the road in Maynard.  The store took off.

A horse-drawn carriage parading some of the William A. Allen Co. workers from the Marlboro store.

A horse-drawn carriage parading some of the William A. Allen Co. workers from the Marlboro store.

   We have always been blessed to have a wonderful staff.  Many of the employees I started with, worked at Allen's for 30-45 years.  Yoli and Marion were both working part time well into their 80's.  Shirley has somehow managed to stay with me for 30 years and Deb and Pam just passed the 20 year milestone.  In 2002, I was at my son's middle school graduation when I ran into a woman, Miss Dumont, I knew had worked at Allen's in Marlboro.  It turned out my great grandfather had given her her first job over 75 years earlier during the Great Depression.  The emotion she shared with me about my great grandfather made a huge impression on me.  My great grandfather had also made a huge impression on my father when he was a youngster, as well.  Suddenly, I started to connect the dots to see that the way my great grandfather had treated people had been passed down to my father and from my father to me.  I hope 75 years from now, a young clerk that I gave an opportunity to, has nice things to say about me.

One of the first staff photos taken of the Howe and Stetson / William A. Allen Co. team, circa 1880's. Note 39 star flag in background

One of the first staff photos taken of the Howe and Stetson / William A. Allen Co. team, circa 1880's. Note 39 star flag in background.

Today, the staff at Allen's takes our mission seriously, which is to provide the best quality and service, and be the best at it!



The Team Today:

   The store is still going strong on the Main St of Leominster.  Our sales are much stronger online than in store as we adjust to the new world of retailing in the post pandemic era of 2023.  We are fortunate to have such a  talented group of people working here.  Our guiding light on the web has been Matt S. of Holyoke, MA.  Matt went to MIT and works with a talented staff.   Matt has given us all the confidence to build much of this website ourselves.    Julie from Leominster is the web mechanic/graphic artist for the site.  She sets up all the items and group order pages.  Maria, Millie, Carol, Ursela and Kayla handle all the embroidery.     Kevin takes care of Customer Service.  Together they make an incredible team.

"There is no limit to what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets credit." (Ralph Waldo Emerson).  I hope I have not forgotten anyone!

Today:

   In April of 2023, we started a long overdue renovation of our storefront.  It had been 70 years since anyone had seen the original fasade which we hope can be restored to it's oroginal glory.  Retailing has certainly changed since covid.  We are no longer a "department Store".  Today our focus is Custom Embroidery for Hospitals, Schools, Teams and Corporations.  We still carry lines like Columbia, Kuhl, Ariat, Life is Good and Under Armour in the hope that they will attract new customers into the store.  Stores like ours are important to the communities that they serve.  The challenge is and always will be finding what the community wants to support.

Tucker Allen

May 15, 2023