M. Poliakoff

In the early 1890s, Russian natives David (c.1872-1940), Mendel (1874-1937), and Samuel Poliakoff (1875-1925) immigrated to the United States. Soon after, Samuel opened a “Boston Store” in Gaffney while David and Mendel established Poliakoff Brothers in Clifton around 1894. In April 1897, David and Mendel took over Samuel’s Gaffney store, and in January of the following year, they moved to the former New York Clothing House. There, they sold an assortment of clothing, shoes, and other dry goods.

In 1898, Mendel bought David out of the business and renamed the store M. Poliakoff. Over the course of the next two years, he placed extensive newspaper advertisements describing his stock of hats, caps, capes, shoes, collars, trunks, and umbrellas. In 1900, The Gaffney Ledger announced that Mendel was their biggest advertiser and one of the town’s foremost merchants. By then, Mendel had moved to a larger store and doubled his floor space following an extensive influx of products in the fall of 1899. In one newspaper article, he noted this influx, writing, “New goods have been arriving…for the past two weeks. The sidewalks have been blocked for the last few days with the goods, and extra help has been employed night and day for the past few days arranging them in their proper places.”¹

In September 1901, Mendel expanded to Greenwood, and in January 1902, he announced that the new location was growing and demanded his full attention. He closed the Gaffney store by the end of the month.

¹ “Notice,” The Gaffney Ledger, September 22, 1899, 4.