William J. Frawley Jr., Founder Of Decelle Retail Chain, age 81 - 2003
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Subject: William J. Frawley Jr., Founder Of Decelle Retail Chain, 81
William J. Frawley Jr. of Wellesley, founder of the Decelle retail
chain and pioneer of the "off-price" clothing store, died Saturday,
April 12, 2003, at the Elizabeth Seton Residence in Wellesley,
Massachusetts, at the age of 81.
He started the first Decelle in a small factory that was later
converted into a department store. It originally offered clothing for
ladies and children but Mr. Frawley found his niche as one of the
first in the country to sell irregular and closeout merchandise. The
company grew to include seven locations across Massachusetts.
"He was a whirling dervish entrepreneur who loved buying and making
deals," said his son David, of Medford, New Jersey.
Mr. Frawley was born in Sharon and grew up in West Roxbury,
Massachusetts. He graduated from Boston College High School in 1939
and enlisted in the US Army Air Force. He was stationed in England and
served as a master sergeant.
After World War II, he started working for his father's lingerie
manufacturing company in West Roxbury, which became the first
incarnation of Decelle.
He married Elaine (Ulrich), whom he met through an aunt.
Mr. Frawley continued to expand his business and would often travel to
New York City in search of discounted clothing. In the early 1960s, he
struck a business deal with Carter's Manufacturing of Needham and
began selling Carter's closeouts and irregulars from the basement of
his store.
The basement deals became a success, and Mr. Frawley expanded the
concept and reinvented Decelle, his mother's maiden name, as an
off-price store.
In 1962, his family moved to Needham, and he opened a second store
there two years later. He bought more locations over the next two
decades.
Mr. Frawley also used his business to help clothe local families in
need.
"He would never say anything about it," his son said. "It was done on
Sunday when the stores were closed so nobody would know."
Mr. Frawley worked six and seven days a week and would always wear
clothes from his store's racks. He loved owning a department store,
his son said.
"Work was really his hobby," his son said. "He would do everything
from buying merchandise to running the registers six to seven days a
week because that is what his business needed."
Three of his six children worked with him for more than 20 years.
He retired in 1994 after selling the company to Burlington Coat
Factory. The chain retained the Decelle brand name.
Mr. Frawley was also a benefactor of St. Anselm College in Manchester,
New Hampshire, and Regis College in Weston, where he also worked as a
business consultant. In 1986, he received an honorary doctor of laws
degree from St. Anselm College.