Oh no our beloved Rubber Match is closing

While news of stores closing is anything but rare these days I was surprised and sadden to learn that the odd little store on Whalley Avenue, Rubber Match would be closing.  The signs on the building
now promote Futons but history shows that it stated out as a "head shop" and a place to buy concert tickets way before the age of Ticketmaster. Later years the store was known for its large selection of waterbeds and when that rage ended Futons became the main products mostly catering to college kids The Rubber Match is owned  by George Zito who if you me him once you'll remember him forever.
Thank you George!

Here is a great article by Jake Dressler, posted in the New Haven Independent.

With a “heavy heart” Zito announced announced in a Facebook video that he is holding a going-out-of-business sale.

His futon store has served New Haveners for 45 years. Its rich history of rock and roll and outlandish advertising stunts made his operation an unforgettable part of the city’s business landscape.

But the business eventually fell victim to, among other forces, the internet.

Zito was 23-years-old when he opened Rubber Match as a head shop, originally on Edgewood Avenue. After a brief stay on Edgewood, he purchased the iconic Rubber Match building on Whalley Avenue at the corner of Sperry, distinguished by a glass encased patio and Toad’s Place advertisements plastered on the walls. Futons became a staple of the business.

Zito built his local futon empire from the ground up. Following in the footsteps of California, he zeroed in on elusive pop cultural trends like the waterbed craze that tore through the 1980s. At the time, one in every four beds sold was a waterbed, he recalled.

His early marketing tactics are reminiscent of every ‘80s salesman cliché you’ve ever seen. In a picture from a cross promotional ad with A-1 Toyota, Zito is crouched beside a 1980 Camry pointing to its front wheels, which are propped on one of his waterbeds. In the same year, he had waterbeds banned from participating in New Haven’s bed race after one of his burst open during the competition. (He never intended to win that race; he entered for the marketing buzz.)

His “George-O-Pedic” approved mattresses might sound eerily familiar to another big personality in the furniture game: Bob Lapidus, founder of Bob’s Stores. Lapidus had a 20-year head start on Zito with a less psychedelic business model. Zito was too invested in his community to go corporate.

Zito is a true New Havener at heart with a passion for his city that has sometimes been expressed in various forms of vigilantism. He told me a story of how he almost pulled his “biscuit” (gun) on a bike thief who stole a bike from one of his customers. Another time he saved a young woman from being attacked by a gang of bullies and offered her refuge in his store. Click here to continue reading.