<\/p>\n
The late John Wagner, right, and his son Matthew, pictured in 2006, ran\u00a0Waldorf Tuxedo at its Lark\u00a0Street location in Albany after it moved in 1965 from its original State Street spot further downtown.<\/p>\n
MICHAEL P. FARRELL\/Albany Times Union<\/p>\n
The longtime Waldorf Tuxedo Company and the building it occupies at the corner of Albany’s Lark and Lancaster streets are for sale, as a sign in the closed shop’s window can attest. (Jim Franco\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Jim Franco\/Times Union<\/p>\n
A for-sale sign sits in a window of 204 Lancaster St. on Thursday in Albany. The building, at the intersection of Lark Street, is the longtime home of The Waldorf Tuxedo Company. (Jim Franco\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Jim Franco\/Times Union<\/p>\n
A for-sale sign sits in a window of 204 Lancaster St. on Thursday in Albany. The building, at the intersection of Lark Street, is the longtime home of The Waldorf Tuxedo Company.(Jim Franco\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Jim Franco\/Times Union<\/p>\n
A plaque outside 204 Lancaster St. on Thursday, March 26, 2026, in Albany, NY. The building, at the intersection of Lark Street, is the longtime home to The Waldorf Tuxedo Company and is now for sale. (Jim Franco\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Jim Franco\/Times Union<\/p>\n
A for sale sign on 204 Lancaster St. on Thursday, March 26, 2026, in Albany, NY. The building, at the intersection of Lark Street, is the longtime home to The Waldorf Tuxedo Company. (Jim Franco\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Jim Franco\/Times Union<\/p>\n
A for sale sign on 204 Lancaster St. on Thursday, March 26, 2026, in Albany, NY. The building, at the intersection of Lark Street, is the longtime home to The Waldorf Tuxedo Company. (Jim Franco\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Jim Franco\/Times Union<\/p>\n
In 1936, Waldorf Tuxedo Co. opened on Broadway as part of a small chain of formal-wear shops. Who at the time could have guessed how important the business would end up being for Albany?<\/p>\n
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In that story, there were two turning points.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
The first came in 1956, when John Wagner, then in his mid-20s, began working in the downtown shop. Four years later, he bought the franchise from the chain\u2019s Rhode Island owner and made it independent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The second happened in 1965.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when the shop, forced from its downtown storefront by the construction of a State Street tower, moved to Lark Street, then considered somewhat seedy and an unlikely location for a tuxedo business. Though it would have been easier to move to the suburbs, Wagner renovated and occupied an elegant building at the intersection with Lancaster Street, investing in the city when many were heading out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n There, on the intersection\u2019s southwest corner, Waldorf Tuxedo has since sat, a touch of formality on an informal street, pulling in governors, mayors, athletes and generations of local people who needed to look their best for some fancy event or another.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Wagner, instrumental in the creation of the Lark Street Merchants Association and events such as Lark\u00a0Fest<\/a>, was an Albany evangelist, a gracious man who could make newcomers and longtime residents alike feel good about his hometown. Maybe it\u2019s strange that the owner of a formal-wear store would help make Lark into a funky corridor, but he did.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe street has always been an incubator of sorts, where a young entrepreneur with a good idea and not a lot of money can get a start,” Wagner said in 2000. \u2018I\u2019ve seen Lark Street metamorphose over the years, and things have really come around.”<\/p>\n