Community Corner

After 67 Years, Middletown Landmark Central News Closes Shop

In its heyday, Central News was open before the crack of dawn for factory workers, old timers and early risers looking to pass the time with coffee, breakfast and conversation.

Bill Sbona forced out a smile for passersby Sunday morning as he leaned against the storefront he's owned for more than two decades, watching two men load up a flatbed pickup with his last wooden magazine rack.

Central News, the newspaper, magazine and tobacco shop that for 67 years has anchored upper Main Street, shutter its doors for good over the weekend.

For more than 20 years, Sbona, the son of Buddy Sbona, the city's most famous mayor, has owned , a place where folks could stop by for a paper, cigars, and catch up on the city's comings and goings.

In January, Sbona stopped carrying newspapers when sales dwindled so low it just didn't make sense anymore.

Sunday morning, as Main Street was flooded in bright sun, Sbona delivered the somber news to a woman who'd hoped to pick up something to read.

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"When I first started, we were selling 500 papers a day," Sbona said, looking back on his two decades of ownership. The decline of print media crushed his news business and this year forced him to close. "Everybody gets their news in their hand," he said, gesturing to an imaginary iPhone in his palm.

In 1991, Central News itself made the news when Mafia-connected owner Salvatore D'Aquila Jr. was sent to jail for 15 years for racketeering after running an illegal gambling operation out of the back office, according to the Hartford Courant.

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In its heyday, Central News was open before the crack of dawn for factory workers on their way home after third shift and old timers and early risers looking to pass the time with coffee, breakfast and some conversation, according to a Wesleyan Argus story from 2006.

Much has changed since then.

Meanwhile, a few decades-old shops remain. Vecchitto’s Lemon Ice and Gelato Shop, open summers since 1927 is on deKoven Drive; and on Main Street are: turn-of-the-century-old Smith & Bishel Hardware Co., opened in 1898; Amato's Toy and Hobby, founded in 1940; Itkin's Decorators, around since 1939; and O'Rourke's Diner, built on 1941. In the North End, near the transfer station is the former Remington Rand building, parts of which date as far back as 1897.

What do you remember about Central News or other longstanding Middletown businesses? Tell us in the comments below.

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