A new sign just might be the coolest thing about the new Free People store in Montclair.

If you grew up or lived in Montclair for a while, the building at the corner of Bloomfield Avenue and North Fullerton is one that’s instantly recognizable.

For 70 years, the Art Deco/Moderne building was the home of Hampton House, a furniture store. Hampton House closed in 2017.

Developers Gary DeBode and Dick Grabowsky bought the three-story building for $1,962,500 in 2017.

In 2024, the building, at 467-469 Bloomfield Avenue, received a Montclair Township Historic Preservation Commission’s Preservation Award.

In May 2026, came news that Free People had signed a long term lease for the building’s street-level space. The store opened in July.

And this summer, one of the building’s most iconic details returned.

Grabowsky explains the back story behind the new signage.

“Shortly after I purchased the building in 2018, I went to the Historic Preservation Commission and told them I wanted to take out the side of the building on North Fullerton – 50% of which was stucco – and change it to glass,” said Grabowsky. “And, in exchange, I would agree that any signage I put on the building would be representative of the Hampton House sign that had been there for 70 years.”

“It pays homage, it sort of nods to that vintage look,” said Angelica Diggs, executive director of Montclair History Center.

The original Hampton House sign grew out of an earlier effort to give downtown Montclair a more modern look.

In 1946, Montclair’s township council contracted with famed industrial designer Walter Teague to redesign the Hampton House building, Diggs said. The distinctive sign was part of that new look.

The council had a bigger vision for the area, hoping Teague’s style could be replicated at other nearby businesses and storefronts. But the plan was never carried out, leaving Hampton House as the lone example of that midcentury vision, Diggs said.

“There originally was a bigger vision,” she said. “But that really was the only building that got initiated into that style.”

Reporter Corey McDonald contributed to this story.

Liz George is the publisher of Montclair Local. liz@montclairlocal.news More by Liz George