Category:Emil E. Otto

English: Emil E. Otto owned a high-end dress store, located in the first floor of the Waidlich Building at 627-629 Hamilton Street in Allentown.

Otto opened his store in 1944 at 639 Hamilton. The store sold high-end Women's clothing, featuring designer clothing from New York and after world War II, European fashion centers as well, primarily gowns, dresses, coats, blouses and skirts, hats and shoes. In 1958, he moved the store to 627-629 Hamilton Street, replacing a Sun-Ray drug store. Otto sold fine clothing to the women of Allentown, probably the best place to find designer clothing other than Philadelphia.

Otto's fortunes in many ways followed the fortunes of the "Downtown" retail sector of Allentown, suffering declining sales in the years after 1975. Otto retired and the store closed on 23 February 1996. Subsequently Otto had to file for bankruptcy as his love for fashion was greater than the economics of running his store at the time; a victim of the decline of the Hamilton Street shopping district in the 1980s and 1990s.

Emil E. Otto passed at age 93 on September 10th, 1998