So as you know our Bridge Cigar Shop motto is “selling cigars like my Grandfather” … well, this is actually Paul’s grandfather who we named the shop in memory of, as his grandfather owned the original Bridge Cigar located for many years in Derby CT.

My Grandfather (“Chuck - the “other” owner’s Grandfather!) was also a business owner for many years in the Grester Naugatuck Valley region.

My Grandfather, Vincent DeRosa and his brothers (twin) Dick & Larry all owned and ran DeRosa Furniture Company which for a time had two stores, one in Waterbury and the other here in Naugatuck.

The ad in this post was from the grand opening of the Naugatuck DeRosa Furniture store which was located at 25 South Main Street Naugatuck. This lot is now vacant, located at the corner of South Main Street and the Maple Street Bridge.

The Naugatuck DeRosa Furniture building unfortunately came down during the flood of 1955 and was a total loss. Another building was built on that location which was unfortunately not a DeRosa Furniture. That building was torn down a few years ago and is now vacant with a small park located on the space.

After losing the Naugatuck store to the flood my grandfather and uncles decided to stick with just the Waterbury location which several years later moved to South Main Street in Waterbury (directly across from “Our Lady of Lourdes” church) then in the early 70s moved to East Main Street where the current UConn campus is located.

DeRosa Furniture closed in 1986 but was briefly revised by my Uncle Vin DeRosa Jr and cousin Robert DeRosa (Dicks son) with a Store located in Oakville Ct. in the late 80’s - early 90’s.