It was with great sadness that I read of Jerry Ellis’s passing. His “semi-lovely’’ Building #19 stores were a favorite haunt of bargain hunters throughout New England. And Ellis himself was simply a kind, honest, and humble man. Nearly 20 years after I interviewed him in the early 1980s, he’d call whenever he visited his short-lived Somerville location and invite me over just to schmooze. I have no doubt that when he reached the Pearly Gates, Ellis was toasted with a bottle of the bargain champagne he used to give away and was offered a good halo cheap.

Edgar Dworsky

Somerville

The writer is the founder of Consumer World.