Vlachs

Vlachs (English pronunciation: /ˈvlɑːk/ or /ˈvlæk/) is a historical term used for Eastern Romance-speaking peoples in the Balkans and Eastern Europe; several modern peoples descending from the Romanized population in present-day Romania and Moldova, the southern Balkan Peninsula and south and west of the Danube. They were identified during the 11th century (when they were described by George Kedrenos), and their prehistory during the Migration Period is a matter of scholarly speculation. According to one origin theory, the Vlachs originated from Latinized Dacians. According to some linguists and scholars, the Eastern Romance languages prove the survival of the Thraco-Romans in the lower Danube basin during the Migration Period and western Balkan populations known as "Vlachs" also have had Romanized Illyrian origins. Nearly all central- and southeastern European nations (Hungary, Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, Albania, Greece and Bulgaria) have native Vlach (or Romanian) minorities; in other countries, the Vlachs have assimilated to the Slavic population. The term was also commonly used for shepherds. Today, the Eastern Romance-speaking communities number 24,187,810 people.

Wallachs (clothiers)

Wallachs (Clothiers) was a New York City men's clothing chain store which once maintained additional locations in Newark, New Jersey, Brooklyn, New York, Jamaica, Queens, and Flushing, New York. It was a New York institution for more than a century. Together with Roots and F.R. Tripler, Wallachs was part of a nineteen state chain of fifty stores controlled by the Hastings Group. Hastings Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 1995.

Before the demand for tailored suits waned, the conglomerate operated approximately 200 stores. Wallach's also sold women's apparel.

Locations and growth

In 1938 Wallachs' Manhattan, New York and Bronx, New York stores were located at Fifth Avenue (Manhattan) at Forty-Fifth Street, Fifth Avenue and 253 Broadway (Manhattan), New York City Hall and 53 Broadway near Wall Street (Manhattan), and Fordham Road near the corner of Marion Avenue.

A store measuring 22,000 square feet (2,000 m²) was leased by Wallachs and became the largest of its stores in October 1954. It was in a nineteen story office building which was constructed at 555 Fifth Avenue. In 1966 Wallachs was a fifteen unit chain of stores.