I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Mertens & Phalen, but to judge by this ad from 1892, they were once a sizeable manufacturer of clothing in the Collar City. You can still find a number of trade cards and even some sheet music advertising the firm on eBay, but all other traces of the only genuine manufacturer of best made, perfect fitting, reliable clothing in Troy or Albany are gone. Where the building stood at River, Grand and Fourth in Troy is now a parking lot across from the Franklin Plaza.
Sometime after the original post, I was treated to pictures of some lovely old signage from Mertens & Phalen, which it turns out had operations in Syracuse, Troy, Schenectady, and Philadelphia.