Goldblatt Bros. Department Store

“The company's amazing expansion, from the 1920s through the 1950s, made the Goldblatt family nationally recognized. The Goldblatt brothers were profiled in numerous national publications, and the Goldblatt name was renown for its retailing innovations.”

“Department Store, at Chicago and Ashland avenues, meet the criterion for Chicago Landmark status in the following ways: ► ► As the first store in a nationally prominent regional department store chain, the buildings have a direct relationship to the business history of Chicago and of the United States.”

“Goldblatt's, especially, was a pioneer in establishing retailing methods that would become hallmarks of department store development during the second half of the century. A 1937 article in Business Week magazine termed the rise of Goldblatt's "one of the intensely interesting stories of contemporary retailing." Their success is not the result of mere luck.”

“A story related by Joel Goldblatt gives a sense of the company's business acumen: In 1933, when President Roosevelt called a bank holiday, [brother] Nate collected all the cash in all the stores--about $300,000--and took all the buyers to New York on the train, knowing that he could pick up bargains from the cash-starved suppliers.”

“Other once-small neighborhood stores, such as Klein's (in the Maxwell Street area) and Wieboldt's (at Milwaukee and Ashland), transformed themselves into large department stores--or "shopping centers" according to one store ad-- during the first decades of the 20th century.”

“E The two Goldblatt Bros. buildings on Chicago Avenue are among the best-preserved, surviving examples of early neighborhood department stores in Chicago or the U.S. The Goldblatt Bros.”

“Department Store was identified as a "significant structure" by both the Chicago Historic Resources Survey and the Illinois Historic Structures Survey. The two store buildings are considered to be high-quality examples of the late-Chicago School commercial style, featuring such traditional elements of the style as "Chicago windows" and terra cotta cladding and details.”

“The two buildings, taken together, illustrate the evolution of the neighborhood department store in the early-20th century. As a dominant visual feature of the West Town neighborhood, the buildings are a striking physical anchor to one of the city's early neighborhood business districts.”

“In just over a dozen years, Goldblatt's had expanded their original 1,680-square foot retail store a hundred-fold, while the store's frontage along Chicago Avenue had grown from 24 feet to 275 feet--covering most of a two-block stretch between Ashland and Paulina avenues.”

“We carry complete Stocks in all lines of General Merchandise. Our Grocery and Provision Departments have been the source of supply to thousands of homes. The great popularity of this Wonder Store has been achieved by adhering to the policy of giving our patrons, the very highest quality for the least possible cost.”