Early Department Stores in St. Cloud; Part 1

The Macy's Department Store in Crossroads shopping center will close this year.  To examine the long history of department stores I was joined by St. Cloud historian Jim Grabinski, former Herbergers employees Lisa Voulk, Ann Thelen and Gail Cruikshank and former Dayton's employee Vicki Davis.  The definition of a department store is a large retail store for the sale of many goods arranged in departments.

Early 1900s

In the early 1900s Barthelem's Department opened in downtown St. Cloud.  Grabinski says it was located at 705 West St. Germain Street.  Bella Vita Salt Caves is there today.  Their advertisement said "4 stores in one, do all your shopping under one roof and save running all over town".  Grabinski says they had men's, women's and children's clothing along with groceries.  They stayed in business until the mid 1920s.

Montgomery Ward

Montgomery Ward's Department Store opened in St. Cloud in 1929 at 27 South 7th  Avenue where the Lady Slipper parking lot is today.  Grabinski says they had a large catalog department.  In 1965 Montgomery Ward opened a new store in St. Cloud on 1st Street and 5th Avenue.  The building came down when Wells Fargo Bank was built.

Gambles

Gambles Department Store opened in downtown St. Cloud in 1925.  Grabinski recalls their large, heavy Christmas wrapping paper.  Gambles was located at 1015 West St. Germain Street.  Grabinski says the St. Cloud store was so successful that they opened 4 more stores in North and South Dakota within 10 weeks.  Gambles also opened an auto supply store in 1928.  Gambles home appliance brand was Coronado.  In the late 1970s Grabinski says, the building went from Gambles Department store to a Red Owl grocery store.  Gamble Skogmo owned Red Owl stores in addition to Gambles Department Stores.  In 1980 Gambles sold to Wicks Company.  After the building came down years later, Zapp Bank built on that location.  US Bank is now in that location.

Welles Shopping Center

Welles Shopping Center opened in March of 1971 on the corner of 33rd Avenue and Division Street.  The building had 90,000 square feet of shopping.  The store had 100 departments including apparel, automotive, appliances, and hardware.  Grabinski says Welles national reputation was brand name products at discount prices.  Welles was only in business for 2 years.   In 1973 Zayres Shoppers City opened adjacent to Welles Shopping Center.

Fandels

Fandels Department Store opened in downtown St. Cloud at 600 Mall Germain in 1895.  Grabinski says the original store was a 1 story building.  In 1914 the original building was torn down and replaced it with a 3-story building in the same location.  In 1961 Fandels added onto their store by taking over the Schaefer Book Store next door. In 1979 Fandels purchased Norby's Department Store in Fergus Falls.  Fandels also opened two Intrique Fashion stores in Crossroads Mall and at the Mall in Alexandria.  In 1985 the Fandel's building was demolished ending their run in the community.

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Jim, Vicki, Ann, Lisa, and Gail, click below.