A Scene At Lincoln and Belmont

Having survived the Depression, Goldblatt's acquired its fourth location over at Lincoln and Belmont, pictured farther back in this photo, from the H.C. Struve. Co. Struve was a dry goods man who had started off as a shoe salesman which later on morphed into his full line department store in the very early part of the 20th Century. Located at 3155 N Lincoln, Goldblatt's bought out Struve in 1929. It eventually acquired surrounding buildings and used their land resources to build a new six story building designed by Alfred S. Alschuler. Like Struve had, Goldblatt's concentrated on the smaller neighborhood venues for those who did not have the time or perhaps the funds to travel to the big guns downtown.


It just so happened that the year before, in 1928, brothers Louis and Joel joined Maurice and Nathan in the family business just as the company went public. During the 30s, faring pretty well, Goldblatt’s gained two more locations, the former Loren Miller Department Store in Uptown and another South Side location at 26th and Turner. Not only did it gain these two city locations but pressed for three others outside Chicago limits: Joliet and Hammond and Gary, Indiana. According to Richard Longstreth's useful article titled "Bringing Downtown to the Neighborhoods: Weiboldt's, Goldblatt's and the Creation of Department Store Chains in Chicago" Goldblatt's survived a failed venture in Englewood. As it looked for other outlets to expand, Goldblatt's almost went as far as my hometown, Cleveland, Ohio looking to purchase a former Higbee's location that had been vacated for new digs. Could the suburbs have been that far behind?

The photo above was actually taken in 1993. the Army Surplus store seen to the left is actually still there having visited myself about a month or so ago. More on the Goldblatt's saga soon.