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{{Infobox company
| name = Goldblatt's
| logo = Goldblatt's Discount Store Logo.png
| logo_size = 200px
| fate = [[Liquidation]]
| foundation = 1914
| founder = [[Maurice Goldblatt]]<br> Nathan Goldblatt
| defunct = 2003 (final [[liquidation]]; all stores closed by 2000)
| location = [[Chicago]], Illinois, U.S.
| industry = [[Retail]]
| key_people = 
| products = Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, electronics and housewares
| num_employees = 
| parent = 
| subsid = 
}}

'''Goldblatt's''' was an American chain of local [[discount store]]s that operated in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], as well as [[Indiana]], [[Michigan]] and [[Wisconsin]]. Founded in 1914, the chain grew to more than twenty stores at its peak, gradually closing some stores in the 1990s and selling others to [[Ames Department Stores|Ames]] before finally closing completely in 2000.

==History==

===Early beginnings===
{{Infobox NRHP
| name         = Goldblatt Bros. Department Store
| nrhp_type    =
| image        = Goldblatt's Department Store (NRHP).jpg
| caption      =
| location     = 4700 S. Ashland Ave., [[Chicago, Illinois]]
| coordinates  = {{coord|41|48|30|N|87|39|55|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin     = Chicago#Illinois#USA
| map_caption  = Location in [[Chicago]]##Location in [[Illinois]]##Location in United States
| built        = 1915
| architect    = [[Alfred S. Alschuler]]
| architecture = Chicago
| added        = November 15, 2006
| area         = less than one acre
| refnum       = 06001016<ref name="nris" />
}}
Goldblatt's was founded in 1914 by brothers [[Nate Goldblatt|Nate]] and [[Maurice Goldblatt]].  Immigrants from Poland, the Goldblatt family  ran a grocery store and butcher shop on [[West Side, Chicago|Chicago's West Side]]. Nate and Maurice opened their first store near the corner of Ashland and [[Chicago Avenue]]. By 1922, the store recorded sales of over $800,000.<ref name="JG" /> By 1928 the brothers formed Goldblatt Brothers Inc. During the [[Great Depression]] of the 1930s Goldblatt's did well, and the brothers were able to purchase several smaller department stores.

In 1936, Goldblatt's opened its [[A. M. Rothschild & Company Store|State Street flagship store]] at [[State Street (Chicago)|State]] and Van Buren. Goldblatt's moved towards more upscale products and offered small appliances, a deli, and confectionery goods.

[[File:GOLDBLATT COIN-TOKEN.jpg|thumb|Goldblatt Department Stores 1/2 cent coin / token]]

===Bankruptcy===
By 1946 Goldblatt's was operating 15 stores with $62 million in annual sales. Things went well even as the Goldblatt brothers began to quarrel. In 1941, a one-store expansion into [[Buffalo, New York]], was met with little success; the store closed on November 27, 1948, following a unionization attempt by the employees.<ref name="BlYlv" /> By the 1950s growth began to stall, with profits flat-lining and new store openings averaging four a year. 
 
By the mid-1960s, retailers such as [[Kmart (United States)|Kmart]], [[Woolco]], [[Zayre]], and [[Sears, Roebuck and Company|Sears]] were digging into Goldblatt's market. Expansion into the [[suburbs]] proved to be a difficult obstacle for Goldblatt's. Middle class shoppers were not enticed to shop at Goldblatt's. The company declared bankruptcy in 1981.

In 1982, Goldblatt's reopened with six stores. The mission of the company was restored to selling to low income families. The flagship store, which was to be sold to City of Chicago under Mayor [[Jane Byrne]] for a public library location,<ref name="77gQr" /> later sold to DePaul University when the [[Harold Washington Library]] was built. Without the money from the City of Chicago Goldblatt's would have closed. [[Jerrold Wexler]] helped save the firm from bankruptcy.<ref name="JG" /> By 1985 Goldblatt's was profitable.

However, changing markets, increasing competition, and old stores doomed the chain. In 2000, Goldblatt's closed once again. [[Ames (store)|Ames]] purchased several former stores to enter the Chicago market again (Ames had taken over many of [[Zayre]]'s former Chicago stores, all of them later closed). But later in that same year, it returned and reopened its 47th and Ashland location.<ref name="x92cp" /> Goldblatt's later reclaimed four more locations when Ames closed its Chicago stores.<ref name="YR7S6" />  In 2003, the company closed its stores for good and [[liquidated]].

===Ames===
Shortly after Goldblatt's closed its stores, discount retailer [[Ames (discount stores)|Ames]] purchased seven of the stores for $7.6 million in April 2000.<ref name="4jTPZ"/>

==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>

<ref name="JG">{{cite web |url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/JG-Industries-Inc-Company-History.html |title=JG Industries Inc. Company History |website=Funding Universe |accessdate=2006-05-30}}</ref>

<ref name="BlYlv">Rizzo, Michael F. (2007). ''Nine Nine Eight: The Glory Days of Buffalo Shopping''. Lulu Enterprises, Inc.; Morrisville, North Carolina. p. 115. {{isbn|978-1-4303-1386-1}}.</ref>

<ref name="77gQr">{{cite news| url=http://www.lynnbecker.com/repeat/seattle/hlw.htm| title=Sleekness in Seattle| first=Lynn| last=Becker| date=June 11, 2004| newspaper=[[Chicago Reader]]| via=Repeat| access-date=February 9, 2022}}</ref>

<ref name="x92cp">{{cite news|title=Goldblatt's makes comeback|newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]|author=Guy, Sandra|date=September 21, 2000}}</ref>

<ref name="YR7S6">{{cite news|title=Goldblatt's looking at former sites|newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times|author=Guy, Sandra|date=January 19, 2002}}</ref>

<ref name="4jTPZ">{{cite web |url=http://www.secinfo.com/d5Tx.54.htm |title=Ames Department Store Inc. |website=SEC Info |date=2000-04-29}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
* [http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/2683.html ''Encyclopedia of Chicago'']
* {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130215064458/http://www.hammondindiana.com:80/20thcentury/time_capsule19.htm|title=Former Store Implosion|date=February 15, 2013}}

{{Chicago}}
{{National Register of Historic Places}}

[[Category:Defunct companies based in Chicago]]
[[Category:1914 establishments in Illinois]]
[[Category:Retail companies disestablished in 2000]]
[[Category:Defunct discount stores of the United States]]
[[Category:Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Chicago]]
[[Category:Department stores on the National Register of Historic Places]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1914]]
[[Category:Retail companies established in 1914]]
[[Category:2000 disestablishments in Illinois]]
[[Category:Chicago Landmarks]]