Tiedtke's
Department Store | |
Industry | Retail |
---|---|
Founded | Toledo, Ohio (1894 ) |
Defunct | 1973 |
Fate | Closed |
Headquarters | , United States |
Area served | Ohio |
Products | Grocery, clothing, toys, furniture, general merchandise |
Services | Restaurants, bakery |
Tiedtke's was a former
Early history
The firm that would be known as Tiedtke's set up shop in 1894.
The brothers would soon take on a partner, William A. Todd, who helped generate additional lake and marine accounts for the Tiedtke brothers. The business was briefly known as Tietke and Todd, but by 1898, Todd had gone.[5]
The Tiedtkes expanded the business further and by 1910, they had moved the business up Summit Street to the northeast corner of Adams, which it would occupy for the next six decades. With their core business food, they leased the upper floors of the building to firms selling furniture, housewares, clothing and shoes. The brothers also added a bakery, deli and restaurants. The concept was ahead of its time, a forerunner of what would be termed "one-stop shopping".[5]
Becoming a retail mecca
Another reason behind the success of the business was its commitment to its employees and to customer service. Tiedtke's would eventually need a fleet of trucks to support the deliveries being made to customers all over Toledo. The brothers were known for the gratitude they showed their employees and were often very generous. Occasionally, an employee who was ill or experiencing financial difficulties would have his medical bills or mortgage paid off by the brothers, no questions asked.[6] The brothers helped take marketing and sales to a new level by creating elaborate displays for fruits, and vegetables, and they created their own coffee blend, Parkwood Coffee.[6] They would often set up the ventilation system to spread the fresh-brewed coffee aroma throughout the store, luring customers to the product.
This was one of the first megastore groceries. The brothers purchased a
In 1925, the brothers sold the business to the Kobacker family, which owned the
Like most large American cities at the time, the center of Toledo's commerce was its downtown core, and thanks to public transportation and its strategic location on a main artery, Tiedtke's saw a lot of foot traffic from the 1930s through the 1950s. Tiedtke's was within walking distance to at least three other major Toledo department stores, Lasalle & Koch, Lamson Brothers and the Lion Store. Unlike the other three, which were more upscale, Tiedtke's was just as elegant, but catering more to the common man, selling top-quality goods at reasonable prices.[6]
The store would eventually cover the entire block, bounded by Summit, Adams and Water Streets.[2] A large parking lot was laid out between the Water Street side of the store and the riverfront.[6] Tiedtke's would eventually open an annex store just two blocks down Summit Street. As Toledo's suburbs developed, Tiedtke's opened a branch store at Greenwood Mall, an open-air shopping center on Toledo's north side.[1]
Decline and closure
In 1961, the Kobackers sold Tiedtke's to the Detroit-based department chain Federal's. They, too, retained the Tiedtke's nameplate, but made a lot of other changes, such as altering the layout of the sales floors and deemphasizing the store's core grocery business.[1][2] This, along with the ongoing flight of residents from the inner-city to the suburbs, caused sales at the store to decline.[2]
Nevertheless, the store continued to be a community center. Big and quirky events were part of its modus operandi. For example, it had a grand unveiling of a 1,000 pounds (450 kg) Wisconsin Cheddar; and in 1961 it brought in a real giant, 7 feet 4 inches (2.24 m) Jakob Nacken to celebrate its "big event."[2]
By the early 1970s, Tiedtke's closed its downtown annex store, and Federal's had filed for
The Tiedtke's location at Greenwood Mall hung on for another year, and it closed in 1973. A Montgomery Ward store would later occupy that space, while the downtown flagship store sat vacant and fell into disrepair.[1][8]
Fire and future of site
On the evening of May 7, 1975, Toledo firefighters were called to the Tiedtke's building on a report of a fire breaking out in the structure. According to the May 8 edition of the
The site was demolished and sat empty until an indoor mall, the
See also
References
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g Speck 2002, pp. 30–31.
- ^ a b c d e Yonke 2015, pp. 14–25.
- ^ a b Floyd 2016, pp. 50-51.
- ^ Floyd 2004, pp. 88–89.
- ^ a b c d e f "Tiedtke's Holds a Special Place in Toledo History". Retrieved March 25, 2011.
- ^ OCLC 60593665. Archived from the originalon 2009-06-06.
- ^ a b "Long Faces Of Employees, Customers Reflect News of Tiedtke's Closing". Toledo Blade. August 31, 1972. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
- ^ "The Double Blow: Tiedtke's and Buckeye Beer Close". Retrieved March 25, 2011.
- Toledo Blade. May 8, 1975. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
Bibliography
- Floyd, Barbara L. (September 8, 2004). Toledo: The 19th Century (Paperback). Images of America. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 88–89. ISBN 9780738532523.
- Floyd, Barbara L. (March 28, 2016). Legendary Locals of Toledo (Paperback). City: Arcadia Publishing. pp. 50–51. ISBN 9781467101790.
- Speck, William D. (November 1, 2002). Toledo: A History in Architecture, 1890-1914 (Paperback). Images of America. Chicago, Illinois: ISBN 9780738519784.
- Yonke, David (August 3, 2015). Lost Toledo (Paperback). Charleston, South Carolina: ISBN 9781626195707.
External links
- "Toledo-Lucas County Public Library Images of Tiedtke's". Retrieved March 28, 2011.
- The Tiedtkes Story on YouTube
- Let's All Go Down to Tiedtke's on YouTube