Schuster's

Schuster's, officially Ed. Schuster & Co., was a department store chain, founded in 1883, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and it is now defunct.[1][2]

Exterior of Schuster's Department Store on King Drive in Milwaukee when it was temporarily unclad in 2015
Exterior of Schuster's Department Store, showing decorative brickwork

Department store in Milwaukee

Schuster's opted for several neighborhood stores over a single downtown location,[3] and Schuster's locations included 2151 N. Third St. (now Martin Luther King Jr. Drive), 12th and Vliet streets and 11th and Mitchell streets,[4] Packard Plaza and Capitol Court.[5] Kirchhoff & Rose.[4] designed the Third Street store. Gimbels bought Schuster's in 1962 and operated as Gimbels-Schuster's until 1969.[4] Golda Meir worked at Schuster's after graduating from high school in 1915 and before moving to Palestine in 1921.[6][7]

Schuster's notable marketing efforts included the first trading stamps, in 1891,[8] an early version of the charge card called Budga-Plate, a doll named Billie the Brownie from 1927 to 1955,[9][10] Schuster's Christmas Parade,[5] and the catch-phrase "Let's go by Schuster's where the streetcar bends the corner round."[7]

Others

An unrelated group of furniture stores in Arkansas, also carrying the Schuster's name, operated for many years, with locations in Little Rock and North Little Rock, as well as a Pine Bluff store that eventually transferred briefly to Conway.[11]

There was also a restaurant called Schuster's House of Fine Foods located in Greenville, PA, between circa 1930 and circa 1945.[12]

References
  1. Beutner, Jeff (May 4, 2016). "Schuster's Delivery Wagon, 1908". Urban Milwaukee. Retrieved August 16, 2017. This postcard (c. 1908) shows one of Schuster's horse-drawn delivery wagons.
  2. Geenen, Paul H. (2012). Schuster's & Gimbels : Milwaukee's Beloved Department Stores. History Press. ISBN 9781609493899. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  3. Daykin, Tom (February 9, 2017). "Former Schuster's site to be redeveloped". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved August 16, 2017. The planned redevelopment of the former flagship of the Schuster's department store chain, 2153 N. King Drive, has been granted $7.9 million in state historic preservation tax credits.
  4. Tanzilo, Bobby (April 27, 2015). "Urban spelunking: See Schuster's flagship building before it's covered again". OnMilwaukee.com. Retrieved November 27, 2017. Business was strong enough that Schuster's paid a whopping $140,000 to erect the current Kirchoff & Rose building two decades later further up 3rd Street.
  5. Tanzilo, Bobby (November 25, 2012). "Geenen relives the glory days of Schuster's and Gimbels". OnMilwaukee.com. Retrieved November 30, 2017. Their greatest success was Billie the Brownie and the Schuster's Christmas Parade.
  6. Higgins, Jim (November 27, 2017). "Author recounts Golda Meir's career as a leader, which began as a schoolgirl in Milwaukee". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved November 27, 2017. During her youthful Milwaukee years, she worked for some of the city's signature institutions, including the famed Schuster's department store.
  7. "Goldie Mabowehz (Golda Meir), from the Milwaukee Public Library to Prime Minister of Israel". Milwaukee Public Library. March 15, 2017. Retrieved November 27, 2017. Schuster's Department Store (once-familiar Milwaukee-ese, "Let's go by Schuster's where the streetcar bends the corner round")
  8. Clapp, Newell A. (1962). "Trading Stamps" (PDF). Ohio State Law Journal. 23 (1 (1962)): 35–55. hdl:1811/68340. Retrieved November 30, 2017. They were first issued in 1891 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, by Schuster's Department Store.
  9. "Innovative Schuster's Department store of Retro Milwaukee". RetroCom. Retrieved November 27, 2017. Innovative Schuster's Department store of Retro Milwaukee, pioneers in adopting 'trading stamps' in 1891 and an early version of the charge card, the 'Budga-Plate'.
  10. Begel, Dave (November 26, 2012). "Remembering Billie the Brownie". OnMilwaukee.com. Retrieved November 29, 2017. But there was no tradition that could match Billie the Brownie. Billie was the creation of Schuster's Department Store.
  11. "Dee Schuster Opens Furniture Warehouse". Arkansas Business. March 10, 2003. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  12. "File:Schuster's House of Fine Foods, Greenville, Pa (81759).jpg". Thomas, Photographer & Jobber, Warren, PA. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
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