Steketee's

Steketee's (IPAEng|'stɛkʌtiːz) was a department store based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. It was begun in 1862 in Grand Rapids, and soon grew to several stores throughout southwestern Michigan. After a purchase by the Dunlaps company of Fort Worth, Texas in the early 1990s, the stores were gradually closed off, with the last store closing in 2003.

History

Paul Steketee, a Dutch immigrant, came to Grand Rapids in 1850. In 1862 Steketee and John H. Doornich formed a dry goods operation that would become one of West Michigan's oldest retailers. [http://www.hollandsentinel.com/pdf/archive/061003.pdf Last Steketee’s to close its doors] ] The two ran the store for 10 years before a fire devastated the business. Following the fire, Doornich sold out to Steketee, who brought his family on board to help run and rebuild the operation. With the growth of Grand Rapids the family decided to build a larger 8 story flagship store on Monroe Avenue, the city's retail hub. The store opened with much fanfare in 1915. The draw of Steketee's Grand Rapids store was big enough that the family decided to expand its operations in the 1950's opening its first satellite store in 1958.

ale and demise

In 1991, Dunlaps, a Fort Worth, Texas department store company, bought out the Steketee's family, bringing the West Michigan operations under their umbrella of brands. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb4298/is_199102/ai_n14981851 Dunlap acquires Steketee, 6-unit Midwest-based chain. (Dunlap Co., Paul Steketee and Sons Co.) (Brief article)] ] Changes in retail patterns and the rise of national brands sealed the fate of the downtown Grand Rapids store and its other locations. The downtown store closed in 1998. Dunlap's shuttered its last Steketee's store in 2003 with the closing of the Westshore Mall location.

Former Michigan locations

*Grand Haven - Downtown ("opened 1958")
*Grand Rapids - Downtown flagship store ("opened 1862")
*Grand Rapids - Eastbrook Mall ("opened 1967, closed 2000; store demolished for Nordstrom Rack")
*Holland - Downtown ("opened 1963, closed 1988 when store opened at Westshore Mall")
*Holland - Westshore Mall ("opened 1988, closed 2003; now Dunham's Sports")
*Kalamazoo - Maple Hill Mall ("opened 1971, closed 2002; store and mall demolished") [ [http://www.mibiz.com/absolutenm/templates/template.asp?articleid=2313&zoneid=32 Kimco Realty launches Maple Hill Mall rebirth] ] [ [http://www.retailers.com/news/retailers/02dec/mr1202retrospective.html ’02: More churn for retail industry] ]
*Muskegon - Muskegon Mall ("opened 1976, closed 2001; store and mall demolished")

References

[http://www.ceas.nl/SteketeeDepartment.html]