Joslins

Defunct American department store
Joslins
Company typeDepartment store
IndustryRetail
Founded1873; 151 years ago (1873) in Denver, Colorado, United States
FounderJohn Jay Joslin
Defunct1998 (1998)
FateConverted to Dillard's
HeadquartersDenver, Colorado
ProductsClothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, electronics and housewares

Joslins was a chain of department stores that was based in Denver, Colorado, United States.

History

Joslins Department Store began as J. Joslins Dry Goods Store, founded by John Jay Joslin in 1873; it was a direct competitor to The Denver Dry Goods Company which commenced operations in 1888. The original Joslin Dry Goods Company Building is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, and is currently a Courtyard by Marriott property.

Around 1910, Joslin sold the business to H.B. Claflin & Company, which collapsed in 1914.[1] Two store chains were created from the bankruptcy: Associated Dry Goods and Mercantile Stores Company, Inc. As a nameplate of Mercantile Stores, Joslins became the first Denver-based department store to build branch locations in the 1940s, later expanding the chain with larger anchor stores in malls in the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1998, the Dillard's department store chain purchased Mercantile Stores, converting most of the then-existing Joslin's stores to Dillard's stores.[2][3] One former Joslin's store in Colorado Springs and the recently-opened flagship store at Park Meadows in Lone Tree were sold by Dillard's to The May Department Stores Company, which converted the Colorado Springs store to a Foley's and the Park Meadows store to the Denver area's second Lord & Taylor store.[4]

Locations

Location Address Opened Closed Disposition
Downtown Denver 934 16th Street, Denver 1873 1995 redeveloped into Courtyard by Marriott, 1996

building received National Historic Register designation, 1997

Greeley 825-827 Eighth St, Greeley 1944 1973 moved to 1015 9th Ave, 1963

replaced by Greeley Mall location, 1973 [5]

Englewood 3470 S Broadway, Englewood 1945 1954 Nielsen's Department Store acquired in 1945[6]

replaced by 3315 South Broadway location

Lakewood 7308 W Colfax Ave, Lakewood 1946 1957 replaced by JCRS Shopping Center location
Aurora 9620 E Colfax Ave, Aurora 1949
Merchants' Park Shopping Center 627 S Broadway, Denver 1952
Englewood 3315 S Broadway, Englewood 1954
Boulder 1919 14th St, Boulder 1956 1980 first three/four floors of Colorado Building remodeled into offices[7]
Lakewood JCRS Shopping Center, 6715 W Colfax Ave, Lakewood 1957 early 1970s space redeveloped into Casa Bonita[8]
Villa Italia 7200 W Alameda Ave, Lakewood 1966 2000 converted to a Dillard's store, 1998

redeveloped for Belmar

Pueblo southeast corner of Main Street and W 4th Street, Pueblo 1970 1976 Crews-Beggs Dry Goods Co acquired in 1959, changed to Joslin's name in 1970

replaced by Pueblo Mall location, 1976

Cinderella City Englewood 1968 1995 replaced by Southglenn Mall location, 1995
Buckingham Square Mall 1440 S Havana St, Aurora 1971 2005 converted to a Dillard's store, 1998

redeveloped for The Gardens on Havana

Greeley Mall 2050 Greeley Mall, Greeley 1973 2008 converted to a Dillard's store, 1998

closed, 2008

Pueblo Mall 3601 Dillon Dr, Pueblo 1976 converted to a Dillard's store, 1998
Westminster Mall 5433 W 88th Ave, Westminster 1977 2011 converted to a Dillard's store, 1998

closed, 2011

Southwest Plaza 8501 W Bowles Ave, Littleton 1983 2006 converted to a Dillard's store, 1998

converted to a Dick's Sporting Goods and Steve & Barry's, 2006

Frontier Mall 1400 Dell Range Blvd, Cheyenne, WY 1983 2021 converted to a Dillard's store, 1998

closed, 2021 location purchased by Appliance Factory & Mattress Kingdom, 2023[9]

Chapel Hills Mall 1750 Briargate Blvd, Colorado Springs 1985 1998 location purchased by May and converted to Foley's, 1998

converted to a Macy's, 2006

Twin Peaks Mall 1250 S Hover St, Longmont 1985 c. 2008[10] converted to a Dillard's store, 1998

redeveloped for Village at the Peaks, 2014

Southglenn Mall 6911 S University Blvd, Centennial 1994 2006 converted to a Dillard's store, 1998

redeveloped for The Streets at SouthGlenn, 2006[11]

Park Meadows 8425 Park Meadows Center Dr, Lone Tree 1997 1998 location purchased by May, 1998, and converted to Lord & Taylor, 1999

Further reading

  • Barnhouse, Mark A. (November 2018). Lost Department Stores of Denver. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-439-66585-5

References

  1. ^ Rebchook, John (19 May 1998). "J.J. Joslin started store 125 years ago downtown". Rocky Mountain News. p. 4B.
  2. ^ Bunn, Dina (19 May 1998). "Curtain Falls on Joslins". Rocky Mountain News. p. 1B. The Little Rock, Ark., retailer announced Monday it is buying Mercantile for $3.14 billion in cash and assumed debt.Ten Joslins stores in the state and one in Cheyenne will close or be converted to Dillard's.
  3. ^ Dubroff, Henry (23 May 1998). "An unforgettable department store sale". Denver Business Journal. American City Business Journals.
  4. ^ Parker, Penny (4 Aug 1998). "Lord & Taylor coming to mall". Denver Post. p. C-1. The Joslins at Park Meadows is turning into a Lord & Taylor and the Joslins at Chapel Hills mall in Colorado Springs will become a Foley's, according to the terms of a deal announced Monday between Dillard's and May Department Stores Co.
  5. ^ Edgerton, Red (29 Jun 1973). "Joslins adds and expands merchandise in new store". Greeley Daily Tribune. p. 44.
  6. ^ "Downtown History Tour". City of Englewood / Englewood Historic Preservation Society. 8 Oct 2021.
  7. ^ "Joslin's exteriors: Photo 1". Boulder Historical Society/Museum of Boulder. . . . plans were soon announced that the Colorado Building would be remodeled into a financial and office building. According to a 31 October 1979 Boulder Daily Camera article, the Boulder Joslin's location was due to close 31 January 1980 because of difficulty finding a new location.
  8. ^ Lewis, Rosemary (2012). "Fortress Commerce: Jefferson County's Malls" (PDF). Historically Jeffco. Jefferson County Historical Commission. pp. 3–7. Joslin's moved out of JCRS in the late 1970s and its space became the Casa Bonita restaurant.
  9. ^ "Former Dillard's in Cheyenne Purchased by Appliance Factory & Mattress Kingdom". Cheyenne Post. 27 Feb 2023.
  10. ^ "Holiday shopping season will be 28th — and final — for Twin Peaks Mall". Longmont Times-Call. 7 Dec 2013.
  11. ^ Arellano, Kristi (1 Mar 2006). "Mall's closing buys a moment of nostalgia". Denver Post. p. C-01.


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