E. Gottschalk & Co. (Gottschalk's)
Fulton and Kern Streets
Fresno, California (1904)
AMherst 8-7171
Fulton and Kern Streets
Fresno, California (1904)
AMherst 8-7171
The on-line museum of North America's independent department stores. The museum holds all sorts of information about classic department stores which either no longer exist, or are changed beyond recognition. A few of them are still with us, and provide an interesting connection to North America's retail past. The others are presented so that they may be properly remembered as a tangible part of the lives of their customers, shopping destinations where memories were often made.
Growing up in The Central Valley of Ca, there were a few Gottchalks within the area of which I grew up in, Visalia, Fresno and Bakersfield. I remember the store in Visalia, is it was the closest to where I lived located at the Visalia Mall, it was a beautiful store with great customer service and merchandise. eventually the mall was remodeled, and Gottchalks built a new store on the site of the property and remaied there for several more years until it eventually closed. One of the other two locations I really enjoyed was the Manchester Center Gottchalks in Fresno Ca, and the Gottchalks in East Bakersfield at the East Hills Mall. The merchandise and quality of the store was top notch. I really enjoyed the layout of the store and the architecture of the store. The buildings are still in tact today, however times have changed and the mall is now closed and the property has fallen on hard times and isn't kept up as it used to be. The property was sold this year and is going to be completely renovated with new retail shops and theater. If you would like, I could take some photos of the buildings, I still have great memories of Gottchalks.
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