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Starks Warehouse Store
Posted by:
b.a.hoarder
(---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: February 26, 2010 09:02PM
Years ago there was a building at 59th & Harlem that was a favorite destination for many. Stark's Warehouse Store had something for just about anyone and I visited there many times. Sporting goods, fishing, camping, army surplus, cheap (made in Japan) tools, house paint, in fact you never knew what you might find. I remember seeing gallons of paint and bowling balls both scorched in a fire on those shelves. The "main" attraction for an 11 year old boy was the bomb sight, straight out of a WWII bomber, that was near the tool section.
Stark's closed on Harlem , as did the other location on Canal(?) Street but before it did I had a bit of fun there. Back in the '50's Morrie Stark did his own TV commercials and to build traffic he used to say "Tell 'em Morrie sent you and get a free gift." Girls would get a cheap necklace, boys got a genuine US Army helmet liner made of fiberglass, and Mom could get a free rolling pin.
I went to see my dad one day after work and I suggested we take a quick ride to Stark's. It had been years since our last visit and it really hadn't changed much. Morrie was long gone with the store being run by his son Bob. Dad found a pocket knife and as he paid for it I noticed that the cashier was old enough to have been there in the hey-day of the store. I made their day when I announced that "Morrie sent me!" She called Bob over and we all had a good laugh, but no, I didn't get a free gift that day.
Stark's closed on Harlem , as did the other location on Canal(?) Street but before it did I had a bit of fun there. Back in the '50's Morrie Stark did his own TV commercials and to build traffic he used to say "Tell 'em Morrie sent you and get a free gift." Girls would get a cheap necklace, boys got a genuine US Army helmet liner made of fiberglass, and Mom could get a free rolling pin.
I went to see my dad one day after work and I suggested we take a quick ride to Stark's. It had been years since our last visit and it really hadn't changed much. Morrie was long gone with the store being run by his son Bob. Dad found a pocket knife and as he paid for it I noticed that the cashier was old enough to have been there in the hey-day of the store. I made their day when I announced that "Morrie sent me!" She called Bob over and we all had a good laugh, but no, I didn't get a free gift that day.
Re: Starks Warehouse Store
Posted by:
crowamonghens
(---.dsl.mindspring.com)
Date: February 27, 2010 12:43AM
oh man, i LOVED Stark's. we used to go there for just about everything. i'd kill for one picture of the inside of that store. i remember the high ceilings, the way all the doors were always left open in warm weather. i think all our plants and flowers came from their garden center alongside the store.
Re: Starks Warehouse Store
Posted by:
tseals
(---.dsl.chcgil.sbcglobal.net)
Date: February 27, 2010 08:42PM
I rememeber the adds in the Sun times & Trib. Used to go to one on Canal somewhere
Re: Starks Warehouse Store
Posted by:
seod
(---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: February 28, 2010 05:44PM
Wasnt the one on 16th and Canal part of the Schoenhoffen brewery? I remember it had a long walkway to get to it that lasted til about '03
Re: Starks Warehouse Store
Posted by:
daveg
(130.36.62.---)
Date: March 01, 2010 11:31AM
Saw the word Starks and instantly remembered the place on Harlem after many many years. Amazing how the mind works.
I remember my brother and I getting helmet liners. Another memory from long ago.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/01/2010 11:35AM by daveg.
I remember my brother and I getting helmet liners. Another memory from long ago.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/01/2010 11:35AM by daveg.
Re: Starks Warehouse Store
Posted by:
Vern H
(---.dsl.emhril.sbcglobal.net)
Date: March 03, 2010 05:42AM
There was another one around 4200 n on Harlem. I remember seeing coveralls with paint spilled on them, but very cheap!
Re: Starks Warehouse Store
Posted by:
jclillig
(---.dsl.chcgil.sbcglobal.net)
Date: March 10, 2010 03:03AM
The one on 16th and Canal was not part of Schoenhofen. It was about a block north on the opposite side of Canal. It did have a long wooden walkway to get to the door, which was probably about the 2nd floor because the sidewalk was well above the ground at that point because it slowly rose (as the street did) to clear some railroad tracks below. The building is still standing, as far as I know, but the walkway is gone.
Re: Starks Warehouse Store
Posted by:
gone2222
(---.mobile.mymmode.com)
Date: August 21, 2010 10:05AM
One of my favorite memories was going with my dad to Starks at 59th/Harlem. It was a big barn full of stuff. Genuine war surplus stuff, too. Not knock-off fake surplus stuff found today. We'd go on a Saturday. I think my dad wanted to get out of the house more than anything else.
Re: Starks Warehouse Store
Posted by:
Rustymuscle
(---.lightspeed.elgnil.sbcglobal.net)
Date: August 27, 2010 01:11PM
There was a photo of a military/surplus type of store on Ebay recently but was IDd as Chicago Salvage. I am quite sure it was of Stark's warehouse as the caption said it was at 59th and Harlem. Here it is...
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52922702@N03/4931785041/" title="59th&harlem1955chicagosalvage by Rustymuscle, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4118/4931785041_31a4cabd5a.jpg" width="500" height="398" alt="59th&harlem1955chicagosalvage" /></a>
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2010 01:22PM by Rustymuscle.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52922702@N03/4931785041/" title="59th&harlem1955chicagosalvage by Rustymuscle, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4118/4931785041_31a4cabd5a.jpg" width="500" height="398" alt="59th&harlem1955chicagosalvage" /></a>
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2010 01:22PM by Rustymuscle.
Re: Starks Warehouse Store
Posted by:
gone2222
(---.mycingular.net)
Date: September 04, 2010 03:29PM
That looks familiar.
Thanks Rusty
Thanks Rusty
Re: Starks Warehouse Store
Posted by:
Rustymuscle
(---.lightspeed.elgnil.sbcglobal.net)
Date: October 11, 2010 11:15AM
Photo on Ebay of Starks Warehouse...
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52922702@N03/5071675502/" title="31aug1961 by Rustymuscle, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4109/5071675502_f1e1d500ca.jpg" width="500" height="398" alt="31aug1961" /></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52922702@N03/5071675502/" title="31aug1961 by Rustymuscle, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4109/5071675502_f1e1d500ca.jpg" width="500" height="398" alt="31aug1961" /></a>
Re: Starks Warehouse Store
Posted by:
daveg
(130.36.62.---)
Date: October 11, 2010 02:05PM
Thanks for the photo. If I remember correctly, the Starks on south Harlem had a different shape. I'd call it barn shaped.
Re: Starks Warehouse Store
Posted by:
daveg
(130.36.62.---)
Date: October 11, 2010 02:05PM
Thanks for the photo. If I remember correctly, the Starks on south Harlem had a different shape. I'd call it barn shaped, as gone2222 mentioned above.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/11/2010 02:10PM by daveg.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/11/2010 02:10PM by daveg.
Re: Starks Warehouse Store
Posted by:
bwalsh
(---.dsl.chcgil.sbcglobal.net)
Date: October 11, 2010 02:54PM
daveg,
Wasn't the Starks on Harlem accessed by some sort of rickety looking walkway. I seem to remember it being set back from the road and I remember all the tacky looking painted ads or whatever all over the building - wasn't it predominantly yellow? Or maybe I'm thinking of someplace else.
OOPS! - I just read the comment above - on Canal? Huh! I never realized it was that far away (from my house, I mean). But that would make sense as we usually took Canal when heading downtown. That seems like it was 100 years ago. Okay, now I'll to drive that way and check it out!
Wasn't the Starks on Harlem accessed by some sort of rickety looking walkway. I seem to remember it being set back from the road and I remember all the tacky looking painted ads or whatever all over the building - wasn't it predominantly yellow? Or maybe I'm thinking of someplace else.
OOPS! - I just read the comment above - on Canal? Huh! I never realized it was that far away (from my house, I mean). But that would make sense as we usually took Canal when heading downtown. That seems like it was 100 years ago. Okay, now I'll to drive that way and check it out!
Re: Starks Warehouse Store
Posted by:
daveg
(130.36.62.---)
Date: October 11, 2010 04:18PM
bwalsh,
Sounds like there were 3 Starks Warehouses. We only visited the one on south Harlem way back when. Early 60s? And I think it did have a ramp or walkway as you mentioned to get into the place. Yellow sounds about right too.
Sounds like there were 3 Starks Warehouses. We only visited the one on south Harlem way back when. Early 60s? And I think it did have a ramp or walkway as you mentioned to get into the place. Yellow sounds about right too.
Re: Starks Warehouse Store
Posted by:
bwalsh
(---.dsl.chcgil.sbcglobal.net)
Date: October 11, 2010 07:23PM
Dave,
I decided to do a little digging and found an ad for Starks in the Tribune from Dec 3 1960. It lists 4 locations: 1601 S Canal, 5901 S Harlem, 4901 N Harlem and 212 W Madison. I wish I knew how to post this stuff here, but if you want to look at the ad, there is a sketch of the Canal st location and it shows the walkway.
I decided to do a little digging and found an ad for Starks in the Tribune from Dec 3 1960. It lists 4 locations: 1601 S Canal, 5901 S Harlem, 4901 N Harlem and 212 W Madison. I wish I knew how to post this stuff here, but if you want to look at the ad, there is a sketch of the Canal st location and it shows the walkway.
Re: Starks Warehouse Store
Posted by:
daveg
(130.36.62.---)
Date: October 11, 2010 08:17PM
Wow, the 212 W Madison address would have put a Starks in the downtown high rent district. My very first job was delivering office supply packages in the downtown area back in the early 60s. Office buildings? Yes. Starks? ???
Might there be another digit in that 212 address?
Might there be another digit in that 212 address?
Re: Starks Warehouse Store
Posted by:
Chipast
(---.dsl.chcgil.ameritech.net)
Date: October 11, 2010 09:35PM
daveg Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wow, the 212 W Madison address would have put a
> Starks in the downtown high rent district. My
> very first job was delivering office supply
> packages in the downtown area back in the early
> 60s. Office buildings? Yes. Starks? ???
>
> Might there be another digit in that 212 address?
In the earlier days, W.Madison st wasn't as contemporary. Many buildings, shops made it look a little grimier. But actually, Many of the businesses were top rate.
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wow, the 212 W Madison address would have put a
> Starks in the downtown high rent district. My
> very first job was delivering office supply
> packages in the downtown area back in the early
> 60s. Office buildings? Yes. Starks? ???
>
> Might there be another digit in that 212 address?
In the earlier days, W.Madison st wasn't as contemporary. Many buildings, shops made it look a little grimier. But actually, Many of the businesses were top rate.
Re: Starks Warehouse Store
Posted by:
daveg
(---.lightspeed.joltil.sbcglobal.net)
Date: October 11, 2010 09:51PM
I was just a high school kid back in the 60s, so my memories are vague, but I do remember south State street being kinda seedy, but not Madison a few blocks west of State. I think 200 west puts Starks on the block between Clark and LaSalle. I think.
Re: Starks Warehouse Store
Posted by:
bwalsh
(---.dsl.chcgil.sbcglobal.net)
Date: October 11, 2010 11:52PM
I was surprised as well to see a W. Madison st address. Yes it is 212 (3 digits) - saw more than one ad with the same address. When I pull up the address on newschicago.org the property is listed as being built in 1890 and 45 stories tall. Then on the County Assessor's site it shows what looks to be 2 modernlooking office type buildings. There was another ad in 1977 for Starks and it is advertising overalls! I thought maybe it was like a main office, but they actually had merchandise on sale. Either the building was torn down and rebuilt or they did a major remodel. Whatever it was, it is curious.
