As a kid, I remember the one at 47th and Ashland sold baby Alligators for $2.00. I believe the pet department was in the basement and you had to navigate the aisles which had bins full of stuff.

There was also another store in Niles at Oakton & Waukegan. Anybody remember that most of the stores , if not all of them had tire centers.

I used to go to the Goldblatts on Grand And Harlem to buy 45s and albums. I bought the Monkees first album there when it came out.

[b][/b]Steve B. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In the Back of the Yards neighborhood, there was a
> Goldblatt's on the southeast corner of 47th and
> Ashland. At some point (in the 1940s?) they moved
> across the street to the southwest corner to
> occupy four floors of a much larger building. I
> believe they had furniture and appliances on the
> upper two floors and everything else on the first
> two. As a pre-teen, I got caught shoplifting
> fishing tackle in the basement! Their snack shop
> served Richardson Root Beer from a large barrel
> dispenser. After being vacant for several years,
> the first floor now houses another business.

I thought it was Hires root beer. We shoped ther a lot and lived at 50th & wolcott at the time.

[b]The Goldblatt family were customers of mine when I serviced TV s in the goldcoast area. One of the son's is now a local TV newscaster. [/b]

I grew up on 28th & Christiana. Right down the street from Goldblatt's. Me and my sibblings were called "Goldblatt Baby's". Every employee in that store, knew my family. I remember their sidewalk sales. My dad brought home eight brand new Schwinn Bikes. I spent alot of time down in the basement. In the record shop and eating pizza. Loved that store!

There WAS a big metal root beer barrel in the back of the store entrance on W.Chicago Av many years ago. And I believe there was a shoe repair service to the other side.

My wife and I made our first major purchase, a sewing machine, at the Goldblatt's on 26th Street in Little Village. We paid for it on lay-away and made payments every week with a coupon book until the machine was paid off. We still have the machine 42 years later and my wife still uses it from time to time to time.

I also remember the 26th street store. For a discount house It had an a real variety of different departments.

First floor men's clothes, a tobacco shop, a fairly large candy department plus ,I think, a food department.

There was an annex ,between the first and second floor,on the east side of the building that had a men's barber and a ladies beauty salon.

Second floor,women's clothes.

Top floors had big ticket appliances tvs and furniture.

Did it have 5 or 4 floors? I don't remember what was on the 3rd floor.

As Karen mentioned, the basement had a record department and the small snack area. They also sold pets and toys in the basement.

Did Goldblatts sell tools or garden supplies?

They had an operator run elevator but I don't remember an escalator.

My sister swears that Jewel's branded frozen pizza tastes exactly like Goldblatts pizza.

I sure would like to find photos of the place.

I clicked on every link posted here, and can't find a pic of the 26th street store :(

Karen, I have never seen the store on 26th street, but you Goggle goldbatt's chicago locations, you will see images for Chicago locations and one picture might be posted there.

I posted the location for you.



http://www.google.com/search?q=goldblatt%27s+chicago+locations&nord=1&source=lnms&sa=X&ei=eT0CVOTKNI3KgwSQ04LwDQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAA&biw=1173&bih=818&dpr=1.09



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/2014 07:21PM by rjmachon.

Did Goldblatt's have an actual sit down lunch counter? We went to the one on Belmont and Central in the '70s. I remember eating a grilled cheese sandwhich, pickle on the side, washed down with a Coke, but I can't remember if that was at Goldblatt's or the Woolworth's that I think was next to it.

b][/b]Steve B. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In the Back of the Yards neighborhood, there was a
> Goldblatt's on the southeast corner of 47th and
> Ashland. At some point (in the 1940s?) they moved
> across the street to the southwest corner to
> occupy four floors of a much larger building. I
> believe they had furniture and appliances on the
> upper two floors and everything else on the first
> two. As a pre-teen, I got caught shoplifting
> fishing tackle in the basement! Their snack shop
> served Richardson Root Beer from a large barrel
> dispenser. After being vacant for several years,
> the first floor now houses another business.

I thought it was Hires root beer. We shoped ther a lot and lived at 50th & wolcott at the time.

My aunt worked there for many years. She was in charge of the ladys neylon department. We use to visit her all the time. I loved the beef sticks and it was Hires Root Beer from the barrel.

The Goldblatt's on Rand Rd. & Central in Mt. Prospect had a fire which destroyed the store in 1977. A Kmart replaced it. http://chicagoareafire.com/blog/2013/03/historic-fire-goldblatts-fire-in-mt-prospect-1977-pt1/

I remember the Scottsdale store. Spent lots of time there growing up. They had the cookies and candy near the front door. You could grab things there and catch the 79th street bus. They had Vienna candies and fruit sticks covered in sugar. Outside in the back of the store,there was a separate little deli they ran. I can still recall the smell of the sausage.
Loved the toy department. And still remember the "Evening in Paris" display at Christmas time.

I remember walking down Ashland avenue and visiting the 47th and Ashland Goldblatts store. My Mom used to purchase her canaries there. I remember getting 6 finches there for around $2 each.

My first job was at the Walgreens restaurant across the street!

On another note, my dad had the two newsstands on the corner of 47th and Ashland. Our whole family worked at them at one point or another.

In the early 1970's I used to work down at Wabash and Van Buren, and used to stop in the Pixley & Ehlers on Van Buren in the morning for a quick breakfast. Used to see Louis Goldblatt there quite often. He was a very friendly entertaining guy. I remember that he wrote, or had ghost written, a vanity biography just before he died. I am not sure, but I believe it was titled "Life is a Game, Play it to Win." I have a copy buried away in the house somewhere.
Ironically, as I am sitting writing this, I can look out the window and see the Goldblatt family masoleum, where the whole family is buried, in the old Rosemont Park Cemetery (now Zion Gardens) on Addison St. If you go to the white arch entrance, and look straight back to the back of the cemetery, the Goldblatt masoleum is the large one directly north of the arch along the back fence of the cemetery.

Goldblatt's on 26th street They use to sell Christmas trees in the back of the store. 3rd floor was Santa.

in my youth I recall 5 goldblatt's dept stores I shopped at, alone or with my mother, but I tell you I have very single aspect of the one @ chicago & ashland indelibly ingrained just beneath my skin. i'm talking early-mid '60s. like going up in their elevators (against the south back wall) to the 3rd floor to get sales receipts redeemed for savings stamps at the little stamp counter, the noisy pet dept in the basement with mynah birds, monkeys, and tropical fish tanks, the goldblatts garage in the south parking lot (off of superior st) that sold the cheapest canadian balsam trees at christmastime, plus that parking lot had a direct entrance to the main store, the candy & cookie counter selling pounds of chocolate covered marshmallows & grahams, the connected smaller building to the east where the goldblatts delicatessen was with delicious boiled ham I couldn't get enough of. i'd stare down the dark elevator shafts through the glass door panels, particular the elevators that weren't normally in service. if I needed to go to the bathroom then up the elevator to the 4th floor (only there). all these things now vividly rise to the surface, plus much more, as I sit across chicago ave enjoying a piece of hoosier mamas great home-made pies

I found this picture of the 26th st store at UIC digital collections.
The year isn't specified.

http://collections.carli.illinois.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/uic_pic/id/30691