66 Years Ago
The September 27, 1956 Colorado Transcript reported that the grand opening of the new Montgomery Ward Catalog Store had attracted many patrons. The store was located in a new building on 13th Street, behind the Hested’s Department Store. Cliff Evans owned both buildings, as well as several others in that part of downtown.
In many ways, catalog companies (such as Sears, Penney’s, and Ward’s) were the Amazon.com of their time. They offered a greater variety of goods and (sometimes) lower prices than local stores.
We deal directly with the consumer, and sell all goods in any quantity at wholesale prices. You can buy better and cheaper than at home. MONTGOMERY WARD & CO. 227 and 229 Wabash Avenue, Chicago, Ill.
Advertisement from the May 9, 1883 Colorado Transcript
This must have left the Transcript feeling torn: on the one hand, local merchant advertising was their bread and butter; on the other, the catalog companies often ran big national advertising campaigns.
Ward’s had not advertised in the Transcript for a few years when this editorial appeared:
THE NERVE OF SUCH PEOPLE
MONTGOMERY WARD, by using a large staff of overworked and underpaid employees and by using the United States Mail delivery service, has grown rich and powerful, until it thinks it is bigger than the United States government. For years, this outfit has sapped the life-blood from the areas served by it—putting nothing back. The few pennies saved by buying from this outfit—are more than offset by this company not paying local, general or school taxes or in any other way contributing to the life and build-up of the local community. Montgomery Ward cares nothing about rural people or rural communities except to milk them dry. Would it not be well to refuse this company the use of the United States mails until it fully complies with laws, rules and regulations of the United States?
Colorado Transcript – December 17, 1942
(Doesn’t that sound like editorials we read today about Amazon? Or Walmart before that?)
In 1964, they expanded their Golden store and began stocking appliances on site, which were available for immediate purchase. At the same time, they installed a teletype line to their Denver warehouse, which ensured that orders placed by 11AM could be picked up at the Golden store after 4PM on the same day.
The Ward’s store operated on 13th Street from their opening in 1956 until 1970, at which time—according to the store manager—they lost their lease. They were replaced by a dry cleaner, which left a lasting legacy of environmental problems. GURA paid to clean up the site in 2006, so it could be redeveloped. The building was torn down when the parking garage was built, and the site now contains a mixed-use building with retail spots at street level and condos above.
