73 Years Ago
The March 5, 1953 Colorado Transcript announced that the new Eaker department store was celebrating its grand opening. This was the sixth Eaker store in the Denver metro area.
For a brief period, Golden had four department stores. These days, it’s hard to imagine one department store in Golden–let alone four.
Ellis Department Store was located in 1212 Washington Avenue (now Marrygrams). They opened in 1901 and operated until 1960 (59 years).
Gamble Stores was located at 1211 Washington (now Spirits in the Wind). They did business in Golden from 1942 to 1975 (33 years).
Eaker’s opened in 1953. The building was originally Churches’ Garage, later became the Golden Plunge indoor pool, and is now the Buffalo Rose Events Center. Eaker’s closed in 1987 (34 years).
Hested’s opened in 1957 as a “variety store” before rebranding themselves as a department store. Hested’s closed in 1977 (20 Years). The store building stood empty for nearly 30 years (which drove our urban development folks crazy) before being demolished in 2006. That spot is now Gateway Station.
