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Grandsons Run Business
Style Center Founded 1905
When Abraham Goldstein organized the Style Center on March 11, 1905, little did he realize that his ladies ready-to-wear store would still be growing 50 years later at the original location, 412-418 Broadway.
One of the oldest firms in Lorain, the Style Center occupied only 800 square feet of space when opened. Now the store occupies 8,000 square feet and additional space is being contemplated for the near future.
Four Sons
Abraham Goldstein sold his store in Zanesville to come here and start his four sons in business. Three of them, Max, Samuel and Joseph, helped found the original store. The other son, Louis, entered the business in 1914.
The Style Center immediately became popular as a center for styles and in 1907 the business was expanded. In 1909 another store of the same name was opened in Elyria with Max going there to assume charge.
Rebuilt in 1925
The entire store was rebuilt in 1925 and since that time periodic changes have taken place inside and out to keep up with the trend in merchandising and shopping convenience.
Death took two sons, Louis in 1940 and Joseph in 1949. Meanwhile three grandsons of the organizer of the store entered the business. Arthur Goldstein, son of Samuel; Robert, son of the late Joseph, and Norman, son of Max, are all vice presidents of Goldstein Sons, Inc.
Arthur and Robert are managing the Lorain store and Norman is in charge of Elyria.
Other Officers
Other officers of the corporation are two of the founders, Max and Samuel, who are president and secretary-treasurer, respectively, and Mrs. Stella Goldstein, widow of Joseph, a Vice President.
Max and Samuel are devoting most of their time in advisory capacities.
The Goldsteins have a policy that what is good for Lorain is good for the Style Center. Several trade magazines have referred to the Style Center as being one of the finest women’s specialty shops in the state.
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The Style Center disappeared from the Lorain City Directories beginning in the 1973 directory, with its longtime Broadway address as part of the Allen Block listed as ‘vacant.’
Other tenants occupied the building over the years.
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| A July 2013 view |
Happily, the building will soon see new life as the home of the new Lorain Arts Academy. Here’s the link to an article with the details from the April 1, 2021 Chronicle-Telegram.
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| If you look closely, you can see the name STYLE CENTER above the windows |
6 comments:
Anything with Giardinis name attached to it is bound to be a little suspicious.But I hope it works out for the style center.
My Mom and I would go there mostly for her clothes. One or two of the Oehlke sisters worked there? I thought would be in late 60's early 70's. They had a cat that would lay in the sun in the large windows near the entrance. Another place we went was Georgia Huntington dresses was at a home on GA Ave then later years moved to E Erie and Georgia Ave In a building that later became a pizza place.
As a young boy being dragged to the Style Center wasn't much fun, thank goodness for the large staircase to go up and down while my mom and aunt shopped. Also, watching the clerks shoot the cannisters filled with money and the receipt up to the office then back down to the counter was always a treat. Todd
Working downtown in the 80's I vaguely remember a restaurant in the Style Center. We ate there once and I think we were seated upstairs....Todd
My grandmother, Mary (Stough) Emerson (1897-1999), worked at the Style Center for about 50 (that's right, FIFTY) years as a saleswoman. In her manner of elegant dress she, too, represented the Style Center wherever she went. I particularly remember the store and its trademark gift box design composed of short brown & black stripes. She spoke often of her boss, Bob Goldstein, and his annual "buyers" trips to New York City to acquire the latest in womens' fashions for his Lorain customers (including my mother!)
I asked my mother about shopping at the Style Center. She remembered it as being very expensive, and that she hardly ever went in there. She did, however, purchase a fur coat there – the only one she ever owned. She ended up giving it away when she realized it was a bother to have to pay to store it in the off-season!
Mom did have one story about shopping there that was kind of funny. She had gone in there to buy a dress, and was having trouble finding one she liked. A salesman couldn’t believe that she didn’t like the one she was trying on. “But that’s a Carley!” she remembers him saying. My mother replied, “The name doesn’t mean anything to me.” And the salesman promptly replied, “And you don’t mean anything to Carley!”
Mom never went back.
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