Joslins was a chain of department stores that was based in Denver, Colorado, United States.
History
Joslins Department Store began as J. Joslins Dry Goods Store, founded by John Jay Joslin in 1873; it was a direct competitor to The Denver Dry Goods Company which commenced operations in 1888. The original Joslin Dry Goods Company Building is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, and is currently a Courtyard by Marriott property.
Around 1910, Joslin sold the business to H.B. Claflin & Company, which collapsed in 1914.1 Two store chains were created from the bankruptcy: Associated Dry Goods and Mercantile Stores Company, Inc. As a nameplate of Mercantile Stores, Joslins became the first Denver-based department store to build branch locations in the 1940s, later expanding the chain with larger anchor stores in malls in the 1960s and 1970s.
In 1998, the Dillard's department store chain purchased Mercantile Stores, converting most of the then-existing Joslin's stores to Dillard's stores.23 One former Joslin's store in Colorado Springs and the recently-opened flagship store at Park Meadows in Lone Tree were sold by Dillard's to The May Department Stores Company, which converted the Colorado Springs store to a Foley's and the Park Meadows store to the Denver area's second Lord & Taylor store.4
Locations
| Location | Address | Opened | Closed | Disposition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downtown Denver | 934 16th Street, Denver | 1873 | 1995 | redeveloped into Courtyard by Marriott, 1996 building received National Historic Register designation, 1997 |
| Greeley | 825-827 Eighth St, Greeley | 1944 | 1973 | moved to 1015 9th Ave, 1963 replaced by Greeley Mall location, 19735 |
| Englewood | 3470 S Broadway, Englewood | 1945 | 1954 | Nielsen's Department Store acquired in 19456 replaced by 3315 South Broadway location |
| Lakewood | 7308 W Colfax Ave, Lakewood | 1946 | 1957 | replaced by JCRS Shopping Center location |
| Aurora | 9620 E Colfax Ave, Aurora | 1949 | ||
| Merchants' Park Shopping Center | 627 S Broadway, Denver | 1952 | ||
| Englewood | 3315 S Broadway, Englewood | 1954 | ||
| Boulder | 1919 14th St, Boulder | 1956 | 1980 | first three/four floors of Colorado Building remodeled into offices7 |
| Lakewood | JCRS Shopping Center, 6715 W Colfax Ave, Lakewood | 1957 | early 1970s | space redeveloped into Casa Bonita8 |
| Villa Italia | 7200 W Alameda Ave, Lakewood | 1966 | 2000 | converted to a Dillard's store, 1998 redeveloped for Belmar |
| Pueblo | southeast corner of Main Street and W 4th Street, Pueblo | 1970 | 1976 | Crews-Beggs Dry Goods Co acquired in 1959, changed to Joslin's name in 1970 replaced by Pueblo Mall location, 1976 |
| Cinderella City | Englewood | 1968 | 1995 | replaced by Southglenn Mall location, 1995 |
| Buckingham Square Mall | 1440 S Havana St, Aurora | 1971 | 2005 | converted to a Dillard's store, 1998 redeveloped for The Gardens on Havana |
| Greeley Mall | 2050 Greeley Mall, Greeley | 1973 | 2008 | converted to a Dillard's store, 1998 closed, 2008 |
| Pueblo Mall | 3601 Dillon Dr, Pueblo | 1976 | converted to a Dillard's store, 1998 | |
| Westminster Mall | 5433 W 88th Ave, Westminster | 1977 | 2011 | converted to a Dillard's store, 1998 closed, 2011 |
| Southwest Plaza | 8501 W Bowles Ave, Littleton | 1983 | 2006 | converted to a Dillard's store, 1998 converted to a Dick's Sporting Goods and Steve & Barry's, 2006 |
| Frontier Mall | 1400 Dell Range Blvd, Cheyenne, WY | 1983 | 2021 | converted to a Dillard's store, 1998 closed, 2021location purchased by Appliance Factory & Mattress Kingdom, 20239 |
| Chapel Hills Mall | 1750 Briargate Blvd, Colorado Springs | 1985 | 1998 | location purchased by May and converted to Foley's, 1998 converted to a Macy's, 2006 |
| Twin Peaks Mall | 1250 S Hover St, Longmont | 1985 | c. 200810 | converted to a Dillard's store, 1998 redeveloped for Village at the Peaks, 2014 |
| Southglenn Mall | 6911 S University Blvd, Centennial | 1994 | 2006 | converted to a Dillard's store, 1998 redeveloped for The Streets at SouthGlenn, 200611 |
| Park Meadows | 8425 Park Meadows Center Dr, Lone Tree | 1997 | 1998 | location purchased by May, 1998, and converted to Lord & Taylor, 1999 |
Further reading
- Barnhouse, Mark A. (November 2018). Lost Department Stores of Denver. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-439-66585-5
References
Rebchook, John (19 May 1998). "J.J. Joslin started store 125 years ago downtown". Rocky Mountain News. p. 4B. ↩
Bunn, Dina (19 May 1998). "Curtain Falls on Joslins". Rocky Mountain News. p. 1B. The Little Rock, Ark., retailer announced Monday it is buying Mercantile for $3.14 billion in cash and assumed debt.Ten Joslins stores in the state and one in Cheyenne will close or be converted to Dillard's. ↩
Dubroff, Henry (23 May 1998). "An unforgettable department store sale". Denver Business Journal. American City Business Journals. http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/1998/05/25/newscolumn1.html ↩
Parker, Penny (4 Aug 1998). "Lord & Taylor coming to mall". Denver Post. p. C-1. The Joslins at Park Meadows is turning into a Lord & Taylor and the Joslins at Chapel Hills mall in Colorado Springs will become a Foley's, according to the terms of a deal announced Monday between Dillard's and May Department Stores Co. ↩
Edgerton, Red (29 Jun 1973). "Joslins adds and expands merchandise in new store". Greeley Daily Tribune. p. 44. https://www.newspapers.com/article/greeley-daily-tribune-joslin-dry-goods/19338520/ ↩
"Downtown History Tour". City of Englewood / Englewood Historic Preservation Society. 8 Oct 2021. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/9ed593c8b7ad4a4787e15a7dd48b8643#ref-n-ZEasta ↩
"Joslin's exteriors: Photo 1". Boulder Historical Society/Museum of Boulder. . . . plans were soon announced that the Colorado Building would be remodeled into a financial and office building. According to a 31 October 1979 Boulder Daily Camera article, the Boulder Joslin's location was due to close 31 January 1980 because of difficulty finding a new location. https://localhistory.boulderlibrary.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A34556/ ↩
Lewis, Rosemary (2012). "Fortress Commerce: Jefferson County's Malls" (PDF). Historically Jeffco. Jefferson County Historical Commission. pp. 3–7. Joslin's moved out of JCRS in the late 1970s and its space became the Casa Bonita restaurant. https://historicjeffco.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/historical_jeffco_2012_web.pdf ↩
"Former Dillard's in Cheyenne Purchased by Appliance Factory & Mattress Kingdom". Cheyenne Post. 27 Feb 2023. https://www.thecheyennepost.com/business/former-dillard-s-in-cheyenne-purchased-by-appliance-factory-mattress-kingdom/article_04ecc24a-b6d4-11ed-8648-b3a3b2c6455c.html ↩
"Holiday shopping season will be 28th — and final — for Twin Peaks Mall". Longmont Times-Call. 7 Dec 2013. https://www.timescall.com/2013/12/07/holiday-shopping-season-will-be-28th-and-final-for-twin-peaks-mall/ ↩
Arellano, Kristi (1 Mar 2006). "Mall's closing buys a moment of nostalgia". Denver Post. p. C-01. https://www.denverpost.com/2006/02/28/malls-closing-buys-a-moment-of-nostalgia/ ↩