History of 1012 Main, the Goodland Clothing Company

Goodland Clothing Company is probably the most well known business that was once housed in this historic building.  And Dick Auer, probably the most well known businessman in Goodland history, operated it.

Originally, S.H. Marshall deeded the property to the Sherman County Development Company in 1888.  L.K. Foster owned the property before selling it to Cassius Millisack in 1901.   The building was built in 1906 and owned by C.M. Millisack.  The building was twenty-five of brick and was occupied by T.H. Taggert as a furniture store.  The front of this building had large plate glass windows of very liberal dimensions.  In 1907 Taggart moved his store to the Gray Front Hotel building.  Millisack sold it to J.S. Gadd in 1920.  In 1922, the Goodland Jewelry Company was located in the building. J.S. Gadd sold it to C.O. Gadd in 1924 and that same year it was sold to Dick Auer and Clark Shimeall.

The Goodland Clothing Co. was formed when Dick Auer bought out J.G. Gebhart in November 1906.  The clothing store was then located at 920 Main.  The store was moved to 1006 Main in December of that year and then finally to 1012 Main in 1929.

Mr. Auer, or Dick as he was known to everyone, came to Sherman County at the age of 11 in 1887.  He was born in Milwaukee and moved with his family to Nebraska.  In 1886, his father H. H. Auer, homesteaded in Sherman County just south of Ruleton.  The next year, Dick came to Sherman County traveling by train to Sharon Springs then by covered wagon to Goodland.  The Auer family moved into town and established a board housing near the railroad.  The business expanded into a commissary, where meals were served to railroad workers and groceries were sold.  Later, the business developed into a bakery and Dick became a partner with his father.  They shipped loaves of bread for the Rock Island Railroad, which used them to feed the section hands.

After the death of his father, the business was sold and Dick moved to Kansas City.   On trip to Kansas City, a friend from Goodland, Clark Shimeall, talked Dick into moving back and purchasing the Gebhart Clothing Store.  The two purchased the business in 1906 and renamed it Goodland Clothing Company.  The partnership dissolved in 1927 and Dick took over the store while Shimeall retained the real estate holdings.

In June 1912, Dick married Jeannette Scholss.  They had one daughter, Leonora.   She married Harvey Gill of Chicago and they had two sons, Larry and Dick.  The two boys were very close to their grandparents in Goodland.

While operating the business at 1006 Main, Dick hired former postmaster Ed Elder as his first employee.  He worked with Dick for 27 years and most people associated both Dick and Ed with Goodland Clothing Company.  Also at this location, the Sherman County High School banners were sold and it was store policy to support and boost athletics and school events.  The policy continued throughout the history of business and many employees volunteered their support at many school and sporting events.

In the early years of the business, electric lights were not in existence and carbide lamps were the only source of light.  "We used to have to pump the things every night and be sure the wicks were just so," Auer was once quoted.  The store used a tall ladder on rollers in the shoe department, much to the delight of all the children who came to the store with their parents.  Many recall climbing the ladder and watching boxes of shoes come tumbling down.

Four major lines of merchandise were carried in the store: Florsheim Shoes, Hart Schafner & Marx Suits, Arrow Shirts and Stetson Hats.  When a gentleman purchased a Stetson Hat, his name was imprinted inside the hatband.  These lines remained popular and were carried by the store until it closed in 1989.  Another long time tradition at the store was the beautifully wrapped gifts at Christmas time.  Dick’s wife, Jeannette would help during the busy season and was well known for her skill at gift-wrapping.

One of the outstanding events of Dick’s life was when he received first place for window trimming during the Armistice Day celebration after World War I.  When the dial telephone system was installed in Goodland in 1930, Dick was the first person to make a call from his home.  He called Robert Casey of the Chicago Daily News.  He also had the distinction of being on hand to meet the first Rock Island Railroad train into Goodland on July 4, 1888 and served on the committee that ushered in airline service into Goodland in 1961.

When Dick moved the store to 1012 Main in 1929, it was the first to install modern store fixtures.  The local newspapers were quite impressed with the modern look of the newly remodeled store.  In 1943, a partnership was formed, which included Dick Auer, W.F. Kelly and Harlan McDaniel. In 1954, Mr. Kelly sold his share to Mr. McDaniel.   The store celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1956.  Thieves robbed the store in 1960 and reportedly stole $15,000 worth of merchandise.  Some of the merchandise was later recovered in Omaha, Neb.

Dick Auer died in December 1964 and his wife sold her share of the store to Mr. McDaniel in 1965.  Dick Auer was one of the community’s greatest boosters and did many things to promote Goodland and western Kansas throughout his life.  His wife, Jeannette died on May 16, 1977 in Chicago.  Both Mr. and Mrs. Auer are buried in Beverly Cemetery in Chicago.

In 1975 after 50 years with firm, Harlan McDaniel sold the Goodland Clothing Co. to Doug and Laurene Easterberg.  The Easterbergs operated the store until 1989 when it was closed.  They sold the building to Lucille Thomas in January 1990.  She has operated her business, Luci’s Aquarium, at this location from 1990 to the present.