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Steketee's

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Paul Steketee and Sons, otherwise know as, Steketee's was a department store company founded in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

History

Beginnings

Paul Steketee, a Dutch immigrant, came to Grand Rapids in 1850. In 1892 Steketee and John H Doornich formed a dry goods operation that would become one of West Michigan's oldest retail operations. The two ran the business for 10 years before a fire devastated the store. Following the fire Doornich sold out to Steketee, who brought his family on board to help run and rebuild the business. With the growth of Grand Rapids the family decided to build a large 8 story flagship store on Monroe Avenue, the city's retail hub. The store opened with much fanfare in 1915.

Growth

The draw of Steketee's Grand Rapids store was such a success that the family decided to expand its operations in the 1950's opening its first satellite store in 1958. The family went on to build a total of 6 other stores through the next three decades:

Sale, and demise

In 1991 Dunlaps, of Fort Worth, Texas bought out the Steketee's family, bringing the West Michigan operations under their umbrella of smaller department store brands. Changes in retail patterns and the rise of national brands sealed the fate of the downtown Grand Rapids store, and its other locations. The downtown store closed in 1998. Dunlap shuttered it's last Steketee's store in 2005 with the closing of it's Westshore Mall store in Holland.

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