51 years ago, Golden’s three department stores shared an advertisement in the Golden Transcript to promote their “Red Hot Buys.” These days, it’s hard to imagine one department store in Golden–let alone three.
Gambles was located at 1211 Washington (now Spirits in the Wind). They operated in Golden from 1942 to 1975
Eakers opened in 1952 in “the old Golden Plunge” (now the Buffalo Rose Events Center). They existed well into the 1980s.
Hested’s opened in 1957 as a “variety store” before rebranding themselves as a department store. That store building was demolished in 2006 and has now been replaced by Gateway Station. Hested’s closed in 1977.
There was one earlier store in this category–Ellis Department Store was located in 1212 Washington Avenue (now Marrygrams Boutique). They opened in 1901 and ran until 1960.
Many thanks to the Golden Rotary Club for sponsoring Golden History Moments for the month of September.
