Robert's Shoe Store, 740 E Lake St, Minneapolis, Minnesota
From Placeography
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Revision as of 22:58, September 18, 2007
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Robert's Shoe Store | |
| Address: | 740 Lake Stwarning.png"St" is not in the list of possible values (Avenue, Street, Road, Alcove, Alley, Bay, Boulevard, Circle, Close, Court, Crescent, Crossing, Curve, Drive, Estate, Estates, Farm, Farms, Freeway, Glen, Green, Harbor, Heights, Highway, Hill, Island, Key, Landing, Lane, Loop, Mall, Motorway, Park, Parkway, Pass, Path, Place, Plaza, Point, Ridge, Route, Row, Rue, Run, Skyway, Spur, Square, Terrace, Throughway, Trail, Turnpike, Viaduct, View, Way, Other) for this property. E |
| City/locality- State/province | Minneapolis, MN |
| County- State/province: | Hennepin County, MN |
| State/province: | MNwarning.png"MN" is not in the list of possible values (Minnesota, Alberta, Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, American Samoa, Arizona, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Manitoba, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, New Brunswick, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nova Scotia, Northwest Territories, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Prince Edward Island, Puerto Rico, Palau, Quebec, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Saskatchewan, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Wyoming, Yukon Territory) for this property. |
| Country: | USAwarning.png"USA" is not in the list of possible values (United States, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azores (Portugal), Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bosnia, Botswana, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China - People's Republic of, Colombia, Congo - Republic of, Costa Rica, Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Faroe Islands (Denmark), Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea_Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Madagascar, Maderia (Portugal), Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Martinique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands (Holland), Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Reunion, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, St. Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Wallis and Futuna Islands, Western Samoa, Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Zambia, Zimbabwe, American Samoa, Cambodia, Bonaire (Netherlands Antillies), Canary Islands, Channel Islands, Cook Islands, Curacao (Netherlands Antillies), England, Guam, Kosrae (Federated States of Micronesia), Marshall Islands, Monaco, Myanmar, Norfolk Island, Northern Ireland (UK), Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Ponape, Ireland - Republic Of, Rota (Northern Mariana Islands), Saba (Netherlands Antilles), Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands), Scotland (United Kingdom), St. Barthelemy (Guadeloupe), St. Christopher (St. Kitts and Nevis), St. Croix (U.S. Virgin Islands), St. Eustatius (Netherlands Antilles), St. John (U.S. Virgin Islands), St. Lucia, St. Maarten (Netherlands Antilles), St. Martin (Guadeloupe), St. Thomas (U.S. Virgin Islands), Korea (South Korea), Tahiti (French Polynesia), Truk (Federated States of Micronesia), U.S. Virgin Islands, Wake Island, Wales (United Kingdom), Yap (Federated States of Micronesia)) for this property. |
| Current Function: | Business |
Walking a Mile in Roberts Shoes
“The average guy in our store has, oh I would say, on average, 30 years in the shoe business. I’ve got one guy that’s got over 50. We practice hands-on management. … It was my father-in-law’s Nathan Roberts philosophy, my philosophy, that’s why I work six days a week at least, sometimes seven.” Mark Simon, owner of Roberts Shoes
One Foot in Front of the Other
Nathan Roberts bought Minneapolis Shoe Store in 1937 after its previous owners went bankrupt during the Great Depression, and changed the name of the business to Robert’s Shoe Store. Lake Street, as a retail shopping area, was second only to downtown Minneapolis because of the lack of suburban shopping at this time.
"In 1937 we were a blue collar, or upwardly mobile neighborhood of working people. Everybody, everyone was working. From secretaries to laborers, the streets were just packed with people that were working. …[In addition,] this has been one of the biggest bus intersections in the city, and before it was busses, it was streetcars, and it was one of the biggest street car intersections.” Mark Simon
Being in a busy retail area didn’t guarantee success. Roberts Shoe Store had to compete for every sale with the 15-20 other retail shoe stores on Lake Street! Things didn’t get easier when, less than five years after the store changed ownership, World War II hit, and “that had a big impact on everything we did. Shoes were rationed, you were given stamps to buy shoes and a lot of footwear was diverted to the military, so it was really hard to get shoes, and my father-in-law was resourceful during those years and was able to find shoes, one way or another, to help grow our business.”
Black Hole, Sucking Energy Out of the Neighborhood
“I came here in 1982 … Lake Street was in a downhill slide. …Once Sears closed, we had a 2 million square foot building across the street from us that was vacant, and one quarter of our intersection was not producing anything valuable. It was like a black hole, sucking energy out of the neighborhood. …I would call [911] every day for something, a few years ago. There would be a traffic accident, or a fight, or a drug dealing. … There were a lot of things going on, out on the street, that were very visible, and were driving people away.”
Fighting to Stay Alive
“…When they started replacing Lake Street, which started about two and a half years ago, that virtually shut down every business on Lake... there was no street and no sidewalk in front of us … Chicago Avenue [was under construction] at the same time … Bus traffic was rerouted.”
“Then there was no handicapped parking. There was no parking. So anybody with any kind of disability couldn’t come here - we were just fighting to stay alive...”
Looking Forward to Good Times Ahead
“Lake Street went through a transition - and I think now, in the year 2007 and ahead, we can really start to shine.”
“We have interesting moments here every day - in Minneapolis, on Lake Street, in the heart of the city. What sets us apart here is the interesting mix of clientele that come from all walks of life, from all areas of the city and they bring with them all sorts of baggage, and perspectives and everyday it’s interesting being on the floor
“… We are in a multicultural part of the city, …we’ve had 10 or 15 customers in the store, and they’re all speaking different languages to their peer group. And if you just stop and listen, it’s like the Tower of Babel. …You can hear different dialects of Spanish, Somali, Nigerian, Norwegian-English, Russian, Chinese. …That noise makes it interesting.”Contents |
Memories and stories
| This place is part of Right on Lake Street |
