403 Main Street (Racine, Wisconsin): Difference between revisions
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'''403 Main Street''' is the address of a building in downtown [[Racine, Wisconsin]].<ref name=assessor>[https://cityofracine.org/Source/Templates/WebPro.aspx?TabIndex=1&CardNumber=1&AccountNumber=118 Property Details: 403 MAIN ST], cityofracine.org</ref> Built in 1893 for the W.S. Buffham & Son paint store, it housed a [[J.C. Penney]] department store from 1925 to 1948, a [[Salkin & Linoff]] department store from 1949 to 1953, and a [[Walgreens]] drugstore from 1953 to 1994.
==History==
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Racine's first J.C. Penney department store opened in the building on November 6, 1925.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78789567/ "Penney Store Opens Doors to Public"], [[Racine Journal-News]], November 7, 1925, page 4.</ref> In the early morning of June 20, 1943, a fire caused damage estimated at $62,000 to the store building.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78789284 "Penney Loss Set at $62,000"], [[Racine Journal-Times]], June 24, 1943, page 4.</ref> In 1945, the company announced plans to construct a new building at [[413 Main Street (Racine, Wisconsin)|413 Main Street]], then the site of Bloch Furniture Co.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78789318 "Penney Plans New Building On Main St."], [[Racine Journal Times]], August 2, 1945, front page.</ref> The new store ultimately opened on November 11, 1948.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78789468 "Penney's Store Ready to Open"], [[Racine Journal Times]], November 10, 1948, section 3, front page.</ref>
An [[Salkin & Linoff|S & L]] department store, the 37th location in the chain, opened in the building on March 25, 1949.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78851907/ "S & L Company's 37th Store To Open in Racine Friday"], [[Racine Journal Times]], March 24, 1949, page 10.</ref> The building was owned by the Buffham family until 1952, when it was sold to Edward Shovers.<ref name=assessor/> S & L closed on January 17, 1953, the day after [[Walgreens|Walgreen Drug Company]] announced that it would begin leasing the space.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78851935/ "Walgreen Drug Co. Leases Building Occupied by S & L"], [[Racine Journal Times]], January 16, 1953, page 4.</ref>
[[File:Walgreens, 403 Main Street, Racine, Wisconsin, 1953.jpg|thumb|right|A [[Racine Journal Times]] photo taken shortly before the Walgreens store opened in 1953.<ref name=walgreens19530901/>]]
The Walgreens store closed with the opening of the nearby [[Walgreens 3022|Walgreens #3022]] at [[State Street (Racine, Wisconsin)|State Street]] and [[Memorial Drive (Racine, Wisconsin)|Memorial Drive]] on March 7, 1994.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50775430/ "Out with old, in with new"], [[Racine Journal Times]], March 8, 1994, page 4A.</ref> Norman Seeger, the owner of the Seeger Map Company business at 401 Main Street,<ref>Buttweiler, Joe. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78852034/ "Racine's Big Change: There's progress in plan to revive heart of Downtown"], [[Racine Journal Times]], May 23, 1993, front page.</ref> purchased the building in June 1995<ref name=assessor/> to expand his business into the building. He also removed the building's Walgreens facade to reveal its brick front once again.<ref>Blaustein, Elizabeth. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78852073/ "City's sleeping beauty: Step by step, Main Street comes back to life"], [[Racine Journal Times]], January 28, 1996, page 6A.</ref>
The Children UpFront program, administered by [[Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin and Metropolitan Chicago]], moved into the building in 1999.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78852143 "In Brief: UpFront Program moves to new offices"], [[Racine Journal Times]], June 9, 1999, page 5C.</ref> Copacetic, a store featuring {{w|Life Is Good Company|"Life is good"}} T-shirts, opened in the building on July 1, 2004.<ref>Garbo, Jean. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78852189 "Possibilities abound Downtown: Plenty of fun for all comers"], [[Racine Journal Times]], June 3, 2004, page 4B.</ref>
Seams Unlimited, a costume design business which had moved to 401 Main Street in 2003, occupied the space for several years before shutting down in October 2020 due to the {{w|COVID–19 pandemic}}.<ref>Johnson, Eric. [https://journaltimes.com/news/local/breaking-up-the-band-after-25-years-seams-unlimited-to-shut-down-due-to-covid/article_3a17d56b-2775-550c-b8b8-073f5e0ec32f.html "Breaking up 'The Band:' After 25 years, Seams Unlimited to shut down due to COVID"], [[Racine Journal Times]], September 30, 2020.</ref> The business reopened in March 2021 at [[1509 Rapids Drive]].<ref>Williams, Scott. [https://journaltimes.com/business/local/business-owners-hope-to-rebound-after-covid-19-forced-them-to-call-it-quits/article_889d698f-1ea9-51de-ba89-7c64319000af.html "Business owners hope to rebound after COVID-19 forced them to call it quits"], [[Racine Journal Times]], March 28, 2021.</ref>
==References==
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