Wichita State University - Parnassus Yearbook (Wichita, KS)

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' . ' me l . ,,,...-1 ' H , k--....,.. A 1 : I K 1 Y Q I O fi I l A, ap-u--qc-vs inf, 42 4 ,c,,. m r-4 ln, BRAND WIS YERN H0015 CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: During the 1904 flood, Mrs. J.P, Parrot and com- panion, Mrs. Drake, arrive by boat to visit the Parrot family's interior decorating shop in downtown Wichita. Photo taken 1904 Stanley Goldstein helps a customer with some cowboy boots. 1!28!8S This Cat's Paw clock was a premium given to Sam's Sample Shoe Store in the early '50s for sell- ing a quota of Cat's Paw rubber heels and soles. 1128785 Shoes are stacked in every corner of this 1910 building, home of the Goldsteins' store. 1!28!8S Stanley Goldstein grew up on the 800 block of east Douglas. His father opened the original store, Shustorman's, just two doors east of its pre- sent location. l!29!85 This Singer sewing machine was used to do repairs from 1935 until 1979, when the Golds- teins discontinued their repair service. 1!28!85 photos hy Madeline McCullough

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Photo courtesy of the Wichita Historical Museum Family Businesses Resist A Slow Decline Stanley Goldstein took over Sam's Sample Shoes in the '50s. He got his degree in geology in from the University of Wichita in 1951, and, after going to Korea, could not find work as a geologist. So he joined the family business of selling top name-brand shoes, 'slightly usedf' inexpensively. 'l just more or less worked into it,' he said. 'My mother was get- ting old - she, my sister and brother-in-law ran the place since my father died. So l came and sent her homef' Goldstein and his wife, ldell, are in many ways typical of the older established merchants whose stores are in the Old Town area. They work nine-hour days, six days a week: depend on a host of customers who have been coming in for yearsg and have been having a rough time financially. The stores are neat but decaying. Most of the inventory is stored in the heads of the merchants. Goldstein's father, Sam, started the business in 1929 and established his reputation on selling name-brand shoes at a discount. Goldstein has continued the tradition of relying on the store's reputa- tion - he does little advertising, instead depending on word of mouth. Goldstein joined the business just as the shopping malls started springing up, pulling all the customers from downtown. While he suffered from not getting many new customers, business remained pretty good with his established customers, from car dealers f'They buy a lot of cowboy boots l to county and ci- ty commissioners. 'We deal mainly in close-outs, factory re- jects and returns. That's quite a bit less ex- pensive than regular shoe stores. l guess it's tradition, 'Go down to Sam's and save some moneyf Everybody wants a bargain. 'Twenty-five years ago all this was full and people walked more - this area was quite boomingf' Like most of the older merchants along East Douglas, the Goldsteins quietly acknowledge that Old Town's development would help their business by bringing in more people and increasing property values. But, despite receiving flyers announcing meetings, they feel outside of the Old Town Association, the organization committed to rebuilding the area. Up the street from Sam's is Zelman's Clothing Store, owned by Herbert and Esther Moses. They were more noncommittal about the prospects for Old Townftand what it would mean to their store. They had been in business together for nearly 40 years, since Herbert Moses came over from Germany to escape Nazi persecu- tion. He married Esther, whose father was the original owner of the store. While the thought of more business was appealing to them, especially after having had a slow year, the thought of change made them wary. The Goldsteins' business hasnit changed much over the years, ex- cept for some expansion and they no longer do shoe repairs. Golds- tein's brother-in-law, Barney Nash, retired six years ago, leaving the Goldsteins to run the business alone. 'I wonder if he didn't know whether things were going to turn, Goldstein said. 'Times were good, but now, l don't know. lt's a lean period and it should be a good period. People are looking to save money and we can sell new shoes for 5535 to 340. There's a lot of tension with business quiet like it is right now, worrying about paying bills, sen- ding my daughter to collegef' At 55, he has 10 more years to go before retiring and closing the business forever. 'When we decide to quit, we'd just sell everything out. There doesrft seem to be anyone interested in the business - family businesses are hard to sell.' But there is interest in the building. One speculator wants to buy the entire block to develop it, Goldstein said. 'Our best years were the '60s. Now, we'll wait and see if they can get some more retail stores in the area. We'll be very happy about that. Hopefully it will get better. Let's hope it doesn't get any worse, let's put it that way.

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Photo courtesy of John Freeman Visions Measured In An Ice Cream Scoop Since reopening its doors in October of 1982, the Old Mill Tasty Shop has been the best example of an Old Town success story. The patrons are a steady combination of the business-suit set and the tattered-jeans. artist-colony crowd. They come for the food and the atmosphere which, perhaps, best represents what Old Town could become. Mary Wright and her husband john are the urban pioneers who own and operate the Old Mill. They bought the place after the previous owner, Otto Woermke, died in 1981. Otto and his wife, Erna, who died a few years earlier, ran the place for 49 years. The Wrights kept the old name and interior styling. One important feature they also kept was fountain service - sodajerks still hand-mix syrup and soda water and concoct fountain desserts - something for which the Old Mill was famous. The Wrights' daughter, Shannon, a freshman at Wichita State University, has been working behind the counter since the place reopened and has learned the skill of making fountain desserts. Mary Wright said one of the people who used to work there when the Woermkes owned the place came in and gave a few hints. 'I have never been able to do it well,' Wright admitted. 'I think that's a lost art.' The business has grown to the point where she is talking of serving evening meals and expanding the size of the dining area. But for the place to be a real success depends on the growth of the area, she said. The interest does seem to be there. Last year during the river festival, over 10,000 people came to Old Town. In September, the Old Town Association held it's first annual Old Town Chili Cookoff, also thought to have been a success. The idea behind these events, Wright said, isito get the public used to coming down, seeing what the area has to offer, thereby changing the perception of the area as blighted. 'Iwo me it's beautiful to look at these old buildings,' she said. She us- ed to come down to shop when she was younger, and, while remembering that the area was not all that attractive - especially during the early 1970s - she wants to bring back some of the home-town feel. Wright hopes to bring in picnic tables to Naftzger Park - called Wino Park by the transients who fre- quent the place, and, dur- ing good weather, turn it into a party spot. 'You just have to break patterns,' Wright said. 'If we have some security over there then you can come down, get your lunch, and go over and not be harassed. The way it is now, you will be harassed. It's the most beautiful park in the city. It's our park, we just got to get over there and start using it.' Most people interested in developing the area say the problem is not with the local bums but with the pubIic's perception of them. The crime is not severe - most of the muggings are among the transients themselves. The established bums, the ones who have been around for years, have indoctrinated themselves into the area and are fixtures. What problems there are come from the nomadic transients - the ones whose behavior patterns aren't known. 'I had one of the drunks explain it to me this way: I-Ie told me to always be careful with them because you don't know what they're go- ing to do because they don't know what they're going to do from one minute to the next. They could just go off and do something real crazy or be real mild, you never know. Developers point out the changes the area has undergone and the success ofthe Old Town events in bringing in people. 'Growth is go- ing to change and improve the area but the rate of that growth is hard to gauge, said Steve Fairchild, executive member of the Old Town Association and a WSU graduate from 1972. 'The area is going through a puberty stage, and building owners are holding onto their lands, anticipating an increase in value. Spring always brings a renewal, too, Wright said, 'new people, new action. Yeah, we do feel like this every spring but each time I think, 'This will be the time it happensf The energy and the faith people like Mary Wright put into the area strongly suggests a renaissance. For the people that may mean a chance, as one resident put it, 'to be who or what you want. A man was sitting at the Old Mill Tasty Shop's long marble counter to order. I'd like a peanut butter and pineapple shake. The waitress, Ann, made a small face, but responded, relatively un- fazed, by asking, 'Would you like an egg in it? Sure,' the man replied, 'why not? He then turned to his companion and said, 'l'll get the barf bag, toof' Jr Old Town stories by Peter Ingmire