Decorah: A Walk into the Past

Decorah: A Walk into the Past. Water Street Trail. , “All Things to All People” , The mercantile has a long history in Decorah. The first mercantile, the Pioneer Store, opened in the Days’ smokehouse shortly after the Days and the Painters founded Decorah in 1849 and William Painter also operated an early mercantile in addition to his mills. Before stores specialized in just a few products, the mercantile attempted to be all things to all people, providing for needs as well as “wants.”, K. I. Haugen, Pioneer Merchant , Klemet Iver Haugen operated one of Decorah’s most successful mercantiles for 55 years. Haugen emigrated to the United States from Norway in 1867 as a 17-year-old. Joining relatives in the Spring Grove, Minnesota area, he labored for four years as a farm hand. Although most of the Norwegian immigrants in the area were farm laborers, Haugen decided at the age of 21 to pursue a different path. He moved to Decorah and worked as a clerk in Christian Severson's grocery store in the 300 block of W. Water Street for six years. He eventually purchased the store from Severson and operated it in partnership with cousin Gunder Rierson, later buying out his cousin's interest when Rierson's health failed. Failure of the wheat crop in 1877 and for four years thereafter produced hard times in Decorah and affected Haugen's business along with that of his colleagues. Haugen weathered the storm despite losing large sums of money and gave as much assistance as possible to his farm customers during that time. , Haugen's original store location was Christian Severson's 20 x 60 frame structure which Haugen later replaced with a single-front brick building. Needing more space, he eventually built the double-lot building at 311 W. Water in 1890 which still stands across the street and bears his name on its pediment. The style is Italianate with ornate cast iron trim, an elaborate pediment, decorative brick corbeling, and single roof brackets decorating its brick front. Lintels with acanthus decoration etched into the surface crown the elongated windows on the second story. , Merchandise available in Haugen's store included groceries, shoes for men, women, and children, ready-to-wear for women, and dry goods like fabric, thread, fancy work, and even the equipment and supplies needed to do "pyrography" or decorative wood-burning. Haugen's staff included a manager for the grocery department, a shoe department manager and assisting salesman, a drapery manager, a dry goods department head, a ready-to-wear manager, a lingerie department head, another who headed the jewelry and cosmetics department, a bookkeeper and four additional salespeople who helped out where needed. Each of the department heads did the purchasing for their department from drummers or traveling salesmen who would bring the merchandise to the store in large trunks and other containers so Mr. Haugen and his staff could examine the contents and make choices for the store. The Marshall Field Company of Chicago and I. and S. Bing of Cincinnati, Ohio were two of the companies that were Haugen's suppliers. , [other photo captions] , . Haugen with the assistance of his department heads ordered inventory from Marshall Fields in Chicago and the I. and S. Bing Co. of Cincinnati among others. Drummers or traveling salesmen would bring samples to the store for examination by Haugen and his staff. Catalogs illustrated styles and listed prices for their dealers. , . A monthly “Store News” was sent out to advertise seasonal items and specials. , . The monthly “Store News” contained items for sale in the store as well as household tips, directions for do-it-yourself projects, suggestions for family outings, and pages for children to enjoy. , . K.I. Haugen and his family lived in West Decorah in an Italianate home on South Street (now Fifth Avenue). , Funding for this sign provided by: Constance and Joel Johnson