Longtime family-owned clothing store signs deal to locate in downtown Lawrence

It may be the oldest new store to ever locate in downtown Lawrence. A clothing store that has been owned by the same family for the last 119 years has signed a deal to locate along Massachusetts Street.

Glik’s — a store that bills itself with the tagline of “hot fashions, preppy clothing and your denim destination” — has signed a deal to locate in the spot formerly occupied by the baking store Sweet at 717 Massachusetts St.

“Our best foot forward really is fashion,” said Jeff Glik, president and CEO of the company that is based in Granite City, Ill. “We are the first with fashion. That is really what has made us.”

The store carries men’s and women’s clothing, and major categories include outerwear, jeans, knits, woven items, dresses, footwear and other apparel. Top brands include Silver Jeans, The North Face, Yeti, Simply Southern, Flying Monkey Jeans, Alex and Ani and others.

Glik’s got its start in 1897 when Jeff Glik’s great grandfather opened a department store in downtown St. Louis. The company’s first expansion came when Jeff’s grandfather opened a store in Madison, Ill. Jeff’s father, Joe Glik, began to expand the business even more when he took over ownership, expanding in Missouri, Illinois and the upper Midwest. Jeff Glik now runs the company with his brother Jim, and their father remains active at 90 years old and frequently hits the road to visit stores. The company now has about 65 stores in 10 states. It only recently has come to Kansas, though.

The company recently opened a store in Hays. Jeff Glik, Joe Glik and other family members travel to each ribbon-cutting for a new store. The family flew into Kansas City and started its drive to Hays, but first stopped in Lawrence. By the time they left Lawrence later that day, they had a deal to locate in the former Sweet space, which is owned by longtime businessman Bob Schumm.

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“We fell in love with your town,” Jeff Glik said. “I mean triple somersaults over that town. We struck a deal in 30 minutes.”

Glik said downtown Lawrence is the type of shopping district the store loves to be in.

“Probably the most exciting thing about Lawrence is we like to be in a unique shopping environment,” Glik said. “If Massachusetts Street isn’t one of the most unique shopping environments in North America, I don’t know what is. The fact that you don’t have a mall, and the environment of Massachusetts Street really intrigued us.”

Glik’s will compete with several apparel retailers in downtown. (It, however, won’t be the oldest. Downtown Lawrence icon Weaver’s Department Store has been in business since 1857.) Glik said the store will fit in well with other downtown retailers and won’t be a “me too store,” but rather will bring new products and merchandise to help broaden the appeal of downtown. He said the store will be involved in the local community in significant ways, including joining the local chamber, the downtown Lawrence association and partnering on community events. Glik said that is a business strategy he learned at a young age sitting around the dinner table listening to his father and grandfather talk about the retail business.

“The secret sauce is we were raised in the retail business,” Glik said. “We have a passion for it, and we cultivate that passion in all our associates. My earliest memories are of working in the store during Christmas season. I tell people that if I were a doctor and my dad started teaching me at 5 years old how to be a doctor, I’d probably be pretty good at it. That is how it is for us but with retail.”

Glik said the company will do some renovation work to the interior of the approximately 2,800 square-foot store. He said he hopes the Lawrence store will open in the spring of 2017. He said the store likely will employ about a dozen people.