Lens on History: Diamonds are forever, downtown shopping wasn't
Bricks and Mortar, Diamonds and Watches It was post-war America and the country was starting to feel good about itself again. Soldiers were coming home from "over there" and romance was in the air. What a great time to be in the diamond business! Max and Albert Goodman had been in the diamond business since 1907 when they opened their first jewelry store in St. Paul. By the time they arrived in Rochester, they had become an upper Midwest success story and had expanded into the camera business. They remodeled the former drugstore on the first floor of the Central Hotel in a modern architectural style. Looking at the photo above, you can almost hear the buzzing of neon. Goodman’s Jewelers opened in October of 1947 on the southeast corner of Broadway and Second Street SE. Surrounded by stores like Knowltons, Woolworths, and Sears, Goodman’s was truly in the heart of Rochester’s downtown shopping center.
ByLee Hilgendorf, <a href="mailto:History Center of Olmsted County">History Center of Olmsted County</a>
It was post-war America and the country was starting to feel good about itself again. Soldiers were coming home from "over there" and romance was in the air. What a great time to be in the diamond business!
Max and Albert Goodman had been in the diamond business since 1907 when they opened their first jewelry store in St. Paul. By the time they arrived in Rochester, they had become an Upper Midwest success story and had expanded into the camera business.
They remodeled the former drugstore on the first floor of the Central Hotel in a modern architectural style. Looking at the photo above, you can almost hear the buzzing of neon. Goodman's Jewelers opened in October 1947 on the southeast corner of Broadway and Second Street Southeast.
Surrounded by stores like Knowltons, Woolworths, and Sears, Goodman's was truly in the heart of Rochester's downtown shopping center.
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Bricks and Mortar, Diamonds and Watches It was post-war America and the country was starting to feel good about itself again. Soldiers were coming home from "over there" and romance was in the air. What a great time to be in the diamond business! Max and Albert Goodman had been in the diamond business since 1907 when they opened their first jewelry store in St. Paul. By the time they arrived in Rochester, they had become an upper Midwest success story and had expanded into the camera business. They remodeled the former drugstore on the first floor of the Central Hotel in a modern architectural style. Looking at the photo above, you can almost hear the buzzing of neon. Goodman’s Jewelers opened in October of 1947 on the southeast corner of Broadway and Second Street SE. Surrounded by stores like Knowltons, Woolworths, and Sears, Goodman’s was truly in the heart of Rochester’s downtown shopping center.
