Gordman's

Gordmans

"Something Unexpected"
Type	Subsidary
Industry	Retail
Founded	1915
Headquarters	Omaha, Nebraska
Number of locations	50 (2017)
Products	Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, and housewares
Owner	Stage Stores, Inc.
Number of employees	1,630
Website	gordmans.com
Footnotes / references

Gordmans is a chain of Midwestern off-price department stores founded and headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. The retailer operates 50 locations in 22 states in the United States.

The company's origins date back to the early 20th century when Sam Richman opened a small clothing store in Omaha in 1915. Richman's Outfitters to the Family occupied a small storefront at 16th and Chicago in downtown Omaha. Dan Gordman joined Richman as a full partner in the business and married his daughter Esther. After several years, the business grew to occupy the entire building at 16th and Chicago. In 1948, a second store was opened in South Omaha, Nebraska and Gordman purchased Richman's remaining interest in the company, and changed the name to Richman Gordman.

During the 1960s, Gordman's sons and nephew joined the business and positioned the company for more aggressive expansion. In the early 1970s, the company expanded beyond Nebraska. Richman Gordman opened two stores in Des Moines, Iowa followed by another location in Topeka, Kansas. Its 10th store opened in Grand Island, Nebraska in 1974. Gordman was among the first to incorporate central checkouts, shopping carts, and self-service shoes to Omaha and was also one of the first stores to be open on Sundays.

In 1975, Gordman opened a small test store in South Omaha at 25th and L Streets named the 1/2 Price Store. The concept was to sell Richman Gordman merchandise at half price. This led to the opening of six more 1/2 Price Stores in the 1970s; a separate corporate structure was built to accommodate the growing business. By the company's 75th anniversary in 1990, it operated 16 1/2 Price Store off-price department stores and 16 Richman Gordman department stores. In 1992, however, Richman Gordman filed for bankruptcy protection, and all of its department stores closed. The off-price department store division became the company's sole focus after it emerged from bankruptcy under the Richman Gordman 1/2 Price Stores name in 1993.

By 1996, all 1/2 Price Stores were converted into the Gordmans brand. The company decided to develop a new prototype store and attempted to improve the store's presentation. The first two Gordmans stores opened in Tulsa, Oklahoma in August 1999.