Gamble-Skogmo, Inc. built a $2 million
home office building
at Highway 12 and Vernon Avenue, opening January 7, 1968 on
6-1/2 acres. The site had been Evanoff’s truck gardens. It
was built by the E.R. Conry Construction Co. Co-founder Bert
C. Gamble and Governor Orville Freeman were present at the
Open House. The address of the building was 5100 Gamble
Drive, although it mostly fronted Highway 100. It was
made of 180,000 bricks and 248 tons of stone. A tour
brochure described many lavish furnishings
The facility was built to serve
550 retail stores in the four-state area. In 1966 the
facility supported 300 employees. Early computers handled
65,000 “flexipay” accounts, invoice receipts for three
warehouses, and tracked 25,000 items. A company spokesman
said that the biggest job the computer does is to
automatically read and analyze cash register tapes for the
Tempo stores. This in 1966!
April 7, 1982
Gamble and Phil Skogmo, boyhood friends from Arthur, North Dakota,
came to Minnesota separately in 1920. They opened a
car dealership in Fergus Falls, but found that the auto
parts business was the most lucrative. They opened the first Gamble-Skogmo
Auto Supply Store in 1925 in St. Cloud.
Their stores went from selling only auto supplies to
housewares, hardware, appliances, etc. From 1925 to 1928
they were headquartered in Fergus Falls.
By 1928 they had 55
stores and they moved to Minneapolis, most notably at 700 N.
Washington for 18 years, and 8th and Hennepin for 22 years.
The company was
franchised, and at its peak, it had almost 4,200 stores in 38 states.
It also owned Gambles
Department Stores, Red Owl, and Snyder Drug Stores.
Philip Skogmo died in 1949. In 1977 Bert Gamble retired, and
the
company was sold to Wickes in 1980. Wickes went bankrupt in
1982. The company that was Gamble-Skogmo was sold off
in pieces.
This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.