Kline’s Manager Norm Treckman Predicts Trend Back to Downtown Shopping-October 25, 1977

Kline’s Department Store Expansion on Washington Street Signals Reversal of 20-Year Downtown Shopping Decline

Defying the conventional wisdom that thriving retail is exclusively migrating to suburban shopping malls, Norm Treckman, manager of Kline’s on Washington Street, views his store’s major expansion as the beginning of a nationwide reversal. “This is the beginning of a trend back to shopping in downtown areas,” Treckman stated. “And it will continue if the downtown merchants are willing to put forth the effort.”

Kline’s—a New York-based department store chain with retail outlets primarily across the Midwest—originally moved into the former Parke-Snow building in July 1973. Treckman announced that the store is currently undergoing extensive renovations to double its ground-floor retail space by expanding into the adjacent vacant F.W. Woolworth’s store. The project involves removing three of the five dividing wall sections, moving administrative offices to the street level for customer convenience, and introducing one or two new departments ahead of a planned Thanksgiving completion.

The Value of Foot Traffic and Customer Service Over Parking

Treckman explained that Kline’s chose Norwood because of its strong household income levels and the “tremendous amount of foot traffic” pulsing through the downtown district. He argued that parking complaints in downtown areas are often overstated, noting the double standard of shoppers who willingly walk a quarter-mile from their cars at a suburban mall while complaining if they cannot park directly in front of a downtown storefront.

Drawing strong foot traffic, Treckman noted, requires downtown merchants to adopt sophisticated mall-style strategies, including sales, credit accounts, promotional discounts, and coordinated advertising. Furthermore, he emphasized that a successful downtown ecosystem needs anchor tenants, banks, restaurants, gift shops, and drugstores working collaboratively.

Stressing that exceptional customer service remains the ultimate key to retail survival, Treckman concluded, “In terms of service, the customer can buy the merchandise in 50 other places, but you can’t always guarantee a beautiful experience at the others… You’ve got to take care of your customers.”

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger