Joslins was a chain of department stores that was based in Denver, Colorado, United States.
History Joslins Department Store began as J. Joslins Dry Goods Store, founded by John Jay Joslin in 1873; it was a direct competitor to The Denver Dry Goods Company which commenced operations in 1888. The original Joslin Dry Goods Company Building is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, and is currently a Courtyard by Marriott property.
Around 1910, Joslin sold the business to H.B. Claflin & Company, which collapsed in 1914. Two store chains were created from the bankruptcy: Associated Dry Goods and Mercantile Stores Company, Inc. As a nameplate of Mercantile Stores, Joslins became the first Denver-based department store to build branch locations in the 1940s, later expanding the chain with larger anchor stores in malls in the 1960s and 1970s.
In 1998, the Dillard's department store chain purchased Mercantile Stores, converting most of the then-existing Joslin's stores to Dillard's stores. One former Joslin's store in Colorado Springs and the recently opened flagship store at Park Meadows in Lone Tree were sold by Dillard's to The May Department Stores Company, which converted the Colorado Springs store to a Foley's and the Park Meadows store to the Denver area's second Lord & Taylor store.
Locations Location Address Opened Closed Disposition Downtown Denver 934 16th Street, Denver 1873 1995 redeveloped into Courtyard by Marriott, 1996 building received National Historic Register designation, 1997 Greeley 825-827 Eighth St, Greeley 1944 1973 moved to 1015 9th Ave, 1963 replaced by Greeley Mall location, 1973 Englewood 3470 S Broadway, Englewood 1945 1954 Nielsen's Department Store acquired in 1945 replaced by 3315 South Broadway location Lakewood 7308 W Colfax Ave, Lakewood 1946 1957 replaced by JCRS Shopping Center location Aurora 9620 E Colfax Ave, Aurora 1949 Merchants' Park Shopping Center 627 S Broadway, Denver 1952 Englewood 3315 S Broadway, Englewood 1954 Boulder 1919 14th St, Boulder 1956 1980 first three/four floors of Colorado Building remodeled into offices Lakewood JCRS Shopping Center, 6715 W Colfax Ave, Lakewood 1957 early 1970s space redeveloped into Casa Bonita Villa Italia 7200 W Alameda Ave, Lakewood 1966 2000 converted to a Dillard's store, 1998 redeveloped for Belmar Pueblo southeast corner of Main Street and W 4th Street, Pueblo 1970 1976 Crews-Beggs Dry Goods Co acquired in 1959, changed to Joslin's name in 1970 replaced by Pueblo Mall location, 1976 Cinderella City Englewood 1968 1995 replaced by Southglenn Mall location, 1995 Buckingham Square Mall 1440 S Havana St, Aurora 1971 2005 converted to a Dillard's store, 1998 redeveloped for The Gardens on Havana Greeley Mall 2050 Greeley Mall, Greeley 1973 2008 converted to a Dillard's store, 1998 closed, 2008 Pueblo Mall 3601 Dillon Dr, Pueblo 1976 converted to a Dillard's store, 1998 Westminster Mall 5433 W 88th Ave, Westminster 1977 2011 converted to a Dillard's store, 1998 closed, 2011 Southwest Plaza 8501 W Bowles Ave, Littleton 1983 2006 converted to a Dillard's store, 1998 converted to a Dick's Sporting Goods and Steve & Barry's, 2006Frontier Mall1400 Dell Range Blvd, Cheyenne, WY19832021converted to a Dillard's store, 1998 closed, 2021 location purchased by Appliance Factory & Mattress Kingdom, 2023Chapel Hills Mall1750 Briargate Blvd, Colorado Springs19851998location purchased by May and converted to Foley's, 1998 converted to a Macy's, 2006Twin Peaks Mall1250 S Hover St, Longmont1985c. 2008converted to a Dillard's store, 1998 redeveloped for Village at the Peaks, 2014 Southglenn Mall 6911 S University Blvd, Centennial 1994 2006 converted to a Dillard's store, 1998 redeveloped for The Streets at SouthGlenn, 2006 Park Meadows 8425 Park Meadows Center Dr, Lone Tree 1997 1998 location purchased by May, 1998, and converted to Lord & Taylor, 1999
Further reading Barnhouse, Mark A. (November 2018). Lost Department Stores of Denver. Arcadia Publishing.
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