There was a question during Saturday’s presentation on Missing Milwaukee about the dates involved of the closing of TA Chapman’s downtown store at the intersection of Milwaukee and Wisconsin Ave. An article in the Milwaukee Sentinel from Thursday, January 22, 1981, detailed the final sale of all merchandise in the store.
By 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, there wasn’t much left in Downtown Chapman’s and the doors closed for the last time.
Like many of the unsold fixtures, many of the clerks and managers will be distributed to Chapman’s stores in the Northridge, Brookfield Square and Bay Shore malls.
The owners of Chapman’s are negotiating with the Milwaukee county Historical Society to see if historians can’t find a safe spot for T.A.’s fireplace and portrait.
A Sentinel article from September 26, 1984 talked about the opening of the now complete 411 Building. The article was entitled, “New Building Comes to Life With Fireworks, Party” and was in the Local News section.
The Wikipedia page for the T.A. Chapman Co., links to an article about the company finally going bankrupt in 1987, a few years after the downtown store was closed.
This should help to clarify some of the dates that I talked about.