One of five buildings erected on North Last Chance Gulch following the 1928 fire, the Art Deco New York Store, commonly known as
Fligelman's has rich embellishment on its facade, consisting primarily of recessed stone panels above and below the second story windows containing floral motifs, shields and, in the centre, an eagle. Each of these represents an ancient Florentine guild. Stone quoins surround those windows as well as the stepped centre section of the façade. At the stepped parapet, capped with flat stones, is a larger, more ornate cartouche displaying three wings in flight that graphically represents the significance of the name "
Fligelman". It is flanked by two small sculptures, the left one representing a tailor, the right one a seamstress.
The New York Store, which later became Fligelman's and the J. M McDonald Co., was founded in Helena in 1885 by Henry Loble, Robert Heller, George Frankfort and Herman Fligelman. Moving to this site in 1902, the New York Store was destroyed in the fire of 1928. Rebuilt, the store held its Formal Opening on July 8, 1929. The full page advertisement below was run in the July 7, 1929 issue of the Helena Independent, touting the grand reopening of the store, which took place the next day.
The New York Store is one of five buildings erected after the 1928 fire, which was started by lightning on July 14 of that year, taking out all of the west side of the block on North Last Chance Gulch except the Power Block, on the north end. From north to south, the five are: Gold Block - 1929, New York Store - 1929, Lalonde Building - 1928, Granite Building - 1928, Hartwig Building - 1928.
Buildings erected on N. Main following the 1928 fire
These buildings exhibit the influences of Art Moderne, Beaux Arts and Mission style design in the work of George Carsley, John G. Link and Charles S. Haire. Replacing the three to five-story buildings which burned on these sites, these two-story, one-part and two-part plans reflect harsher economic conditions in Helena as the Great Depression approached.
From the NRHP Registration Form
New York Store - Fligelman's
Herman Fligelman was an immigrant to the U. S. from Romania, and made his start in the retail business by peddling notions on the street corners of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He soon come west in search of new markets, and with his partner Robert Heller began selling goods in the Helena area. Fligelman worked out of Minneapolis, shipping goods west for Heller to peddle. Henry Loble soon joined the company, moving from Minneapolis to Helena to work with Heller.
After six months of peddling wares in the Helena area, Heller and Loble opened a store on Bridge Street (later State Street), near the intersection of Main and Bridge, adjacent to the Bristol Hotel. This was the end of peddling and the beginning of a solid retail establishment, "H. Loble & Co.". It was then that George Frankfort, an experienced Helena dry goods merchant, joined the company...
...In 1887, Herman Fligelman came to Helena to visit the store; he was then operating out of New York, purchasing and shipping goods to the Helena outlet. In 1891, the New York Dry Goods Company was incorporated, with Fligelman as President.
At that time the new company faced stiff competition from the established firms of Sands Bros., Raleigh and Clark, Brunell &. Co., Fowles and Co., Van Wort's and the I X L Bazzar. Those were prosperous days in Helena, and the New York Dry Goods Co. succeeded by keeping quality high.
The store was at the Bridge St. location from 1885 to 1892, when it moved to newly remodeled quarters on Main street...
...In 1902, The New York Store moved north to 46 N. Main Street, into a building constructed for it by the A. M. Holter Co. That lovely store was destroyed by the July 16, 1928 fire.
From Helena History