For nearly seven decades the name of Skinner was an important part of business life in Albert Lea. And for all those years Bert Skinner and his son, Albert, owned and operated the city’s premier department store.

However, Bert’s contribution to local life wasn’t just based on a big store building on South Broadway Avenue. He was also responsible for the creation of Edgewater Park (south portion) and the present location of the Albert Lea Country Club.

Bert Skinner was born on a farm near Glenville on Sept. 21, 1868. He obtained what was described as a &uot;limited&uot; education at a nearby country school. Bert left home at the age of 19, attended high school in Albert Lea for four months, and then worked for a general store in Northwood, Iowa. This was followed by four years at a grocery store in Minneapolis.

This member of the Skinner family returned to Albert Lea in 1892 with just $5 in his pocket, according to a 1956 article in The Community Magazine. He went to work for the Hovland Mercantile Co. which later became the Albert Lea Mercantile Co., owned by George Emmons. Bert purchased the business from Emmons in 1897 and changed the name to the Skinner Mercantile Co.

In 1902, Bert Skinner purchased the much larger Gage, Hayden and Co. business on South Broadway Avenue. This store in a much larger building had an opera house and offices on the upper two floors and was then known as the Big Four Store.)

Bert soon persuaded a brother, Frank, to relocate his nearby grocery store to the new site. Also becoming a part of this expanding venture was their brother-in-law, William G. Chamberlain, who owned a neighboring men’s clothing store. The result of this merger was Skinner, Chamberlain and Co.

Bert earned the title of &uot;creative merchant&uot; for his many innovations made to create an outstanding department store for Albert Lea. Through the early years the store expanded into the former opera house and offices portion and had many retail sections which made it an important destination for shoppers from rural areas and nearby communities.

These sections or departments included the grocery store (which closed about 1960), men’s and women’s clothing, infants and children’s clothing, household goods, furniture, appliances, records and radios, a beauty shop, and even a soda fountain in the earlier years.

In those earlier days, most stores apparently had men clerks. Skinner believed women could do the jobs equally well. He also advocated the training of those clerks so they could do better jobs to serve the customers. In time, the store had 100 to 125 employees, both men and women.

A 1967 article in the Tribune said, &uot;Retailing was an instinct with Mr. Skinner who was a pioneer in many ideas &045; many concerned recent innovations such as direct buying, discounting, the use of premiums or stamps as a selling tool, and many others.&uot;

Skinner, Chamberlain also installed the first passenger elevator in the city, reportedly the first in the state south of the Twin Cities. Another popular addition to the store in the 1920s was an escalator, the first one in Albert Lea.

About 1914, Bert became aware that part of a lakeside knoll and adjoining land northwest of the city was for sale. He purchased 70 acres for $11,000 with the intention of developing a city park. Despite the fact he was then the head of the city’s park board, it took another 10 years for part of this property to become the south portion of Edgewater Park.

Another part of this property became the new location for the Albert Lea Country Club. Prior to the 1920s, the city’s golfers had a course located in what’s now Shoreland Heights. (The Fairway street name is based on the existence of this earlier golf course.)

Skinner always took pride in his part in creation of these two recreational areas. He actually never made a cent of profit from this particular land purchase.

Several significant changes came in the 1930s and ’40s for the city’s largest store. William G. Chamberlain died in 1938. His son, George Chamberlain, became the firm’s vice president, then died in 1948. Also, in 1948, Bert Skinner became the chairman of the corporation’s board of directors. His son, Albert, was then promoted to the position of president. And sometime later the store’s name was changed to Skinners, although the older name of Skinner, Chamberlain was still being used by the public.

Albert Skinner was born on Oct. 25, 1900. He graduated from Albert Lea High School in 1918, and Carleton College in 1922.

Albert was a member of the Albert Lea Chamber of Commerce for more than 50 years, past president of the Chamber’s retail division, past president of the Northwest Retail Association, and charter member of Jobs Inc. He was also a director of Interstate Power Co. for 30 years, a bank director for 28 years, and a member of the Albert Lea County Club for 55 years.

Bert Skinner, age 98, died on May 26, 1967, at Naeve Hospital, a place he helped to organize four decades earlier. A few months later the department store he started was sold to G. R. Herberger’s Inc. of St. Cloud.

Albert Skinner died on Dec. 21, 1978, is Palm Springs, Calif., and is buried in Albert Lea’s Graceland Cemetery.

Ed Shannon’s column on Friday, Jan. 31, will have more information about the history of the south portion of Edgewater Park.