Mammel’s Food Store Then and Now

601 W Chestnut St / Wyatt Earp Blvd

Before affordable automobiles and corporate consolidation, Dodge City supported a ridiculous number of grocery stores. We went from a healthy 13 in 1915 to a whopping 36 around 1942. And that didn’t include specialty bakeries, dairies, and meat markets! By 1962, that number had declined to 20.

The block bordered by Chestnut and Front Streets between Fifth and Sixth Avenues was considered suburban in the early days. The 1887 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map shows a frame dwelling at what was then 208 Front Street with a two-story barn at 121 Chestnut. Street numbers were standardized around 1909 and the block remained strictly residential until the 1920s.

By 1926, a wood frame commercial building had replaced the barn at 601 W Chestnut. Donald Dunn, who also owned the Dunn Dry Goods store, operated a Graham-Paige and Cadillac dealership on that corner. Dunn sold the business to G. E. T. Motor Company of Elkhart in June of 1929.

The grand opening was held on August 17 of that year.

However, the building was vacant by December of 1929 and it then underwent a complete renovation for the Miller-Smith Baking Company. Roy Miller previously worked at the Perfect Bakery and Merle Smith had been a manager of the Piggly Wiggly. Yes, Dodge City had a Piggly Wiggly.

The 1932 Sanborn shows the wholesale bakery taking up the whole two lots.

Miller-Smith upgraded the name of their bread from Perfect to Purity but the recipe was unchanged.

The Randall Baking Company of Liberal bought the Miller-Smith Baking Company in June of 1944 but all of their equipment was for sale by August of 1947.

Furr Food Stores held a grand opening in the former bakery on January 28, 1948. 7,000 tickets were reportedly issued at the door during the three-hour event.

Furr closed its doors in June of 1952.

John Pressney owned the building at this time, and he actually considered splitting the building into separate spaces. Instead, he leased the entire building to Mammel’s Food Stores of Hutchinson.

The building was completely remodeled again including a new front. Mammel’s held an open house with a live broadcast by KGNO on January 22, 1953 and was open for business beginning January 23.

Free parking in the lot across Fifth Avenue was a great perk for shoppers in the days of metered parking.

The new store boasted five checkout stands and automatic doors.

The back of the building along Front Street contained the meat and produce storage coolers as well as a kitchen for prepared deli foods.

In the mid-1950s, Mammel’s expanded into the building next door to the west where the Paul Warner Appliance store had been. The store became a Jack & Jill in March of 1968.

A complete rebranding took place at that time.

Mammel’s moved to the new Village Square Shopping Center in July of 1970 and the building on Wyatt Earp was demolished as part of the Urban Renewal Project.

The Jack & Jill Food Center ultimately dropped the Mammel’s name and closed around 1981.

This is how the Mammel’s location looks today:

Mammel’s was only one of many stores to view the grass up north as greener. Recent events have shown that to be an illusion. There’s a lot to love about Downtown Dodge.

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