Andy Zimmerman, Special to the Statesman Journal 9:07 p.m. PT Feb. 23, 2017

Cinnamon Bear was a fixture of the holiday at Lipmans in downtown Salem. His furry embrace and yummy Cinnamon Bear cookies greeted scores of youngsters who visited the department store over the years.(Photo: Statesman Journal file)Buy Photo

It went from being an eye opener to an eye sore; it was a sign of growth and a tale of downtown decay.

When Lipman, Wolfe & Co. announced on April 21, 1953, it was going to build a store in Salem, it was part of a department store boon. Five weeks earlier, Meier & Frank told of its plans for a downtown Salem store. And later in the decade, Sears constructed a store in the new Capitol Shopping Center.

When completed, the $3 million Lipman store would be the largest department store in Oregon, outside of Portland, store officials told the Oregon Statesman. The new store, at the southwest corner of Chemeketa and Liberty streets NE, was once the site of a home known as A.N. Gilbert house, which was torn down in 1930. The family still owned the property at the time it was leased to Lipmans, the newspaper reported.

Before the Dec. 29, 1953, groundbreaking, a luncheon was held at the Marion Hotel, where Salem Mayor Al Loucks presented the ceremonial keys to the city to Harold Wendel of Lipman, Wolfe & Co. of Portland in connection with the pouring of the first cement for the store.

Among the guests was Agnes Schucking, who was born 70 years earlier on the store site at Liberty and Chemeketa.

Lipmans, which might be best remembered for the Cinnamon Bear radio story character that was part of its Christmas advertising, opened its Salem store on Sept. 9, 1954. Oregon Gov. Paul Patterson cut a foot-wide pink-satin ribbon across the Liberty Street entrance. The store had four floors, with a tea room (the Cherry Room), lunch counter (The Chocolate Bar), a beauty salon and a fourth-floor terrace.

Focal point of interest inside the Liberty Street entrance on opening day will be an antique sled filled with 30 dozen roses, the Capital Journal reported on Sept. 8, 1954. The sled, of hand carved wood, once belonged to a duchess in the court of Queen Marie Antionette, according to Lipmans interior decorators.

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Tea for nearly 200 guests would be served daily in Lipmans elegant Cherry Room, the Oregon Statesman said.

Tea at Lipmans will become as much a Salem tradition as picnics in Bushs Pasture and concerts in Willson Park, store officials told the Oregon Statesman.

In 1979, the store closed for two days and re-emerged with a new owner, Marshall Field, and a new name, Frederick & Nelson.

The store closed abruptly on Oct. 2, 1986. Forty employees lost their jobs, according to a story in the Oct. 3, 1986, Statesman Journal. The stores windows were boarded up shortly thereafter.

Outside of a few events held inside the otherwise empty store, the building stood empty for nearly nine years. A new owner in 1991 did little to the property.

The city was in the process of condemning the property when it was sold in June 1995 to another developer, who remodeled the building.

The newly named Liberty Plaza opened the following year, with LaBelle Fleur opening its doors on Oct. 14, 1996, as the first store.

Andy Zimmerman is a former Statesman Journal copy editor who writes a column about local history twice per month. You can contact him with comments or suggestions for future stories at SJTimeCapsule@gmail.com.

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Do you know of an iconic Salem event, location or business that has been lost to history and should be remembered? Send suggestions to SJTimeCapsule@gmail.com.

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Heritage: Liberty Plaza used to be fancy Lipman's - Statesman Journal