Rogers Trading Company

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Rogers Trading Co logo.jpg

Rogers Trading Company (originally Rogers Army Navy Store) was a military surplus and outdoor store. It was founded in 1945 by Louis and Blanche Rogoff and occupied the Wright-Acton Building on the southeast corner of 2nd Avenue and 24th Street North.

The Rogoffs' son Lee purchased the company in 1971 and moved the store to a larger space nearby in the 1928 Maring Ford building at 1st Avenue North and 25th Street. He had the exterior of the two-story building painted in an over-scaled army camouflage pattern. The business came to embrace that it occupied "the ugly building on 1st Avenue", even giving out "Ugly Bucks" as store premiums during the holiday shopping season.

Rogers Army Navy Store was an official retailer for Boy Scout uniforms and equipment. In the 1990s it phased out much of its military surplus stock in favor of higher-end clothing lines and technical outdoor equipment. They repainted the building in neutral colors a few years before moving out of downtown to 140 Resource Center Parkway off of U.S. Highway 280 in 1995.

In the new location, Rogers Trading Company continued to evolve as a lifestyle store with more women's fashion lines. Rogers Trading Company closed when Lee Rogoff retired in 2016.

References

  • Markham, Madoline (May 1, 2012) "Rogers Trading Company." 280 Living
  • Techo, Erica (November 14, 2016) "Rogers Trading Company closing after 70 years." 280 Living