Brunts Menswear
From WikiMarion
As the store’s inventory grew, so did the business. At one point, it had six stores open throughout Indiana. Brunt’s had businesses in Marion, Gas City, Lebanon, Brownsburg, Crawfordsville and Wabash. In 1957, the store in Wabash moved to 123 E. Third St. and remained a store in Marion until 2006. Brunt’s had a significant indirect effect on the Marion economy. It played a major role in how businessmen dressed. These businessmen would need nice suits, ties, shoes and slacks for work in order to look professional for their jobs. It also was quite successful in Marion, bringing in a fair amount of revenue to help the economy in Marion directly (Bragg).
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[edit] Early Years
The store was actually started in 1903 by T.C. Rupel, a businessman from Pittsburgh. Rupel was not satisfied with the business, and he sold the store on 3022 S. Washington Street to Charles Brunt in 1904 (Kipp D2). At that point, Brunts sold only shoes and socks.
As the years progressed, the store began to sell more menswear, and not just shoes. Its shoes varied from dress shoes to working boots. Factory workers, or other laborers who could afford boots, would try to go to Brunt’s to buy their work boots. Brunt’s was a “blue-collar working man store."
In the early 1900’s, customer and employee relationships meant a lot to the customer, and Brunt’s strove to have the best service in the city. They focused on treating their customers like family. Once a person would buy one item from Brunt’s, the quick service and friendly attitude made the customer want to come back for another purchase. This is how Brunt’s began to gain major success in Marion, and started to become a major asset to the Marion economy (Bragg).
[edit] Middle Years
[edit] Transition and Expansion
As Charles grew old and became sick, he needed someone to take over his business. His son, Richard Brunt, had studied at Indiana University for four years, and had all the qualifications needed to make the business grow. Richard was a very friendly person, and had a way of making peoples’ day (Bragg). Under his name in the 1926 Marion High School Yearbook, it read, “Dick possesses the faculty of making and keeping friends (Cactus).” Throughout the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, Charles helped train his son to someday run the store by himself.
In 1957, Brunt’s moved from its location on 3022 S. Washington Street, to 123 E. Third Street, where Richard began to take over. Richard was a very good salesman. When the new General Motors plant came to Marion, Richard wanted all the workers to wear his shoes. So he packed his truck full of boots that the factory workers could wear, and drove to the plant, and sold the boots out of the back of his truck. Richard helped expand the store so that it one day had six locations in central Indiana.
[edit] The "Fire Sale"
However, after time, the store was starting to go under, and only 123 the E. Third Street location remained. The store was then owned by Richard Brunt and his partner Dale Whitton. The store was getting ready to have a closing sale, when the store next door caught on fire. The smoke from the store next door protruded into Brunt’s Menswear, and ruined the remaining items that were going to be sold. This fire turned out to be a blessing for the store. The store had insurance on the building and insurance on all the items that were ruined. When the new items came to the store, Richard Bragg conducted one of the best sales in Brunt’s history. “The Fire Sale,” as the employees later called it, was very successful, and helped save the business (Bragg).
[edit] Later Years
In 1990, Richard Brunt died, leaving the company to Dale Whitton, who was also getting old (Census). Whitton wanted the business to keep going so he sold the business to Richard Bragg, who had worked at the store since he was in high school in 1967. Whitton was like a father to Richard Bragg and had taught and mentored Bragg until he was ready to take over the company (Kipp D2). Richard followed Brunt and Whitton’s policy of treating the customer like a family member. The store still received good business from young and old that sought comfort in the friendliness of Brunts (Bragg). Although the store was able to compete with the many new stores that had come and gone in Marion for over a hundred years, it eventually closed on January 28, 2006 (Kipp A1). Many people found the closing of Brunt’s depressing. People had been coming to Brunt’s for their clothing for generations. When it closed, many people did not know where they would find the clothes and service (Kipp D1).
[edit] Overview
For the century Brunt’s was open, it suited and clothed many people from central Indiana. It grew from one small store on 3022 S. Washington Street, to six locations throughout central Indiana. Brunt’s prided itself with giving the customer great service. Charles Brunt passed his philosophies to Richard Brunt and Dale Whitton, who then passed it to Richard Bragg.
Over the years, Marion’s economy has fluctuated, but one thing that remained constant was Brunt’s Menswear. As Marion’s economy boomed, so did Brunts. When the economy fell, Brunt’s found it hard to stay in business, but always seemed to find a way to do so, for 102 years.
[edit] Credits
This article was written by Caleb Bragg and submitted on June 4, 2007.
