Muldoon's Men's Wear in Eau Claire, WI

In September of 1950, my father, Frank Muldoon (Picture to the right, Frank is on the left) opened Muldoon's Men's Wear and Varsity Shop in the Gateway Shopping Center on South Hastings Way, also known as Highway 53, in the middle of open fields.  A few trees and lots of sand were our neighbors, no other retail stores.  With the exception of Wagner's Bowling Alley, Jimmy Woo's Restaurant, Austin's White House Restaurant, a small grocery store and a gas station (all within a 1/2 mile stretch), we stood alone.  Many people laughed.  Some said, "Muldoon...you'll never last six months!"

Before serving in the Air Force in WWII, my dad was a hairdresser and owned Frank's Beauty Salon in downtown Eau Claire above Edwin's Women's Store. He always felt that a women's beauty salon and a men's store would be a good combination. The right half of the building houses our store. Look closely and you can see that there was nothing around the building. Today, retail stores operate to the north, east and south of us and homes are located to the west (behind our building). Now look again. See that car? It could have belonged to Ann Landers. Ms. Landers had her hair done at the beauty salon next door. She and her family lived on Valmont Avenue just down the street from us.

In 1968, my dad expanded his menswear business into the former beauty salon next door. This wasn't the first expansion however. In 1956 he added on to the back of the building. Our total selling area is around 3000 square feet. We now have many neighbors and are situated in a very busy shopping center that has grown around us throughout the years.  I started working for my dad when I was 10 years old. It's the only job I ever had. This year, I have been with the store for 47 years. Yikes!