Community Chronicles

By Jarred Marlowe

In 1915, a twenty-year-old merchant with four hundred dollars to his name arrived in Martinsville, Virginia, looking to build a future. Encouraged by traveling salesmen he met while working in Sam Bender’s store in Waynesboro, Abe Globman visited the small tobacco town and saw promise. Martinsville had only four thousand residents, cobblestone streets, few automobiles, and a growing commercial square. He rented a vacant two thousand square foot building on the courthouse square near where WHEE Radio would later stand, paying twenty five dollars for a month’s rent, and opened United Department Store.

Following advice from Bender, he avoided using his own name at first, believing it might make it easier to deny requests for credit. That restraint did not last long. Within months, Globman began extending credit to customers, laying the foundation for what would become thousands of charge accounts over the decades.

After securing the space, he traveled by train to Philadelphia and spent nearly all his savings on merchandise, returning with only twelve dollars left. When the shipment arrived, he discovered an unexpected forty dollar freight charge and found himself twenty eight dollars short. With no local contacts to cosign a loan, he sat in his store unsure of what would come next. Salvation arrived in the form of a local farmer with thirteen children who needed shoes. The sale raised enough money to release the goods, and Globman was officially in business.

Later that year, Abe married Masha, and the two returned to Martinsville to build the store together. They lived modestly and worked long hours, often from early morning until midnight on Saturdays. Their children grew up inside the store itself, sleeping on counters while their parents worked. A pot bellied stove provided heat and meals, and the store became both home and livelihood.

The early years were marked by experimentation and risk. Temporary branches opened in Chatham and Leaksville, North Carolina, though neither lasted. By the early nineteen twenties, the Martinsville store expanded into neighboring space, and in 1925 Abe purchased the buildings outright. During basement excavation, the structure collapsed overnight. Though inventory was damaged, the decision was made to rebuild and add a second floor. The community rallied, and the store reopened six months later.

By the late nineteen twenties, the family tried again with branch stores. This time the efforts succeeded. Globman’s of Galax and later Leaksville flourished for decades. The Martinsville store continued to grow, reaching thirteen thousand square feet by the mid nineteen thirties. Abe and Masha’s children excelled academically, graduating valedictorians of Martinsville High School and later returning home to work in the business.

In 1944, Abe made one of his boldest decisions, purchasing a large tract on Church Street far from the town’s commercial center. Despite skepticism from the financial community, he envisioned a modern department store that would anchor future growth. After overcoming repeated loan rejections, construction began. On May 11, 1950, the new fifty four thousand square foot Globman’s opened to enormous crowds, music, radio broadcasts, and civic celebration. Abe Globman was soon known locally as the Merchant Prince.

Further expansions followed with the purchase of neighboring church properties, allowing the store to grow to one hundred twenty thousand square feet by 1961. At its height, Globman’s housed multiple retailers, offered free parking through its Park and Shoppe program (you could park for free if you purchased more than $1.95 in goods), and employed longtime department heads trusted by generations of customers.

The store remained a family enterprise across three generations until its closure in 1991. When Abe Globman died in 1979 at age eighty-five, his left his legacy in Martinsville, through determination and vision, he elevated not only himself and his family, but an entire community.

Jarred Marlowe is a local resident and historian. He is a member of the Col. George Waller Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, the Blue & Gray Education Society, and the committee chair for the Martinsville-Henry County 250 Committee. He may be reached at marloweja15@gmail.com.