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Editor's note: This is part of a 15-story series titled "If These Walls Could Talk" completed by Pioneer reporters with help from the Beltrami County Historical Society for our 2023 Annual Report.

Before becoming the bustling Books N More in downtown Bemidji, Gill Brothers Clothing established its presence within the city and in people鈥檚 closets.

Opened in 1903 by three brothers, Samuel, Phil and David Gill, the store became a family affair meant to serve those in the lumberjack trade and provide heavy, warm clothing for them in the colder months.

The store initially opened at 216 Minnesota Ave. NW just south of the town鈥檚 main business street. A devastating fire at 221 Third Street in February 1907 destroyed most of the wooden building at that address owned by Charles F. Schroeder. He immediately built a fine new building on what was left of the foundation.

Although owned by Schroeder, Gill Brothers decided that it would be a better location on Third Street next to First National Bank Bemidji, and they made the move into the new building. At first, they shared the building with Schroeder, who retained part of it as his residence.

Samuel Gill returned to Minneapolis in 1907, and David bought out his brother Phil in 1929. In 1938, David Gill enlisted his son Bill as a business partner for Gill Brothers Clothing. Bill鈥檚 sister Helen worked alongside Bill until 1980 when the pair retired.

Another sister, Noreen, opened Gill鈥檚 Shoe and Luggage at 419 Beltrami Ave. NW in 1941 and ran it until retirement in 1980.

Bill鈥檚 sons Jeff (who lived in Bemidji from 1955 to 1973 before heading to the University of Minnesota) and Jack both had high school jobs at the store and would make occasional appearances in the Pioneer showing off their style savviness whenever the store would be featured in a story.

Such memories have not left Jeff鈥檚 head.

鈥淢y favorite story 鈥� there was a feature of the store where it stated that Gill Brothers opens at 9:05 a.m., meaning my dad would often be five minutes late opening the store,鈥� Jeff recounted, 鈥渂ut it could not have been blamed on the rush hour commute.鈥�

Having long solidified its place in the community, a certain staple of Gill Brothers came into being: the store dog named Penny, a golden lab.

鈥淪ometimes, Roby Aylesworth from the Bemidji Bus Line would pick her up on the bus and drop her off at the store on really cold days,鈥� Jeff added. 鈥淪he loved to sleep in the men鈥檚 shoe department.鈥�

Apart from local recognition, the store boasted many other accolades for its family members and employees during ownership by Gill Brothers, Inc.

Courtesy / Beltrami County Historical Society

Bill served Gill Brothers Menswear as its president and remained active in the menswear industry before moving to California upon retirement. He became a member of the Screen Actors Guild and has been featured in 鈥淯nsolved Mysteries鈥� among other television shows.

Helen was chosen as the Outstanding Woman of the Year by the Bemidji Jaycees in 1975 and served several prestigious offices in the clothing industry on a national and regional level. Specifically, she became the first woman director of Menswear Retailers of America, an organization of roughly 8,000 stores.

Noreen Gill was the first woman on both the National Shoe Board and the Minnesota Retailers Board.

Phyllis Fradet was a seamstress at Gill Bros, but she also worked as a seamstress for the Bemidji State University Athletic Department and for the Minnesota Vikings when they used Bemidji as their summer camp from 1961 to 1965.

Since the Gill siblings retired, the building has gone through numerous changes of ownership. Its tenants include Sullivan鈥檚 Clothing, the Bemidji Area Chamber of Commerce, and B&B Comics in the 1990s.

In December 2010, Mark and Rabecca Wilkowski took the helm from KRKB Music Outlet and opened up Books N More. The store started selling textbooks but rapidly expanded. In an interview with Lakeland TV, Mark recalled that the basement had housed studio rooms. When a couple of the music teachers didn鈥檛 have a place to go, they wanted to keep using the same studio rooms.

鈥淚t just made sense to carry some instruments and sell some consumables such as guitar strings or instrument reeds or things like that,鈥� Mark said.

The store has since expanded its offerings to movies, video games, musical instruments and Frisbees 鈥� to name just a few items 鈥� and the basement is used as well as the main floor.

鈥淲e鈥檝e done some pretty good business here,鈥� Mark said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a great spot for us.鈥�