Hoskins-Meyer was a local retailer for more than 100 years, and founder of KFYR and what later became Meyer Broadcasting Company.
Hoskins-Meyer was located on the northwest corner of 4th Street & Broadway Avenue for much of its existence, in the same building still housing KFYR-TV. Its greenhouses were located at 302 East Avenue E.
Origins
R.D. Hoskins founded “Hoskins Cigar, Stationery, and Flower Store” in September 1898 at 213 Main Avenue – directly across from the railroad depot. Hoskins also owned Capital Bookstore, founded that same year inside the recently completed Tribune Block on the northwest corner of 4th Street and Broadway Avenue. It’s unclear if Hoskins was its original owner or acquired it later. In 1909, after the Tribune Block’s expansion, he relocated his original namesake store there. The retailer was one of the first in the region to offer photofinishing products and services.
The first greenhouses were built in 1900 and as time progressed, floral increasingly became the center of the retail business but it continued as a film and stationery shop for decades.
Philip Meyer, husband to Hoskin’s daughter Etta, later partnered in the business, along with R.D.’s son Brooks. It became Hoskins-Meyer in 1922. Hoskins-Meyer founded KFYR Radio in 1925. The resulting Meyer Broadcasting eventually evolved into one of North Dakota’s largest privately owned companies, encompassing several North Dakota radio and television stations, along with Bismarck-Mandan’s cable provider. The Meyer family maintained ownership of the broadcasting company until 1998.
Its original greenhouses were rebuilt in 1948 after being destroyed by a hail storm. That same year, the retail operation was sold to Lillian Henlein and John Wachtler. Wesley Bohrer, who started as a delivery person in 1948, bought out Wachtler’s interest in 1964, then Henlein’s interest in 1974.
Hoskins-Meyer vacated its downtown location in 1997, consolidating operations to its greenhouse at 302 E Avenue E.
Closure
The store closed unexpectedly at the end of 2008, without any explanation. It was later confirmed that the store closed due to financial reasons and would not re-open. The building which housed the floral retailer from 1950 until its closure, located at 302 East Avenue E, was foreclosed and ultimately auctioned off in July 2009. The former greenhouse was demolished in April 2010 to make room for a new senior housing development.
