Alva Lease "A.L." ("Lease") Duckwall (August 30, 1877 – August 2, 1937) was an American businessman and entrepreneur, best known for founding the retailers

ALCO The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...

and Duckwall's

five and dime A variety store (also five and dime (historic), pound shop, or dollar store) is a retail store that sells general merchandise, such as apparel, automotive parts, dry goods, toys, hardware, home furnishings, and a selection of groceries. It us ...

stores.

Early life

Alva Lease Duckwall was born to Francis Marion Duckwall and Sara Elizabeth Slade on a farm near

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. The Duckwall Family moved to Greenleaf,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

in 1898, where A.L. opened and operated a repair shop for sewing machines and bicycles. Duckwall sold the Grenleaf shop, and in 1901, purchased a variety store in nearby Abilene, which offered for sale small items needed around the home. Joined by his brother, Wilbur, they called the store "Duckwall Bros. RACKET STORE - A Little of Everything."

A Chain of Duckwall's stores

After the Abilene store, a second variety store was opened in nearby Salina in 1906, and managed by Wilbur. Other ''Duckwall's'' stores were opened in Central Kansas, in the cities of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Clay Center Clay Center can refer to a community in the United States: *Clay Center, Kansas *Clay Center, Nebraska *Clay Center, Ohio Clay Center is a village in Ottawa County, Ohio, United States. The population was 262 at the 2020 census. History Clay ...

(1910), Concordia (1911), Junction City, and

Great Bend Great Bend is a city in and the county seat of Barton County, Kansas, United States. It is named for its location at the point where the course of the Arkansas River bends east then southeast. As of the 2020 census, the population of the ci ...

(1914). By 1915, a corporation was formed by the name of "The A.L. Duckwall Stores Company", with A.L. as President and General Manager.
Duckwall's store

ALCO Stores

Though A.L. Duckwall would not live to see it, ''The A.L. Duckwall Stores Company'' began to venture away from the limited five and dime variety store and into the discount retail business. The first

stores were opened in 1968 to provide a full selection of merchandise. The corporation, still based in Abilene, Kansas, eventually became ''ALCO Stores, Inc.'', but would continue to operate both ALCO and Duckwall's stores. As of June 2008, the corporation operated 205 ''ALCO'' stores and 59 ''Duckwall's'' stores. A second bankruptcy for ALCO Stores, Inc. in 2014 led to the closure of all stores by this time. Alco Vermilion

Personal life

A.L. Duckwall had married Retta White in 1904, and had three children: daughters Doris and Donna, and son Junior. Over his life, Duckwall belonged to the Lutheran Church, Rotary Club, Knights Templars, Shrines, and Democratic Party.

Death

Duckwall died of a heart attack in his office in 1937. He was laid to rest at Abilene Cemetery. At the time of his death, Duckwall had built over 40 variety stores in Kansas and Colorado.

Legacy

In 2000, Duckwall was inducted into the Kansas Business Hall of Fame as recipient of the Historical Honors Award from

Emporia State University Emporia State University (Emporia State or ESU) is a public university in Emporia, Kansas, United States. Established in March 1863 as the Kansas State Normal School, Emporia State is the third-oldest public university in the state of Kansas. Em ...

School of Business. Daughter-in-law Aileen Duckwall accepted the award from

Governor

Bill Graves William Preston Graves (born January 9, 1953) is an American former politician who was the 43rd governor of Kansas from 1995 until 2003. Career Graves was born in Salina, Kansas to parents who owned a trucking firm. After graduating from Kans ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duckwall, Alva Lease 1877 births 1937 deaths People from Batavia, Ohio People from Abilene, Kansas Businesspeople from Kansas