The Arbaugh

Arbaugh’s Department Store housed one of Downtown Lansing’s two largest department stores from 1905 until 1972. The building was constructed in 1905 to house the Cameron & Arbaugh Department Store, which was founded by J. C. Cameron as a general store in 1891 and, in 1915, doubled in size under the Arbaugh’s Department Store name. At the time of its construction, the five-story building was the largest and tallest building in Downtown Lansing and was nicknamed “The Glass Block” because of the high proportion of windows to masonry on the two street-facing facades. With its nominal Neoclassical detailing, the building was and remains the downtown’s largest early twentieth century-style commercial building.

The store survived through the Great Depression, and in 1953, Arbaugh sold the company to Sperry & Hutchinson of New York, who also owned Wurzburg Department Stores in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Arbaugh resigned later that year and died in 1955. The store operated under the Arbaugh's Department Store name until 1969, when it changed to the Wurzburg's name. The store was closed in 1972. The Arbaugh family had retained ownership of the building after selling the store, and in 1974 sold the building to Lansing automobile dealer Karl Story, who remodeled it into offices. In 2002, the building became vacant until purchased by RKP Group in 2004.