By Michael Bushnell
Northeast News
Jan. 19, 2011

Published by Hall Bros. in the early 1920s, this color postcard with Art Deco side accents shows the National Cloak and Suit Company’s building located at 5401 Independence Ave. The card has never been mailed.

National Cloak and Suit was founded around 1888, and in 1910, was reorganized as the National Bellas Hess Co.

At one time, Bellas Hess was one of the top five mail order companies in the country, generating sales of more than $250 million a year through the mailing of 25 million catalogs.

During the late 1970s, however, the company became bankrupt. Former employees attribute the company’s demise to losing focus on the mail order business in favor of discount retail stores and supermarkets.

The description on the back of the card reads: “Two thousand people are employed in this building, which also contains a thoroughly modern hospital, cafeteria, recreation room, ball grounds, tennis courts, etc.”

The 12-story edifice shown on this postcard was erected in 1919 and cost approximately $2.5 million. It was used from 1920 to 1927.

In late 1927, the company moved to North Kansas to the building currently used for loft apartments.

During and after WWII, the Hardesty structure was used for a quartermaster’s depot and included a unit that processed personal effects of military personnel killed in action.

In 1948, the Army established the Kansas City Records Center in the building, consolidating five record centers located in other cities into the Hardesty location.

The federal government continued to occupy the site through the early 1980s until the structure shown here was sold to Megaspace Inc., a self-storage facility. Megaspace still operates in the space today under the A Space Bank name.

The remainder of the 18-acre plot was offered for sale on the open market in 2008 and was purchased by Foundation Telecommunications of Rogers, Ark.