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The first weekend in May the DeWitt-Seitz Marketplace in Canal Park will be celebrating its 40th Anniversary. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will begin the celebration at 5 pm Friday, May 2, as they toast their next 40 years. And on Saturday, May 3 the anniversary celebration will continue throughout the day as the 10 retail shops and restaurants present special demonstrations/events, an art show, food tasting, bag sales, music, store drawings and a grand prize. 

In short, it will be a Happening.

For many people, the DeWitt-Seitz building has always been a home for stores and restaurants nestled in the vibrant heart of Canal Park. Few Duluth newcomers realize that Canal Park was formerly an industrial district, reconfigured into a bustling tourist destination only more recently. 

In some ways, the history of this building is a microcosm of the history of Duluth itself.

Roots

The building was erected in 1909 as a warehouse and manufacturing hub for the DeWitt-Seitz Company. A once venerable furniture jobber and mattress manufacturer, it has undergone a remarkable evolution through the decades.

Nestled in the heart of Duluth’s vibrant Canal Park neighborhood, the DeWitt-Seitz Building stands as a testament to the city’s industrious past. This eight-story gem with a somewhat stalwart, gallant appearance, like the seamen who vigorously brave the adversity of the Great Lakes, was originally the brainchild of Charles DeWitt and Henry Seitz, who founded the furniture wholesaler and mattress manufacturer in 1905. 

Designed by the prominent Duluth architect John J. Wangenstein, today the building has earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places – not just for its striking Chicago School architecture, but also as a rare survivor of the manufacturing and jobbing centers that once defined Duluth’s early 20th century waterfront.

The building’s story begins with its 1909 design, channeling the elegant functionality of the Chicago School aesthetic championed by Louis Sullivan. Back then, Duluth was a port city on the rise. Mining and forestry wealth enticed many here to imagine that Duluth would one day eclipse Chicago. 

DeWitt-Seitz was one of many jobbing firms cashing in. Goods from manufacturers in the eastern U.S. and Canada were funneled here for the expanding markets out west. Soon, like others clustered near the Duluth Ship Canal, they branched into making their own products – mattresses, specifically. 

The good times, however, didn’t roll. By the 1930s competition stiffened, markets morphed and the Great Depression delivered a gut punch. Duluth’s jobbing boom fizzled, pushing DeWitt-Seitz to double down on mattress production under their Sanomade brand. 

The Sanomade name for mattresses was created by the DeWitt-Seitz Company in the early 1920s. Sanomade became the trademark for their mattresses, which were initially made of cotton and felt. The company’s slogan for Sanomade mattresses was pretty clever: “Remember the Name, the Rest is Easy.”

In 1961, Sam F. Atkins bought the building and renamed it Happy Sleeper, opening a mattress showroom on the first floor. 

“I was 11 when dad bought this building. He used it to store cloth there,” said Sam E. Atkins.

Atkins described how active Canal Park was. In the late ’60s, when the freeway began plowing through town, mattress makers moved to the mall area and eventually to Eau Claire, Wis.

When his father, Samuel F. Adkins, passed away in the early 80s, Sam E. took control, buying out his sister and sister-in-law who co-inherited the business with him.

In 1983, after moving the mattress manufacturing business to Eau Claire, Sam E. Atkins took over the property. Despite a nationwide recession being underway, hitting the Northland especially hard, Atkins began converting the building into what would become the DeWitt Seitz Marketplace.  

The biggest challenge was trying to keep the building occupied. “It was also the Sears warehouse for their downtown store,” he continued. “Once Sears moved out it opened a lot of extra space. The bottom floor was empty.” 

At that time Fitger's was beginning to get remodeled and Atkins thought his building would work as a retail space. 

“With no master plan we began remodeling, the first floor first and then the second. Noah Knutson, a friend who did the design work, eventually remodeled the third floor, basement and then the fourth,” Atkins said.

By 1985, under Atkins’ leadership, the building was officially opened, the first four tenants being the Blue Heron Trading Company, Art Dock, J-Skylark and Sandra Dee’s Minnesota Gifts. 

The transformation to locally owned retail stores and restaurants played a pivotal role in revitalizing the area as a tourist and commercial destination. 

When Bill Rogers purchased the building in 2000, there was yet another chapter added to the building’s history. A businessman and co-owner of Allouez Marine Supply in Superior, Rogers gave the building’s exterior an extensive facelift, which was completed in 2007. He then oversaw the development of additional office spaces on the upper floors.

As investment flowed into Canal Park, so with it came more hotels, more development and more activity. Drawn by the mesmerizing inland sea, the Aerial Lift Bridge, 1000-foot ore boats and special events, Canal Park became one of the top five tourist destinations in the state.

Today, the DeWitt-Seitz Building stands as more than a relic — it’s a bridge between Canal Park’s industrial roots and its modern-day charm, proving some legacies are built to last.

When the DeWitt Seitz Marketplace opened its doors in 1985, it heralded a new era for a building that has long been a part of Duluth’s skyline. Over time numerous other retail businesses joined the original tenants with few departures. They are Hepzibah’s Sweet Shoppe, Two & Co., Lake Avenue Restaurant, Northern Waters Smokehaus, Naturalight, Pholicious. Each contributes to making the Marketplace a real treat for visitors and locals alike.

Trivia: Many people find it interesting to learn that the original vision was to build two identical buildings side by side. If you stand in the parking lot and look toward the hillside, you’ll notice that Little Angie’s Cantina and the DeWitt Seitz Building have the same sized footprint. Only the one stands tall, the other being lopped off at the knees, a two-story structure with a deck that has become a popular watering hole on balmy summer nights.