Remodeling has been completed at Berck Clothing, 301 Main. The store now has a visual front, enabling the passerby to see the whole store at a glance. While not self-service, the new setup allows the customer to reach all merchandise easily. When the formal opening is held soon, $400 in merchandise, including three suits, top coat, hats, shirts, ties and other accessories will be given away free to lucky persons who register on visiting the store. Ames Daily Tribune, May 19, 1954
Max S. Berck was born in Paris, France. He and his wife, Roselle, raised a daughter, Mona, and a son, Ira. M.S. Berck, who for 22 years was associated with Frankel Clothing in Des Moines, fell in love with Ames while driving through one day. He established a men's wear store in Ames in 1947 in the Sheldon-Munn Hotel at the corner of Burnett Avenue and Main Street. In 1958, them oved to 229 Main Street. After decades of operating his Ames store, Max opened a Berck's Clothing store in Merle Hay Mall in Des Moines. During the early 1970s Ira worked with his father at Berck's Clothing, and then continued to operate the store several years after Max died (1974). Bercks Clothing in Ames closed in the mid-1970s.
Ames Daily Tribune, March 15, 1955
Dark clothes with lively furnishings sums up the general spring fashion outlook for men, according to M.S. Berck of the Berck Clothing company. Above, Pete Wilson, Iowa State college senior in industrial psychology, ponders over the black lo-boy tassel oxford which is representative of the continental influence in footwear featured in men's fashion publications this season. He already has the remainder of his outfit. With the gray flecked trousers he is wearing a mint green Oxford shirt with short point, button down collar, a black and mint necktie and a charcoal gray jacket flecked with lighter gray. Shoulders on the jacket are only semi-padded to give a taller and trimmer appearance. In the background - in case it's chilly - is Pete's brand new spring topcoat, charcoal with brown and gray flecks, and styled with bal collar and raglan sleeves. The hat is a charcoal gray campus collegian type with narrow brim and colored ribbon. Pete, whose home town is glen Ridge, N.J., lives at the Beta Theta Pi house, 2120 Lincoln Way. He is a member of Cardinal Guild, the Veishea Central committee, the Science council and the Homecoming Central committee.
Ames Daily Tribune, March 5, 1958 FORMAL OPENING - Ames Mayor Pearle M. Dehart is shown cutting the ribbon to open Berck's Men's and Boys' Wear Store, 229 Main St., for the formal opening today. Looking on are, from left, Max Berck, owner; Russ Woodruff, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce retail bureau and L.C. (Bill) Faust, Chamber of Commerce president. An announcement of the formal opening is carried in The Tribune today.
Ames Daily Tribune, March 28, 1963
Carrying the motto, "An investment in good appearance," Berck Clothing Co. of 229 Main St. is in its 14th year of operation, filling men's and boys' clothing needs. The firm was opened in 1947 with a small sales staff, and with facilities of 16 by 50 feet, at 301 Main St. In 1958 the store moved to the current address, with new locations completely remodeled to fill expanding sales. The store now has facilities of 25 by 100 feet - more than three times the original store size. Sales staff has increased to a total of eight to ten, including seven full time employees.
The store features clothing and shoes for men and boys, and outfits Army and Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) personnel, supplying the goods on a contract basis.
Berck Clothing also carries tuxedo rentals for college and Ames area use, and delivers purchased clothing out of state. Max Berck, manager, said he would like to double operations some day, and noted the firm strives to have "the right merchandise at the right time at the right place," adding, "the customer is the real boss." College students and faculty comprise a large percentage of his trade.
In the boys' shop, managed by Woody Thrasher, clothing for ages six to twenty is carried. Some of the lines include Kanee shirts, Robert Bruce, Jackie Jumper and Ray Gilbert clothing, Windbreaker and Lakeland jackets. The firm also carries the Weyenberg-massagic shoes for men and the Golden Horseshoe line of jeans.