Uncle Sam’s Showplace of Values

Samuel “Sam” Saul Riebman (1898-1974) was born in Stamford, Connecticut to Saul and Sarah Senter Riebman. In 1922, he married Lottie Rackin (1900-1985) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They had two sons, Murray Joel Riebman (1932-2017) and Stanley Paul Riebman (1924-2011). According to the 1940 U.S. Census, Lottie worked in sales at a retail dress shop while Sam owned a business that created window displays. They remained in Philadelphia through World War II and relocated to Columbia in 1953. That year, Sam opened Uncle Sam’s Bargain Jamboree at 2411 Forest Drive. Over the next six years, the store went from 700 square feet to more than 20,000, changing names and locations along the way. It relocated first to the 1900 block of Two Notch Road and then to 3300 Two Notch Road in 1961, where it remained until 1996. The store name evolved over time as well, to Uncle Sam’s Bargain House and then Uncle Sam’s Discount Clothing, before becoming Uncle Sam’s Showplace of Bargains in 1961. The following year it was renamed Uncle Sam’s Showplace of Values. It quickly became a business institution, with a customer base that spanned generations. Sam’s sons joined him in business in the 1950s, and Stanley assumed management after his father’s death in 1974. The store closed in 1996.