Rike's department store was a Dayton fixture for many years. It was the same thing as a Macy's or Elder-Beerman's store today. Many Daytonians remember this store fondly, especially during Christmas. Rike's front window displays and holiday cheer within the store were always Rike's trademarks during this festive time of year.
Many folks from Dayton who had visited or shopped at Rike's were sad to see the store go and even more sad to lose the building. This is a great example of how a building can house so many fond memories. Talk about local history and nostalgia, even to this day, if you ask an "old timer" what they miss most about downtown, I bet you'll get more than response that includes Rike's. I am too young to know much about the place, and I could not find much on the internet, but oral history from older Daytonians will reveal how important and special this department store was to the Dayton community.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2muLLJcCT8
The link above is a 3 minute video covering the implosion of the building. The footage is from 1995 so its not the HD you kids are used to now-a-days, but it does show multiple angles of the building imploding. As one spectator put it concerning the implosion of the building, "I'm too old to cry, but it hurts too much to laugh."
1999 was the year of the implosion.
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