Published July 9, 2026 | Updated July 17, 2026

Decades after Sam Richman opened the store that would become Richman Gordman, his son-in-law had a brilliant idea to commission a designer in New York to build four massive animals that would serve as a playground to keep children entertained while their parents shopped. Maybe you’ve even seen the blue elephant, green hippo, yellow kangaroo, and orange camel in Omaha’s Children’s Museum.

As the home to the animals, Richman Gordman was a department store that, along with its discount brand, 1/2 Price Store, grew into one of Omaha’s largest chains. It peaked with 101 locations across 22 states. Originally named Richman’s Outfitters to the Family, it was founded by Sam Richman, a Jewish immigrant from Russia who settled in Omaha in 1915, two years after arriving in the U.S. That same year, he opened a clothing store at 16th and Chicago Streets. Based on its address, 408 N. 16th Street, the original store may have been located in the Clowry Apartments.

For two decades, the family-run business, including wife Jennie and children Harry, Esther, and Pearl, served families living in Jefferson Square. Its fortunes changed after Dan Gordman arrived from New York in 1936. Gordman grew up on a dairy farm before starting his retail career at Bloomingdale’s. He quit after being passed over for a promotion as an assistant buyer. At that point, he packed up his car to head west for new opportunities during the Great Depression. 

Gordman got as far as Omaha before running out of money. Fittingly, he found work at Omaha’s leading retail store, Brandeis. There he met Esther Richman. The two married and Gordman joined his new father-in-law in the business. It would prove to be extremely beneficial for both men as the store grew to take over the entire first floor.

With Gordman as its president, the store was renamed as Richman Gordman and opened a second location in 1948. Richman sold his share of the business in 1956 to pursue other interests. Afterward, the Gordman children, including Nelson, Jerry, and Deborah Gordman Platt, as well as nephew Robert Gordman, joined the business and helped it expand beyond Omaha. The chain developed a reputation for its innovation that included the introduction of central checkout counters, shopping carts, and self-service shoe departments, and a racetrack-style store layout that let customers go around the perimeter to find each department.

The inspiration for the large playground animals came while he was in New York. He first spotted the animals in the backyard of a homeowner that was also the creator. He later commissioned an elephant, hippo, camel, and a kangaroo. The equipment was made from fiberglass and shipped in pieces so that it could be assembled in stores. Richman Gordman debuted its first Zooland playground at 73rd and Blondo Street in 1964. According to Norman Farrington, the store’s Chief Information Officer, it had a sign at the entrance stating not to leave children unattended. Nearly everyone ignored it. A dozen other playgrounds cropped up not just in Omaha but also Lincoln, Grand Island, Nebraska City, Council Bluffs, Des Moines, and Topeka.

Richman Gordman would eventually give way to the company’s discount chain called the 1/2 Price Store. Founded in the early 1970s, the store sold merchandise for half the price. In 1996, the 1/2 Price Store was renamed as Gordmans and remained in business until 2020, the same year its last Omaha store closed in the city where it all began 105 years earlier.

Over time, the Zooland animals were scattered, with many ending up in the backyards of family homes and daycares. Four of those animals, however, made their way to the Omaha Children’s Museum at 500 S. 20th Street. The story was covered in an April 29, 2010 Omaha World-Herald article. Mike Narducci played on the animals at the downtown store when he was a kid. When he saw the elephant, camel, and hippo in someone’s backyard, he bought them for his young daughter around 1998. After she had outgrown them, he listed them on eBay 12 years later.

Word of the sale spread quickly. In addition to drawing dozens of bids, including 24 for the elephant alone, it triggered core memories for lots of adults who played with them as kids. Among them was Chris Murray, who told the newspaper: “I just remember so many fond memories of having your parents just kind of drop you off there, which seems so crazy now: no attendant, no sign-in: but it was a different time. A safer time.”

Murray learned about the elephant from Margaret Wager, who thought it would be a great fit for the museum. Murray posted the idea to the museum’s Facebook page. Its executive director, Lindy Hoyer, agreed, stating: “The nostalgia of those pieces is just phenomenal, and I think there’s a power in that.” She continued: “A museum’s job, I think, is to preserve something, and what we as a museum do is preserve childhood. If we can help people remember what it was like to be a child in Omaha, in this area, that’s what sets us apart.”

The museum won the bid for both the camel and the elephant, which required eight people to move it. Afterward, the winner of the hippo, Mark Gustafson, donated it to the museum, as did Shirley McVicker, who had the kangaroo sitting in the backyard of her home in Grand Island. To restore the animals and make them a permanent exhibit, the museum launched its “Bringing Back the Pack” campaign, raising $30,000 with support from Gordmans.

Today, the Zooland animals from Richman Gordman continue to live inside the museum’s permanent exhibit, giving new generations of children a chance to play with them. Who could have guessed those same animals would outlive the retail empire that Sam Richman started and the Gordmans expanded? It is those animals that simultaneously remind us of the store while serving up a bit of nostalgia for those of us who played on them. 

Omaha Exploration, 2026. All rights reserved. Excerpts and links are welcome with full credit given to Omaha Exploration and a link back to the original content.