Ulbrich’s– Buffalo’s futuristic bookseller

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

So it looks like Ulbrich’s invented amazon.com?

Buffalo Stories archives

The Otto Ulbrich Co. was Buffalo’s bookstore, on Main Street downtown for 117 years before bankruptcy struck in 1989. At the peak of business, there were 13 Ulbrich’s locations.

There were ten stores in 1978 when this ad appeared in Buffalo Spree magazine.

I have a obsession/addiction/fetish with pens of every kind– and it all started with wide-eyed wonder wandering that amazing aisle at Ulbrich’s before I even knew how to write. As a five or six year old, I specifically remember wanting to spend some of my birthday money on fancy pens at Ulbrich’s.

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Steve Cichon

Steve Cichon writes about Buffalo’s pop culture history. His stories of Buffalo's past have appeared more than 1600 times in The Buffalo News. He's a proud Buffalonian helping the world experience the city he loves. Since the earliest days of the internet, Cichon's been creating content celebrating the people, places, and ideas that make Buffalo unique and special. The 25-year veteran of Buffalo radio and television has written five books and curates The Buffalo Stories Archives-- hundreds of thousands of books, images, and audio/visual media which tell the stories of who we are in Western New York.