obituaries

Gil Braun turned the life lessons he learned in Webster, S.D. -- the values of hard work and fair dealing -- into one of the Midwest's most successful women's apparel chains.

When he sold Braun's Fashions in 1986 for $25 million, the company -- which later became Christopher & Banks -- included 113 stores in 11 states.

So when Webster needed a new school, Braun didn't hesitate. School board members in the small town were dumbfounded when they learned of his $500,000 donation. They shouldn't have been surprised.

"He was the finest man I knew," said Bob Gann, his longtime personal accountant. "Number one, in his business dealings, his high ethics. And he was generous. He made contributions and got involved in the community."

Services will be held Wednesday in Edina for Braun, who died July 5 of congestive heart disease at the Methodist Hospital Hospice in St. Louis Park. He was 96.

Braun was raised by his mother after his parents divorced. With money tight, she and her three children worked for a time on a horse-drawn road construction crew.

Braun worked at the local J.C. Penney store during high school. After graduation, he took a job with a men's clothier in St. Paul. From there he joined Buttrey's, a Montana-based women's fashion and general store chain, and over 21 years, rose to the position of general manager.

"Then he decided that he wanted to go into business for himself," said his son Tom, of Minneapolis.

In 1956, he opened Braun's Styles of the Mile, in St. Louis Park's then-new Miracle Mile Shopping Center. Designed for working women looking for versatile wardrobes, it was a smash. The shops quickly multiplied.

"I once asked him his secret and he said, 'Location, location, location -- and always locate on the sunny side of the street,'" said Minneapolis attorney Bill Brody, his counsel for the last several years.

Tom Braun, who runs the Wild Rumpus children's bookstore in south Minneapolis, once asked his dad to talk to his employees. He told them about the importance of developing relationships with their customers.

"He said that he would practice his smile in the mirror, and how essential it was to remember names," Tom Braun said.

Brody said, "He didn't start with money or with high educational advantages, and he created this [company] out of nothing."

When he sold Braun's in 1986, the business was generating $50 million annually in sales. The store name was changed in 2000 to Christopher & Banks.

Braun was a longtime member and past president of the St. Louis Park Rotary Club, which named its community service award after him. He was an early contributor to the city's Children First program, which aimed to help kids grow up into responsible adults. He was Robin Hood for St. Louis Park's Robin Hood Days and commodore for the Minneapolis Aquatennial in the 1970s.

Braun was married for 62 years to Louella Peterson, who died in 2003. Besides his son Tom, he is survived by son Alan, of Golden Valley; two grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Colonial Church of Edina, 6200 Colonial Way, Edina. Memorials are preferred to the Braun Scholarship Fund at the Minneapolis Foundation.

Kevin Duchschere • 612-673-4455