In the spring of 1905, when Duluth was still a city of smokestacks and steam whistles, a modest storefront opened on Superior Street. It was called Columbia Clothing, and though its founders couldn’t have known it at the time, they were building something far sturdier than just a business. They were creating a thread in the fabric of the city itself.

For over a century, Columbia dressed the working men and businessmen of Duluth—outfitting them for first jobs, big promotions, weddings, funerals, and everything in between. Suits were sold not just for fashion, but for the quiet confidence that comes from knowing you’re dressed right for whatever life might bring. Fathers brought sons. Sons brought grandsons. And at the heart of it all stood a safe.

Not just any safe—a Diebold Safe & Lock Co. masterpiece. Its black steel doors, accented with gold lettering, have witnessed more handshakes, more deposits, more notes scribbled on the backs of receipts than anyone could count. That safe sat like a silent guardian, holding not just money, but the weight of promises. Promises that this store would always stand for quality. That it would always remember your name. That trust mattered.

For decades, the safe kept watch as Ed Barbo Sr. ran the shop, and then Ed Jr., who carried the family torch into the modern age. Through changing fashions, economic storms, and cultural shifts, Columbia endured—because places like this don’t survive on sales alone. They survive on memory. On the sense that when you step inside, you’re walking into something older and wiser than yourself.

In 2025, the safe opened for a new set of hands. Two brothers—Jeff and Kyle—stepped in to carry the story forward. They didn’t just buy a store. They inherited a legacy, with all its weight and wonder, tucked inside the old steel safe like a time capsule waiting to be opened.

Jeff and Kyle believe that Columbia Clothing’s future lies in honoring its past. The safe will stay, a centerpiece of the store and a symbol of everything that matters here: craftsmanship, character, and continuity. But the brothers also have ideas of their own—events where customers gather not just to shop, but to connect. Nights filled with conversation and storytelling, where a suit fitting might turn into a lesson on how to mix a perfect Old Fashioned.

The safe, you see, doesn’t just lock things away. It reminds us that some things are worth protecting. Trust. Reputation. Community. And now, with Jeff and Kyle at the helm, Columbia Clothing opens its doors once more—welcoming a new generation while keeping its past close, locked safely in place.