The company's origins date back to the early 20th century when Sam Richman opened a small clothing store in Omaha in 1915.

Dan Gordman joined Richman as a full partner in the business and married his daughter Esther.

Gordman was among the first to incorporate central checkouts, shopping carts, and self-service shoes to Omaha and was also one of the first stores to be open on Sundays.

This led to the opening of six more ½ Price Stores in the 1970s; a separate corporate structure was built to accommodate the growing business.

CEO Michael Glazer cited the high sales increases in the locations that were converted in 2018 as the deciding factor in the decision.

[2] But in May 2020, Stage Stores filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to the COVID-19 pandemic, even though the ongoing conversions had resulted in same-store sales rising more than 17% in the November-January fiscal quarter.

On May 25, 2022, Gordmans, along with Stage, Bealls, Palais Royal, Peebles, Goody's, The Bon-Ton, Bergner's, Boston Store, Carson's, Elder-Beerman, Herberger's, and Younkers, were all acquired by BrandX, with intentions to bring all of these brands back around 2022-2023.