In honor of the holiday season, what are some department stores that you used to go to, that no longer exist?

Does anyone remember Orbach''s or Gimble''s?

• Bamberger''s\ \ Two Guys\ \ Korvettes\ \ Chubby & Tubby''s

• Korvette''s sounds familiar. Was that in DC?

• Filene''s in downtown Boston. It is now literally a hole in the ground.

• Dayton Hudson; Marshall Field''s

• Stewart''s\ \ Shillito''s\ \ Ben Snyder\ \ Bacon''s

• ''Marshall Field'', ''Carson Pirie Scott'' and ''Peterson, Harned and Von Maur''

• Higbees in Cleveland. Anyone else go there? The Santa Clause scene in A Christmas Story is set in the Higbees downtown.

• Stix, Baer and Fuller%0D\ %0D\ Famous Barr%0D\ %0D

• Grants and Bradlees

• Woolworth. Yes, I''m ancient.

• I. Magnin%0D\ %0D\ Frederick & Nelson (home of Frangos mints!)

  I left my heart in Seattle

• Eaton''s%0D\ %0D\ Simpson''s

• Montgomery Ward

• Eatons & Simpsons in Toronto (& across Canada too)

• Marshall Field''s window display in Chicago used to be amazing. damn you macys.

  Anonymous

• Yes I remember Orbach''s OP.\ \ We had one in the mall in my city, and there was also one on Wilshire Blvd in the "Miracle Mile" area of LA.

• Joske''s

• Buffums\ \ Bullocks\ \ Webb''s

• B. Altman

• Emporium-Capwell\ \ City of Paris

• Fuck Federated! Fuck Macy''s!

• Foley''s\ \ Sakowitz\ \ Battelstein''s\ \ Weiner''s

• We have a VonMaur in our mall.%0D\ %0D\ I remember Woolworth too. They had a "lunch counter" where I would sit and drink a Dr. Pepper while my mom shopped.

  metalhead

• John Wanamaker''s (Center City Philly where they filmed Mannequin)%0D\ %0D\ Strawbridge & Clothier%0D\ %0D\ Gimbels%0D\ %0D\ Abraham & Straus%0D\ %0D\ Bamberger''s%0D

• Hechts%0D\ The Bon March%C3%A9

• R23, your mom left you unattended while she shopped?

• This is kind of stupid.%0D\ Most department stores from years ago were local and varied from town to town.%0D\ Most people wouldn''t know of them unless they lived where that store closed. %0D\ I''m unfamiliar with most of the stores mentioned here.

• Rich''s\ \ Caldors\ \ Lechmere

• R23''s Mom wasn''t a helicopter parent.

• Parents didn''t need to be helicopters back then.

• Filene''s in downtown Boston had one of the "busiest" men''s room ever. I think it was on the sixth floor.%0D\ %0D\ [quote]Hechts The Bon March%0D\ %0D\ Do you mean The Bon Ton? Hechts and The Bon Ton used to be in Central PA.%0D

• Grants%0D\ %0D\ Gilchrists%0D\ %0D\ Touraines%0D\ %0D\ Bradlees

• Two great old Atlanta stores.\ \ Rich''s, eventually taken over by the demon Federated. Rich''s was a store where you could take anything back for an exchange no matter where you bought it. They asked no questions.\ \ Davisons, bought by Macy''s long ago but continued to operate as Davisons until they changed the name over to Macy''s in the mid 80''s. The downtown Atlanta store eventually closed but thank God the beautiful building is still there.

• Whitefront

• Jordan Marsh (sigh) God Bless their blueberry muffins!

• Lazarus

• [quote]. Most people wouldn''t know of them unless they lived where that store closed. I''m unfamiliar with most of the stores mentioned here.%0D\ %0D\ %0D\ I''ve heard of most of them. I''ve lived a number of places, talked to people who''ve lived in even more and...read. I hope you''re young.%0D\ %0D\ %0D\ %0D

• It''s amazing how universally despised Macy''s is. They seem to have destroyed downtown shopping districts in most US cities.

• Phoebe Goldberg''s

• Miller and Rhoads

• Woodward and Lothrop (Woodies)%0D\ %0D\ Garfinkles%0D\ %0D\ Hecht''s%0D\ %0D\ The real Lord and Taylor

• I still remember going into a Lechmere store in Atlanta not long after it had opened. It was packed with people but the strange thing was they they were all just looking at things. The checkout lanes were empty. I said to myself that same night, "this place won''t be open long".

• Franklin Simon

• B Altman on 34th and 5th

• Suncoast

• Hess''s Dept. Store in Allentown, PA. They had a puppet show in one of the windows each Christmas called Pip the Mouse and it was about him helping Santa deliver presents. It was fun to stand outside with hot chocolate and watch the show. They also had an amazing toy department along with a beautifully designed floor with marble floors and chandeliers.\ \ Also miss Leh''s & Zollingers

• R 36, I miss Lazarus, too!! And L.S. Ayres....Macy''s took them over and the quality and choice dropped dramatically.

• Thalhimers\ \ Miller & Rhodes

• R23 is correct. Totally different era, we (as children) could be totally left alone without concern (I grew up in the Midwest).%0D\ For R30...we have a ''Von Maur'' too in our mall. However, I grew up in the Quad Cities (IL,IA) and ''Von Maur'' was not its own entity until late 80s, early 90s. They were known as ''Peterson, Harned and Von Maur''; the flagship store was located on Second Street, between Brady and Harrison, in Davenport, Iowa. While I was in college, the Peterson family bailed and the store changed names. %0D\ I loooved the "Women''s Lounge"! You could "freshen your makeup", smoke endless cigarettes and lounge on the chaise. It was like a scene out of "The Women"; damn life was good then.

  r6

• Best & Co.\ \ Bonwit Teller

• Bon Ton''s is still here. But The Broadway and Langstrom''s are gone.

  sigh

• Joske''s

• New Orleans - so many.%0D\ %0D\ Godchaux''s%0D\ %0D\ Woolworth''s%0D\ %0D\ Holmes%0D\ %0D\ Maison Blanche%0D\ %0D\ Gus Meyer''s (not the ones in Alabama)%0D\ %0D\ K&B which was a drug store that eveyone shopped at on Christmas Eve.

• I miss McAlpin''s (now Macy''s) and Lazarus (now Dillard''s). Both were vastly superior to their replacements.

• S. Klein and this time a year the near by Automat would have their famous pumpkin pie, to this day the best pumpkin pie ever.%0D\ %0D\ Abraham & Straus %E2%80%93 the downtown Brooklyn NY one%0D\ %0D\ Gimbels %0D\ %0D\ Orbachs%0D\ %0D\ B. Altman''s %0D\ %0D\ John''s Bargain Store on 14th Street (NYC) %E2%80%93 they had the best 10 cent Spaldeen balls (those high bouncing pink rubber balls that were great for playing stick ball in the gutters of NY and for playing "Point" against buildings.%0D

• Kings%0D\ Ames%0D\ Bradlees%0D\ Zayres%0D\ Woolco%0D\ Mammoth Mart%0D\ %0D\ One would close - the next one would move in...

• Alexander''s\ \ Caldor''s

• Halle''s\ \ Anyone remember Mr. Jingaling, Keeper of the Keys?

• Lazarus (central Ohio)%0D\ %0D

• Meier and Frank in Portland, OR.%0D\ %0D\ Bought by Macy''s many years ago, but didn''t actually become one until about 2006.

• Korvette''s(Herald Square)%0D\ %0D\ Stein''s(East 14th Street)%0D\ %0D\ Alexander''s(59th & Lex)%0D\ %0D\ Gimbel''s(Herald Square)%0D\ %0D\ %0D\ All in NYC

• Meyer Brothers, Paterson, NJ

• Franklin Simon

• New Orleans had Krauss, which straddled the line between D.H. Holmes (posh) and Woolworth''s/McCrory''s (dime stores). Krauss lasted until the late 1990s and never, ever updated. To the day it closed, the clerks still put money in pneumatic tubes (which ran all over the store), which ran to a central cashier.

• Federal Department Store

• Dunn''s - Daytona Beach - their Christmas windows were fabulous.

• Robert Hall (this season will show you the reason - LOW OVERHEAD!LOW OVERHEAD!)

• R34,%0D\ %0D\ Are you from San Bernardino????? White Front was the worst store--literally, you would drive by on the freeway and passing White Front, we''d all go "eeewww!" and roll the windows up! I think it was built on top a sewer!

• Hughes & Hatcher

• r26, the other posters were correct about parents not having to be that close to their kids back then. Like r49 I grew up in the midwest, and things were just different. The lady that worked at the counter would watch me and any other kids sitting there but it wasn''t a big deal. Plus the store wasn''t all that huge.

  metalhead

• Peter Palmer''s%0D\ %0D\ Groovy Fashions

• When I first arrived in suburban New [...] Main St boasted a W. T. Grant, Woolworths and Arnold Constable.

• @ R55 - you just brought me back to my childhood in da Bronx! Used the rectory garage door for Johnny On The Pony. John''s Bargain Store was on West Fordham Road then. I also miss Sterns.

• I don''t understand. The Macy''s now is different than it used to be?

• I remember very fondly going shopping at Woolworth''s for Christmas and holiday decorations.\ \ From growing up in NY:\ \ B. Altman\ \ Best & Co.\ \ Abraham & Strauss\ \ S. Klein on the Square\ \ And from DC:\ \ Woodies\ \ Garfinkels\ \ Hechts\ \ Random:\ \ Maas Brothers\ \ Joskes\ \ Weil''s (in Goldsboro, NC)

• Zody''s.%0D\ %0D\ I remember Debbie Reynolds was a TV spokesperson and I was thinking, even as a kid, that she didn''t really shop in that cheap store!%0D\ %0D\ And someone mentioned WhiteFront.I forgot all about that place. Thanks for the memory jog!

• There''s a Von Maur at the Charlestowne Mall in St. Charles, Illinois (But that mall is dying a slow death. Lots of competition from places like Algonquin Mills.)\ \ There''s still Lord and Taylor at the Woodfield Mall outside Chicago, I think?\ \ I remember shopping at Lazarus in Lexington, Kentucky, and Dillard''s.\ \ There''s a store in the south called Belks, extensive men''s clothing and a lot of discounted kitchenware.

• My mom remembers when high fashion "Barney''s" was a single store on 17th St. called "Barney''s Boy Town". They had catchy radio jingles and advertised clothes for "husky boys". They don''t solicit husky boys these days.

• In LA:%0D\ %0D\ Bullocks%0D\ %0D\ Bullocks Wilshire%0D\ %0D\ I. Magnin%0D\ %0D\ Joseph Magnin%0D\ %0D\ May Co.%0D\ %0D\ Robinson''s%0D\ %0D\ FedCo

• Kresges%0D\ %0D\ Weiboldts%0D\ %0D\ Marshall Fields

  Mia

• John Wanamaker%0D\ Strawbridge & Clothier%0D\ Gimbel Brothers%0D\ Lit Brothers

  Philly Boy

• Some of these stores didn%E2%80%99t have anything special enough to merit their survival (Bradlee%E2%80%99s, Korvette%E2%80%99s, Montgomery Ward, Abraham & Straus, Alexander's), and Bamberger%E2%80%99s was merely Macy%E2%80%99s with a different name. Others were really distinctive, however, and it%E2%80%99s a shame that they disappeared, even as places like Belk and Dillard%E2%80%99s hang on: -- I remember B. Altman as being similar to Lord & Taylor %E2%80%93 genteel and a bit upscale, a class act. -- Garfinkel%E2%80%99s was the Neiman%E2%80%99s of Washington %E2%80%93 it%E2%80%99s surprising it didn%E2%80%99t survive even though the D.C. area became more affluent. -- Strawbridge%E2%80%99s in Philadelphia was a family-run store until the very end, and the personal touch really did make for a different shopping experience than Wanamaker%E2%80%99s. -- In other cities with two leading department stores, it seemed to me that one usually outshone the other %E2%80%93 Woodie%E2%80%99s in D.C. seemed to be a cut above Hecht%E2%80%99s, as was Miller & Rhoads versus Thalhimer%E2%80%99s in Richmond. -- Macy%E2%80%99s decision to re-brand in many cities made sense %E2%80%93 why not leverage the fame of the name and the Thanksgiving Day parade. However, re-naming Marshall Field%E2%80%99s was idiotic. In a convention town like Chicago, it was a must for tourists to visit Field%E2%80%99s. Now, there%E2%80%99s no reason for out-of-towners to go to Macy%E2%80%99s when they%E2%80%99ve got one in their own mall.

• Sayvette''s\ \ Tower\ \ The Rite Way\ \ Bonimart\ \ Miracle Mart\ \ Horizon

• WTF? Justin Bieber, artist of the year? Now I know that Bristol will win DWTS.

• (Don''t know why my dashes in R82 turned into quotation marks.)

• In NY there were many:\ \ Alexander''s\ \ Orbach''s\ \ Gimbel''s\ \ A&S\ \ Gertz\ \ May''s\ \ Klein''s\ \ Martin''s\ \ EJ Korvette''s\ \ Franklin Simon\ \ B. Altman\ \ Times Square Stores\ \ Two Guys\ \ Caldor''s\ \ \ Let''s not forget the records stores:\ \ Jimmy''s Music World\ \ King Karol\ \ Crazy Eddie\ \ Record Explosion (I think that was the name, they were inside malls, when I visited a cousin on Long Island. I''d shop there, they had a great selection of Import records at low prices and cool buttons)\ \ Tower Records\ \ Virgin\ \ Alexander''s, May''s and Korvette''s also had excellent record departments.

• Gilmore''s

• Castner Knott%0D\ %0D\ Maison Blanche%0D\ %0D

• In Detroit\ \ Hudson''s \ \ Crowley''s\ \ Federal\ \ Korvette\ \ Montgomery Wards\ \ Woolworth''s (dime store)\ \ Kresge''s (dime store)

• I remember Ohrbach''s and Gimbels, too, OP. I''m from NYC and so many shops from my younger days are now gone:\ \ Mays (on 14 street)\ Lerner''s\ Alexander''s\ B. Altman\ Indian Walk Shoes, Madison & 79th street, for new school shoes every year\ Woolworth''s\ Lamston''s (similar to Woolworth''s)\ Korvette''s\ Bancroft (mens shirts & ties)\ Moe Ginsburg\ BFO\ the Old Barney''s in Chelsea, pre-glam\ Kresge''s in Trenton NJ, which I visted as a kid

  those were the days

• Lerner''s, IIRC, is now NY & Company. \ \ Alexander''s, was run to the ground after Donald Trump bought it. \ \ I also remember Lamston''s & Kresge''s.\ \ Moe Ginsburg, my dad got a Calvin Klein suit there, I guess this was before chains such as Marshall''s etc started carrying discounted designer clothing.\ \ I. Buss was an interesting unisex store in The Village, sort of a mix of an Army Navy store, Reminiscence (interesting old vintage coats in Mint condition as well as new items) and Unique warehouse. I still have a wonderful herring bone coat from I. Buss. \ \ I miss the moderately priced stores where you could actually find some truly unique items.

  R86

• Klein''s...\ \ I did all my shopping there, with Mary and Ethel

  Ella Peterson

• Stern''s \ \ We called Abraham and Strauss "A&S."\ \ Hermann''s sporting goods \ \ Korvette''s was formally known as EJ Korvette''s. \ \ Chess King!\ \ 5-7-9\ \ Casual Corner\ \ Petite Sophisticate\ \ Local chains: Hempstead China, Swezey''s

• Nobody Beats the Wiz\ \ Service Merchandise\ \ McCrory''s

• Sam Goody \ \ Lechters\ \ Not dept stores, but defunct chain stores.\ \ TSS (Time Square Stores)\ \ Billy Blake''s

• The DVD release of "Evening Primrose" reminds me it was shot in the old Stern''s Department Store on 42nd Street across from Bryant Park.\ \ And the DVD also includes some color test footage of Tony Perkins shot at the Macy''s on 34th Street - which looks totally different today.\ \ Fascinating how stores'' looks change in 45 years.

  S. Sondheim

• Conran''s, the IKEA of it''s day. \ \ In NYC:\ \ Azuma\ \ The Bazaar Stores (Second Avenue Bazaar, Lexington Avenue Bazarr, etc)

• Floyd Bennet\ \ Great Eastern\ \ Jeffrey''s\ \ Daffy Dan''s

• When I go on shopping trips, where else would I go but Phipps? From the top floor to the bottom -- if it''s bargains, Phipps has got ''em!

  Ask today for your Phipps-O-Plate!

• Woolco

• Titche''s\ \ Joske''s\ \ Sanger-Harris

  I''m from Big D little a double l a-s!

• Lucky Platt\ \ Grand Way

• Mansours%0D\ %0D\ Rich''s%0D\ %0D\ Parisian%0D\ %0D\ Castner Knott%0D\ %0D\ Pizitz%0D\ %0D\ and yes, it was called Gayfer''s....

• What was the name of the mens clothing store in NYC that used to have long rhyming commercials on late night radio?

• Menken''s and its owner Rachel Menken.

  Don Draper

• Over 100 posts and no one has mentioned Ivey''s.\ \ It was a North Carolina institution (also had Florida branches), far better than Belks. I was so sad when Dillards took them over and changed the name in about 1990.

• In NorCal, Liberty House went first, then Weinstock''s. Good riddance on the latter, they had the laziest, rudest employees who would stand around talking instead of helping customers.

• Diamond''s \ \ \ Goldwater''s

  Phoenix brat

• Does anyone remember Grant''s, aka W.T. Grant''s? They were everywhere until the company went bankrupt in the mid-70s.%0D\ %0D\ In Maine we had Porteous, Mitchell and Braun whose beautiful flagship store is now the Maine College of Art.

• If you''re nostalgic for old Christmas catalogs, this site is for you...Sears,JCP, Mongomery Wards catalogs all scanned for your viewing pleasure.

  http://wishbookweb.com/

• "Not dept stores, but defunct chain stores.\ TSS (Time Square Stores)"\ \ Actually, in NY, some TSS stores were very large. The TSS store in Middle Village WAS the sized of a department store. The one in Long Island City was small.\ \ When the Middle Village store closed, it became Caldor''s, when that store closed it was a KMart for a year or so. Now I think it''s either Sam''s Club or B.J.''s, I haven''t been to Middle Village in ages.\ \ Wow, I can''t believe I forget AZUMA, I loved that place! I used to buy my mom lots of stuff there, especially vases, which she still has, as well as a saki set. I still have a plastic Union Jack container with drawers from there. I used to keep my art supplies in it. Later on they carried smaller version in cardboard.

• How about some defunct shoe stores?\ \ National Shoes.....rings the bell!\ \ Thom McCann''s\ \ AS Beck\ \ Buster Brown\ \ Fayva\ \ Miles\ \ Fabco

• Wow, R110, those catalogs are too much! It makes me feel like Emily in the third act of OUR TOWN to go back and see that my parents paid Sears $9.74 for my Fisher-Price Farm in 1971.%0D\ %0D\ I love how all the girl toys in the 1966 catalog are little vacuum cleaners and kitchen sets and sewing machines. It''s like, forget it kid, you are SO becoming a homemaker when you grow up.%0D\ %0D

• Orbach''s on the Miracle Mile in Los Angeles, where I saw my first lesbian kiss in 1970. It was a family shopping outing and my aunt said, "Well have you ever?" And my grandmother said, "That''s disgusting, they should be ashamed of themselves!"%0D\ %0D\ I thought, that''s a lot of fuss over some teenagers kissing, until I realized the tall skinny androgynous boy was actually a girl. As a gay boy I might have enjoyed it more if it had been two guys, but, oh well.%0D\ %0D\ Is Bullock''s Wilshire still around? I loved going there. They had all that art deco stuff (murals, fixtures, etc.)%0D\ %0D\ Don''t know if I miss I Magnin that much, but I do miss Capwells. Though Capwells and Nordstrom were kind of indistinguishable to me.%0D\ %0D\ Is Robinson''s in Pasadena, Ca. still around?

• Can someone explain what a "dime" store is?%0D\ %0D\ Also what was the differnce between Woolworth and Woolco?

• Heer''s in Springfield, Mo%0D\ %0D\ I practically lived in their book and record dept. And my mom loved having lunch at the Garden Room Tea Room.. on the 6th floor!

  kcguy

• The Denver (oldtimers called it The Denver Dry)%0D\ May D&F (nee Daniels & Fisher)%0D\ Joslins%0D

  College years in Colorado

• R115, here''s the jig on "Dime Stores". They were all over the place when I was a kid.\ \ The concept of the variety store originated with the five and ten, nickel and dime, five and dime or dimestore, a store where everything cost either five cents (a nickel) or ten cents (a dime). The originator of the concept may be Woolworth''s, which began in 1878 in Watertown, New York. Other five and tens that existed in the USA included W.T. Grant, J.J. Newberry''s, McCrory''s, Kresge, McLellan''s, and Ben Franklin Stores. These stores originally featured merchandise priced at only five cents or ten cents, although later in the twentieth century the price range of merchandise expanded. Inflation eventually dictated that the stores were no longer able to sell any items for five or ten cents, and were then referred to as "variety stores" or more commonly dollar stores. $0.05 in 1913 when adjusted for inflation is $1.15 in 2009 dollars.

• These names are absurd.

• R114 -- Robinson''s in Pasadena is now a Target.

• I''m from Richmond, VA. Miller and Rhodes and Thalhimers were the city''s downtown department stores; it was considered traditional to visit them during the holidays. Both are long gone. Now there is NO place to show downtown, during the holidays or otherwise.

• Mid-Hudson Valley, NY\ \ Hess''s\ \ Service Merchandise\ \ Caldor\ \ Lechmere\ \ Monkey Wards

• In St. Louis:%0D\ %0D\ Famous-Barr%0D\ %0D\ Stix, Baer & Fuller%0D\ %0D\ Scruggs, Vandervoort & Barney%0D\ %0D\ Thomas W. Garland%0D\ %0D\ Boyd''s%0D\ %0D\ Greenfield''s (later Broadstreet''s). %0D\ %0D

• Jacobson''s in Michigan.%0D\ %0D\ Maas Brothers in Florida.%0D\ %0D\ Younkers in Iowa.%0D\ %0D\ Von Mauer is still active.

• haven''t we done this to death, OP.

• B. Altman\ \ Lunch at Charleston Gardens after a morning of Christmas shopping! Then a stop to the Rare Book collection to browse for an hour or two. Finally, a stop on the Foods Floor to pick up a Plum pudding!

  Bonnie Prince Charlie

• R58, I was just googling him yesterday. Apparently Mr. Jingaling is still alive, having outlasted Halle''s by decades.

• Philadelphia:%0D\ %0D\ Wanamaker''s%0D\ %0D\ Strawbridge & Clothier%0D\ %0D\ Lit Brothers%0D\ %0D\ Gimbels%0D\ %0D\ Bonwit Teller%0D\ %0D\ Ideal (not a department store, it was just a little quonset hut)

• Shopper''s World\ \ Sort of a cheapie place, maybe one step above a dime store. They still had the old-timey wooden floorboards, which was cool. I remember going there when I was little for Christmas toys, Halloween costumes and new gym shoes for PE class each year. My mom would usually get stuff like mops.

• No mention yet of Burdines. Truly a great Florida department store started in Miami. Another Federated victim, I believe.

• The Philly posters keep forgetting Snellenburg''s.

• Ohrbachs mens dressing room, the cruisiest place in NYC...

• Ivey''s %0D\ %0D\ Thalheimer''s%0D\ %0D\ Meyers (am I remembering that correctly?)

  Another NC belle

• I liked Building 19 in the Boston area.

• If you are from South Florida:%0D\ %0D\ Burdine''s%0D\ %0D\ Jordan Marsh%0D\ %0D\ Jackson Byrons%0D\ %0D\ My mother used to take my little sister and I downtown which is where the main stores were. This is before malls took over. It wasn''t Christmas without going to downtown Miami and spending the day shopping. Usually wearing shorts and t-shirts because our winter weather was 75 degrees and sunny!!!

• Long before Wal-Mart, Zayre''s was KMart''s competition.%0D\ %0D\ And the Sears'' stores of today pale in comparison to the old ones. The candy counter is gone.

• [R80] Mia must be from Chicago! You had Fields and Wieboldts mentioned. Wieboldts was a great store! The store in Oak Park/River Forest had the best animated window displays at Christmas. No one can come close today. They tore down the store in the 80''s, and now it''s a crummy strip mall!

  Yes, I''m old too

• Gimbel''s, Wanamaker''s and Strawbridge & Clothier.

  philly shopper

• Maas Brothers was always a joke, the worst department store I''ve ever seen.

• Rockford, IL. \ \ D.J. Stewart. Beautiful, old school department store. \ \ Hess Bros. Carson Pirie Scott. Chas. V. Weise. Owens. Rockford Dry Goods. Goldblatts.

• Crumbstaynes\ \ I. Wannalaya\ \ Wm. Flibbertigibbet and Co.\ \ Flappacoques\ \ Titte Twistre Bros.\ \ I. M. Horn%C3%A9\ \ Clitt Royale

• R11: Did you ever go to the Christmas breakfasts at Frederick and Nelson?

• No, but I went to the Men''s Room Buffets at Nordstroms.

• Joske''s in Houston. Early seventies. Foley''s and their fab red apple sales all turned into Macy''s.

• Strawbridge & Clothier\ Nan Duskin

• Small Stuff as a teenager in Fairfax, VA. The only place I could shop because I was like a 000 in pants and no one else sold clothes that small.

• "My mother used to take my little sister and I"%0D\ %0D\ Oh, dear.

• As has been point out, Rich''s was opened here in \ Atlanta in 1867. Federated bought them in 1975, with assurances that the name Rich''s would never go away. Fuck them.\ \ Now Macy''s took all of Rich''s signature events. The Great Tree and the Pink Pig come to mind.\ \ Kresge''s is still around, only now they are called K-Mart.

• [quote]Oh, dear.\ \ Oh DEAR, R147!

• Black''s Fifth Avenue

  Mary Haines

• Porkladies\ \ MT Bellies\ \ Boils of Beverly Hills\ \ Yunichs\ \ Husky''s Pants Barn

• Tower Records.

• Anybody on Long Island remember "Williams"?%0D\ %0D\ It was a toy and bicycle store in Plainview.%0D\ LOVED IT!!!!

• Dunphie''s by the ha-ba\ \ Moonpie''s\ \ Muttonclumps\ \ Diddle by Dangle\ \ Cuntess Calvane''s \ \ Cockball & Cuntsprout\ \ Finger & Pussay\ \ Dild & O

• Rexall and TG&Y

• r104 is thinking of the 24/7 men''s clothing store, Dennison''s on Route 22 in Union, NJ. Their slogan was "Money talks, nobody walks at Dennison''s."%0D\ %0D\ The store was in a former nightclub in the shape of an ocean liner. It''s now P.C. Richard''s. They closed before the cops shut them down. It was known in the area that after Midnight customers were entertained by female sales staff in the fitting rooms.

• B. Altman had doormen at the entrances who would hail cabs for customers. The elevator men wore white gloves. At Christmas their windows were magnificent. A red carpet stretched from Fifth to Madison Avenues and store was filled with real poinsettias. %0D\ %0D\ It went out of business because of tax laws. Benjamin Altman was a Jew who became a Roman Catholic. He created The Altman Foundation so all profits would go to various Catholic charities. When the IRS changed the law to prevent businesses from giving profits to charity, the New York and suburban stores closed in 1999. %0D\ %0D\ %0D

  Former Employee

• Can someone explain the "windows" thing to me? I''m assuming you mean display windows. What''s so great about display windows?

• Dayton''s%0D\ %0D\ Donaldson''s (Bought by Dayton''s)%0D\ %0D\ Montgomery Wards (We called in Monkey Wards as little kids)%0D\ %0D\ Woolworths (Going to the soda fountain was a treat)

• [quote]These stores originally featured merchandise priced at only five cents or ten cents, although later in the twentieth century the price range of merchandise expanded. Inflation eventually dictated that the stores were no longer able to sell any items for five or ten cents, and were then referred to as "variety stores" or more commonly dollar stores.\ \ Even long after most of their merchandise was priced above ten cents, my mother would still refer to our Woolworth''s as "the five-and-dime store."

• It''s past your bedtime, r158. There''s school tomorrow.

• Grant''s%0D\ %0D\ Edwards

• Steiger''s%0D\ %0D\ G. Fox

• Tempo

• 'dime store' - yesterday's dime stores weren't as crappy as today's dollar stores are and they didn't have the lower income, urban reputation of today's dollar stores. They were great because you could find all the non-food basics you needed. S.S. Kresge Corp. ("Kresge's") was a major dime store chain. Kmart, started as a Kresge subsidiary, was Kresge's effort to establish a more affordable department store, carrying a larger selection of merchandise than a dime store, but at lower prices than a major department store. Kmart was also HUGE in offering lay-away. When most major department stores issued credit cards, but only to qualified customers, Kmart's lay-away was the pay-as-you-go alternative. R158 for many stores the Xmas holiday display windows where the ultimate in window dressing. It started at Chicago's Marshall Field & Co. store under the hand of Arthur Fraser. Fraser's everyday windows were trendsetters in the industry but the holiday ones had people lining up for their reveal. (BTW, working for Arthur Fraser was were Vincente Minnelli got his start). Field's had 65 windows to be dressed and Fraser had free reign, ignoring Parisian fashion dictates, buyers, and other merchandising staff.

• R131, I remember the Downtown Miami Christmas trip well. Burdines still had will call and you could shop all over the three(or was it four?) floors and pick up your haul there at the end.\ \ The big treat was lunch at the fancy tea room. I still remember the peppermint clown cone dessert. The sugar cone was upside down as the clowns hat with ice cream and some kind of frosting collar. It seemed so special.

• It''s not a store, but I miss the Horn & Hardart automat in NYC - wasn''t it on east 42nd street?

• Glad to hear it, R127. My mother took us to see him when we were kids. I''ve got the Mr. Jingaling jingle in my head now.

• I like to play with my Jingaling.

• Fowler, Dick, and Walker (The Boston Store) Northeastern Pennsylvania

• G. Fox, Hartford.

• Pomeroy''s - Pottsvile %0D\ Deisroth''s -Hazleton

• There were twenty Horn & Hardart Automats in Manattan. The last to close was at 42nd and Third in April 1990. Their first location was in Philadelphia.

• [R112]There''s still a Fabco in Brooklyn, on 86th Street. Like a more-budget version of Payless, if you can imagine, though the name is kind of cool.\ \ Kings Plaza Mall in Brooklyn had a nice Alexander''s. Does anyone remember their restaurant The Carving Board?

  bargainbuyer

• Service Merchandise

• Kresge''s in Newark. They had a monorail ride suspended from the ceiling so you could look down on the whole store.

• Also, 158 (and I''m sure r165 will remember this), Marshall Fields used real live midgets dressed as elves for their holiday windows.\ \ One year, I think it was 1947 or 48, they had Judy locked in one of the displays for an entire week. It was supposed to be an homage to Vincente, but it was kind of creepy because he told her she was in a clinic to dry out. Her screams still haunt me to this day.

• Hemphill-Wells in Big Spring, Tx. \ Vanity Faire in Montgomery, AL\ HC Capwell in Hayward, CA\ Hales in Oakland, CA\ Emporium in SF, CA\ City of Paris in SF, CA\ I. Magnins in SF, CA\ Jos. Magins in SF, CA\ Grodin''s in SF, CA\ Crystal Palace in SF, CA\ Hecht''s in Baltimore, MD\ Woodie''s in Tyson''s Corner, VA\ Bullock''s in Long Beach, CA\ Hukinuki''s in Hokkaido, Japan

• Woodie''s, Hecht''s, and Lansburgh''s in downtown DC always had fabulous Christmas windows. I wonder where all those miniature scenes have gone to -- and if they still exist.

• R151: read yours as porkbellies!%0D\ %0D\ %0D\ I mentioned Frederick and Nelson previously. Their windows were incredible too, and you would line up outside them to see Santa and get your picture taken with him.

• R157, Did you ever go to the employee thrift shop? I still have some of the best wool blankets that I bought for next to nothing during my lunch breaks.

• What R177??

• Frederick and Nelson:

  http://pauldorpat.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/FN-front-door-112857-WEB.jpg

  beautiful

• Another:

  http://pauldorpat.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/FN-xmas-lights-66-WEB.jpg

• Another:

  http://knittingiris.typepad.com/knitting_iris/2009/12/wishing-you-a.html

• The strolling minstrels:

  http://www.dshistory.com/stores/frederick_nelson_seattle/frederick_nelson_minstrels.html

• Last one! I love it and remember this particular decor

  http://pauldorpat.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/fn-dec-1966-web.jpg

• Chappell''s because they had great gold gift boxes, generous credit terms, and were always family-owned and local\ \ Sibley''s because they had the best SantaLand and everything was kind of flashy\ \ Wells & Coverly for my first suit and the best clothing gifts\ \ Dey Bros was the regional full-service department store

  upstate NY in my youth

• What''s not to understand, r182? Windows full of real elves doing elvish things. I didn''t know they were midgets. Apparently one flashed me and my Mom said, OK, we''re going to Wiebolts.\ \ I vaguely remember Judy in the window. She was screaming GET ME OUT OF HERE, pounding on the window and my Mom said, that''s Dorothy and she''s trying to escape from the Witches Castle. OK, we''re going to Goldblatts.

• Burdines \ \ Fucking Macys is the Wal Mart of department stores. I don''t shop there anymore

• The Herald Square Korvette''s bankruptcy circa 1982 was something I''ll always remember. It was the first case I''d experience of a store being stripped of all fixtures, drop ceilings, etc; just gutted. And on the sales floor were just massive bins of really strange merchandise, the sort the store might not have even carried, just garbage. Depressing.

• [quote]I vaguely remember Judy in the window. She was screaming GET ME OUT OF HERE, pounding on the window and my Mom said, that''s Dorothy and she''s trying to escape from the Witches Castle. OK, we''re going to Goldblatts.%0D\ %0D\ %0D\ That''s what I was questioning. Wow.

  R182

• In the L.A. area - %0D\ Broadway, - %0D\ May Co. (already mentioned)to us boy''s known as Gay Co. So very festive at Christmas, with good reason.

  Justin Thyme

• You know what gives me hope vis a vis the Walmart thing? At some point they''ll fall out of favor and you''ll see a return of the mom & pop shops again.

  LuciferTheLightBringer

• In the old days, Woolworth''s had some quality merchandise. At Christmas, they had miniature manger scenes and you could buy all sorts of accessories like angels, shepherds, etc.

• If only, r194. I don''t think it''s possible. The economy is structured differently now. All the laws that prevented monopolies have been repealed or people find ways around them. It''s just too hard to compete with a national behemoth like macys.

• Indianapolis had 3 big stores that had wonderful window displays for Christmas. L.S. Ayres, Wm.H. Block and Wasson''s. Ayres had a beautiful Winter Wonderland dispay on their 8th floor and kids would stand in line for a train ride through it to go see Santa.

  NaN

• Hink''s (Berkeley)\ \ Leask''s (Santa Cruz)\ \ Godchaux''s (Fresno)

• [quote]Mansours\ \ [quote]Rich''s\ \ [quote]Parisian\ \ [quote]Castner Knott\ \ [quote]Pizitz\ \ [quote]and yes, it was called Gayfer''s....\ \ A few more from Birmingham:\ \ Loveman''s\ \ Burger-Phillips (first department store in the South with automatic opening doors)\ \ Blach''s

• In Southern California (and possibly other places):\ \ - Akron\ \ - Treasury\ \ - Gemco\ \ - Fedco\ \ - Newberry''s

  Tae of the SLA in LA

• Judy''s !

• Bullock''s in Long Beach, CA.%0D\ %0D\ ****I don''t remember a BULLOCKS in Long Beach, Lakewood yes, but not LB. However, there was a BUFFUMS in Long Beach.%0D

• LEASKS in Santa Cruz, CA.%0D\ %0D\ Ben Franklin was just another five and dime, but loved the smell of their popcorn wafting thru the air.

• Whitefront%0D\ %0D\ ******ZODYS, GEMCO, AAKRON.

• My first job was in the bakery department at Bamberger''s in the Garden State Plaza in Paramus, NJ. \ \ I also loved Alexander''s that was across the highway (Route 4).

• \ Filene''s in Boston (now the hole in the ground)\ \ I worked there in high school and college, summers and holidays.\ \ And when I was a kid, went there to see Santa Clause.

• In Minneapolis-St.Paul:\ \ Dayton''s\ \ The Golden Rule (later Donaldson''s)\ \ Powers''\ \ Young-Quinlan

• Menken''s Department Store.

  Betty Draper

• In Tucson, Az%0D\ %0D\ The locally owned dept. stores:%0D\ %0D\ Levy''s%0D\ %0D\ Steinfeld''s%0D\ %0D\ Jacome''s%0D\ %0D\ Others:%0D\ %0D\ Goldwater''s%0D\ %0D\ Sanger-Harris%0D\ %0D\ Foley''s%0D\ %0D\ Diamond''s%0D\ %0D\ The Broadway%0D\ %0D\ All gone to the history books. Macy''s has pretty much taken over everything around here. Can''t stand their choices in clothing. We still have Dillards.%0D\ %0D\ The locally owned stores were classy and their employees were always helpful and gracious in attending customers. Those stores had service!

• HINSHAWS in Uptown Whittier, CA.

• Harzfeld''s (originally The Parisian Cloak Company), Peck''s, and Emery Bird Thayer in Kansas City.\ \ And do you remember the wonderful Christmas windows they used to do with automated scenes? They were wonderful, artistic, & magical.

• "Emery Bird Thayer in Kansas City.\ \ And do you remember the wonderful Christmas windows they used to do with automated scenes? They were wonderful, artistic, & magical."\ \ My grandmother worked there for over 30 years in notions. What are notions? Thimbles? Scissors?

• Rich''s\ \ Treasure Island\ \ Grants

• Joseph Magnin%0D\ %0D\ Robinsons%0D\ %0D\ The Broadway%0D\ %0D\ Bullocks Wilshire!%0D\ %0D\ The May Company

• DC and Maryland:\ \ Landsburgh\ \ The Hecht Co.\ \ Woodward and Lothrop

• Campus Cobbler and Al Johnson's in Dinkeytown,Mpls,USA

• Not one mention of Heironimus.

• Sanger Hariss then Joski's

• Abraham & Strauss in Brooklyn

• I remember spending a lot of time in Caldor's, specifically the one in Pelham Manor just north of the Bronx. It later became a K-Mart and is now a huge Fairway supermarket. I'm not old enough to have any specific memories of Alexander's or A&S, although I do have some earrings from Alexander's and I had the Abearham bear, which I think is at my mother's house. My dad worked at the B. Altman's on 5th Avenue in the late 70s.

• Gayfers, I would love to know the value, if any, on the train set I bought from Gayfers Dept. Store 20 for so years ago, think it was 1 piece a week for $5.00, I have 11 cars, not sure it there were more.

  LAM

• Over 200 posts, and nobody mentions OP's spelling error. Oh dear.

• R1 mentioned Two Guys, which REALLY took me back. Our local one became a White Modell, which my mom called White Modess.

• Hey, dunces, Wal-Mart is just a department store.

• AM & A's Sibley's L.L. Berger Jenss Hens & Kelly Kaufmann's Hills All dead.

  Buffalonian

• The Jones Store

• I'm a California resident, southern native. Our Rich's became Macy's when I was in high school, and turned to shit. In Charleston we had Kerrisons. I can just barely remember it from when I was a kid. They could never recover their losses after Hurricane Hugo. Now the lower level is an Anthropologie, and the upper levels are being converted into apartments.

• I loved the slogan Don't be ill, you can't do better than Congo-Leopoldsville. Then they changed it to Ha ha, you can't do better than Congo-Kinshasa Then they changed it to Compare you can't do better than Zayre.

• Joseph Spiess & Co. and as far as catalog companies go Aldens which was my favorite. But I really miss the Christmas Catalogs of old for Sears, Montgomery Wards as well.

• Service Merchandise. You would pull "tags" or "cards", bring them to the register, and they would bring the merchandise...

  ANON

• Three Sisters Parkers

• Gimbels, Alexander's , Shepard's inProvidence.

• In Pittsburgh: Horne's and Kaufmanns. I was especially sorry to see Kaufmann's close.

• Connecticut seems to have been hit hard in losing it's homegrown department stores. And other national or regional chains. G. Fox Sage & Allen Grants D&L Caldor's Bradlees Aames Steiger's I'm sure there's some I'm missing.

• J. Fox department stores- friend of mine's family owned it. Goldwater's in the South West

• R222, what spelling error did OP make? Grammar and punctuation, I see...

• I still cannot bring myself to refer to the State Street store as anything other than Marshall Field's.