Long Lost Department Stores

Liberty House. I think it was strictly a CA thing, with a few stores in Hawaii as well..

The savings are amazing at Ames

Joskes.

J.B. White or White's

Filene's, Jordan Marsh, and I do miss Barneys NY.

Foley's and Joskes

B Altman & Co

When I was a kid Palais Royal was an upscale store. Now it's like a bargain basement place.

Kaufmann's

J.L. Hudson's

Marshall Field and Company

Cox's Department Store - Waco, Texas

Gimbels

Lucy and Ethel were forced to shop in Gimbels basement.

Grants

R8 Not anymore it closed early during the pandemic.

Caldor

Bonwit Teller

Bradlees

Any Australians remember Fossey's? I saw a woman being accosted by security for shoplifting underwear as a young gayling. My first brush with suburban scandal!

Korvettes

Filene's Basement, the GOAT

Alexanders

G Fox Caldor Filene Mervyn’s Montgomery Ward Bradley’s Loeman’s (sp?)

Zayre, later Ames and Jacobson’s.

I found this site it’s pretty interesting

Frederick & Nelson, Seattle

Bambergers, New Jersey

Teppers, New Jersey

Kleins

Woolworth's

Woolco

Burdines in Miami

Rich’s in Atlanta

Lit Brothers

SteinMart

Boston store

Murphy's Mart

Kmart, Mervyns, Gottschalks

Anyone remember TSS or TSS Seedmans

35- Kmart is still in business ( barely though)

Robinson's, Buffum's CA

Mays

Kresege

Woolworth's and Kmart are both thriving in Australia.

Bullocks/Bullocks Wilshire

May, Co. & the Broadway

Burdines and Lord & Taylor

Boston: Jordan Marsh, Filene's, Kennedy's, Raymond's, Gilchrist's, R.H. Stearns, Louis, Bonwit Teller, Lord & Taylor

So Sad

Lane's

(Green Acres Shopping Center, Valley Stream, NY)

Ohrbach's

San Diego: Buffums, May Company, Lion

Chappell's, AM&A's

Thank you, R27. My Grandfather owned S Klein. His office was in the Union Square main branch. They had a bargain broadcaster named Bill Persky who would announce sales over the store speakers by playing a stampede. He went on to create "That Girl".

Gemco, Fedco, Zody's, Akron, Mervyn's

If this thread isn't sad, I don't know what is. These stores were a part of our communities and culture.

Service Merchandise - I remember the whole filling out tickets and waiting for your stuff to come out of the warehouse... Good times!

Jamesway

I Magnin CA

Wanamakers

In DC, Woodward & Lothrop, Garfinckels.

Mullen & Bluett

Capwells, Oakland CA

San Francisco:

J. Magnin

Roos Atkins/Roos Brothers

Emporium Capwell

City of Paris

Hale's

G Fox

Jordan Marsh

McCrory’s

The Jordan Marsh near me turned into a Kmart, which turned into a Walmart…sad.

R53- I was a VERY good costumer of Service Merchandise, in fact I still have one of their catalogues from the late 1990's in a storage bin somewhere BUT they were not a department store they were a catalogue store- they did not sell clothing.

Dallas:

Titche's

Sanger-Harris

Fort Worth:

Leonard Bros.

Cox's

Stripling's

R44- Lord & Taylor was started by two English immigrants way back in 1826 . It was THE oldest continuously operating department store in the United States but it's not long lost . It only went out of business last year.

Debenhams

Abraham & Strauss

Steins

Miller and Rhoades and Thalhimers, the two premier department stores in downtown Richmond, Va. They were Richmond institutions. Downtown Richmond is a wasteland now. There's NOTHING there.

May Co

R64, I'm from South Florida and at some point in the early 2000s all Lord and Taylor stores closed in the area (no idea about the rest of the country). Around 2013 we got 1 store back in Boca Raton, but when I went it wasn't the same at all. It didn't match my memory of the store from the 1980s and 1990s. Technically Lord & Taylor still exists as an online store but the brick and mortar store in my memory is long lost.

DL eldergays - you know what I miss most about those long gone department stores- When I would hear- DINK, DINK- Mrs. Lazenby you're wanted in the maternity department.

Fedco, Woolworth, I. Magnin

Sears

Hecht's in the DC area.

Bon Marche, Frederick & Nelson

Lazarus, Famous -Barr, Weinstocks

I really miss the lunchrooms at a lot of these stores. Especially Bullocks and Buffums here in CA.

Stern's

B Altman's Manhattan store especially. I miss the elevators at Sak's, but at least it's still there.

SYMS.

R80- At SYMS an educated consumer is our best customer.

Eaton’s and Woodward’s - Canadian here

Two Guys (NJ)

Great Eastern

There was a Two Guys and a Great Eastern in our city when I was growing up. We were more Great Eastern people. I secretly preferred Two Guys because their scale model aisle in the toy department was better. It’s where I bought this:

… and this:

Arthur Barnett's Milne & Choyce DIC George Court's

Apologies for the above. Arthur Barnett's, Milne & Choyce, DIC, George Court's. All long gone NZ department stores..

Montgomery Ward

Sears Canada and their Christmas cataloge.

Zellers, Zayres, Hills.

R89 Montgomery Wards exists now as an online store.

^^^ oops

Bucovetsky's aka "Bucs" Iconic Northern Ontario stores.

Venture - I'll always remember the black and white striped facade

To the person who mentioned Zayre above, I found something around the house a couple years ago that had a Zayre's price tag stuck to it.

Toys R Us

r96 - I think you mean Babies R Us?

Twinks R Us

Maas Brothers in Fla.

Lots of hanky lanky in mens dressing rooms

Parisian, Pizitz, SYMS, Loehmann’s, Sakowtiz, Montgomery Ward, Foley’s, Marshall Fields, Lord & Taylor…I’m ‘bama-born, Texas-raised. Department stores seemed like magic as a kid; I miss that feeling.

Famous-Barr Gemco

Sacramento: Weinstock-Libins, Hales. Furniture: Breuners, WJ Sloanes.

Marylander here -- Hechts, Woodward and Lothrop (Woodies), Garfinkels, Casual Corner.

The previously mentioned Famous-Barr in St. Louis.

Also in STL, Nugent's, Stix, Baer & Fuller and Scruggs, Vandervoort & Barney.

R52: What's sad is anyone who misses Zayre (always poorly stocked, lots of gaudy clothing even for a discounter) or KMart (lots of cheaply made store brand merch)

The magic in these places was at their downtown stores--Marshall Field's (up until May bought them), Lord & Taylor (until May bought them, too), Higbee Company, Halle's,. The suburban stores never had the range of merchandise or the service and the difference between May Company (whether in Cleveland or LA) and its more upscale competitors was never as great in the subrubs as in the city.

In the 1970's, Exxon was flush with cash from the rise in gas prices, so it bought Montgomery Ward. Wards then bought a Florida discount chain called Jefferson, which became Jefferson Ward and expanded up and down the east coast.

And everyone was completely surprised when Ward's tanked, as if there were any synergies to be had between an oil company and a department store chain.

Edgar Kaufmann’s office from his department store in Pittsburgh was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright at the same time they were building Fallingwater. It is being ready to be reinstalled in one of the new V&A Museum buildings opening in London in 2024.

From New England: Grant's & Mammoth Mart

Birmingham: Loveman's, Parisian, Pizitz

Jelleff's

In London there are 7 or 8 department stores, proper ones, sonetimes even with a notions and fabric section, and lunch rooms. My Brit friends complain about awful Oxford Street and its resplendent dept stores heaving with people; if only we had even a small portion of that in our cities..

New Orleans: Maison Blanche, D. H. Holmes

Quackenbush 's Department Store. Paterson. NJ Circa 1953

A little touch of elegance in my family's blue collar life. We called it Quack's. We didn't shop there, too fancy and costly. At Christmas, my mother took my brother and I to take a picture with Santa there. You got to sit on Santa's lap, and received a wrapped gift. We walked around afterwards, there was a marble staircase with brass railings, which led to the second floor which had a beauty salon and a luncheonette! There were little tables with cloths! We would sit there and have hot chocolate and a sandwich. My mother's coffee came in a little silver pot. I nearly swooned with the thrill of it all.

G. Fox Read’s The Fairfield Store

Joseph Magnin's

Foley's. The downtown store was great at Christmas.

R36 I remember TSS stores. I believe they closed by 1980s.

Sakowitz.

The Boston Store

The Carl Co.

The Wallace Company

H.S. Barney

R92 it’s MONTGOMERY WARD

The most confusing one was S&H Greenstamps.

Carson Pierre-Scott, Bergner’s were under the Boston’s umbrella

Fucker’s

Canadian here

Eaton’s Simpson’s Zellers Woodward’s Towers

Gertz @ Mid Island Plaza in Hicksville NY

Twat Mart

Bunp

R53, Service Merchandise sounds like Consumers Distributing in Canada. I forget if CD's merchandise was any good.

Cherry & Webb

Jacobson’s in Michigan. Small. high end for my working class family.

Pomeroy’s for the Pennsylvanians!

Marshall Field's, L S Ayres, Goldblatt's (Indiana), Edward C Minas (Indiana), Elder-Beerman, Carson, Pirie, Scott, Bachrach

[quote]Marylander here -- Hechts, Woodward and Lothrop (Woodies), Garfinkels, Casual Corner.

Don't forget Hoschild Kohn, Hutzler's, and Stewart's. Hutzler's was supposedly the most upmarket. All of the downtown Baltimore flagship stores of those chains were great; the area they were in, not so much (at least by the time I came along).

Buffums

Bullocks

Hinshaws

May Co.

Montgomery Wards

Zodys

Woolworth, Penney, Korvette. All in Philadelphia so they may not be familiar to some.

Pussy Willows

Dayton's - Minnesota Venture - Illinois/Midwest (a Kmart stytle department store) Famous Barr - St. Louis/Midwest (I think that was it's footprint).

Montgomery Ward itself went by Wards on and off over the years. For around the last four years of it as a brick and mortar store, it officially went by Wards. They, also, used Wards on some stores in the 1950s/60s.

I miss cruising at Kaufmann's. It was glorious.

I was mostly in the age bracket where we shopped almost entirely at mall stores (with a few of the stores then open still having their big downtown flagship stores).

But I remember a little store called Troutman's, which was a few stories and not huge (I'm sure a store like Anthropologie is bigger or the same size) but seemed to have the total department store experience. And I also remember shopping with my grandmother in an old timey store called Glosser Brothers.

Filene's, Filene's Basement (when there was only one), Bonwit Teller, Remicks.

Cocksucker’s, Cocksucker’s Basement, Mudflaps, vulva’s

Colorado:

The Denver

May D&F

Joslins

Loved all of them.

Shillitos

Rikes

Lazarus

This thread is 1 month early. It is due in August. BI ANNUAL THREAD, dolls.

Is it now quarterly???

Hechts and Woodward and Lothrop in the DC area

Catalog stores--I can't remember their names exactly-Bell?

R144 Shitto’s??

Sears. I met a softer looking Jeff Stryker lookalike in the restroom, I was maybe 16. He took me back out into the parking lot and we had sex in his box truck. Such a sexy guy and so clean smelling.

Years later he invited me out to a yacht with an swarthy Peruvian and an older guy and I realized too late it could’ve been a delicious foursome. But I’m such a prude.

Best and Company was a DMV area catalog store up until the mid-nineties. Not department stores but DMV area clothiers Raleigh's and Britches both closed in the 90's as well.

Growing up in Pasadena, CA, I followed my mother around I Magnin and Bullocks.

Bonwit Teller and their pretty shopping bags. Ugh, I'm feeling whimsical and nostalgic. I'm having a Senatrice Miss Lindsay moment just thinking about those department store men's rooms shenanigans after a crab salad and lunch.

Hello...let's go shopping...

Grew up near a Caldor's. Wish I had a time machine. We thought it was the bee's knees back then. Too much fun.

R149, you weren’t a prude…you were clearly a baby whore. Glad you lived to tell the tale and enjoyed yourself. Lady Luck was on your side that day.

Aside from that, how did Pseudo Jeff go from a box truck to a yacht in a few years?

R155- I believe he was telling you a TALL tale.

Growing up in the 70's-80's in Brooklyn, Fulton Street was the go-to place for shopping: there was May's, Korvette's, Macy's, Woolworth's, McCrory's. The fancy story in that area was Martin's, right across from Macy's. We NEVER went in there - too rich for my mother's budget, having 5 kids.

Correction: Before it became a Macy's, the big store on Fulton Street was A&S (Abraham & Strauss).

Emporium in SFO.

The Academy of Motion Pictures Museum was originally...

Anyone remember this?

Treasure Island, MoreWay and Atlantic Mills on the cheap end; Gimbel's and Chapman's in the middle.

Robert Hall -- not a dept store but what the hell. I remember it fondly.

How is it that in Los Angeles, the city that tears down its architectural history, that two of its former department store buildings still exist and are exulted for their architecture, but many places where preservation is taken more seriously? Three if you count that fabulous Sears in Santa Monica, but I’m not sure what’s happened to it in ensuing years.

R150: Best & Co was a small scale dept store that sold apparel. They had a big store in NYC and small branches scattered through the NE and Midwest. They were the quintessential store for WASPs. The catalog place was simply "Best".

R164: Broadway in downtown LA was essentially abandoned for a couple decades, so everything missed the wrecking ball.

No one's mentioned Alexander's? There was a huge one a block or two away from the Upper East Side Bloomingdale's flagship. It had the most bizarre, modernist decorations on its facade. Long gone, but old New Yorkers remember the commercials. One series used "How Lucky Can You Get" as a jingle. Then there were these gems, which made a virtue of necessity -- Bloomingdales and the many other, mostly defunct, department stores were fun to shop in, but realistically, if you were on a budget, you were gonna "buy at Alexander's."

Kay and Michael in front of Best & Co. in The Godfather. With Francis Ford Coppola.

Alexander's facade:

Ayr🌼Way (bought out by Target)

Hills

Clark's

Rink's

R166- I already posted that.

Awww love the DC crowd. Woodies and Hecht’s were childhood staples.

Railroad Salvage

I think I finally figured out the significance of the fishing bobbers. She's there to buy them for her husband. Unfortunately she gets distracted by kicky shifts and percolators and...such. What will her husband do if she returns home without them?

That's one groovy Mama...

Federals.

Twats

Berrenger's

Certainly lost, if not that long ago.

New Orleans...Maison Blanche, D H Holmes, Krauss, Miller Whol, Bon Marche, Kreeger's, many old downtown Canal Street department stores are long gone, and the ornate buildings are now ritzy hotels/condominiums between Claiborne Avenue and the river...

[quote] Sears. I met a softer looking Jeff Stryker lookalike in the restroom

I guess you really DID see the softer side of Sears.

Southern California: Robinson's >> May Company >> Robinsons-May. The Broadway. Bullock's. --->>> Macy's

Northern California: Bullock's. --->>> Divested to Nordstrom. Emporium >> Capwell's >> Emporium-Capwell. Weinstock's. --->>> Macy's

Interesting to see all the names in this thread, former department stores taken down by either business failure or merger consolidation.

In my humble opinion, I think Chicagoans and Marshall Field's fans own this thread though. Big bad Macy's rebranded Field's in 2006, sullied State Street with the communist red star and took the merchandise quality down to a JCPenney level while appropriating the Field's trademarks like Frango mints Macy's-wide. As recently as more than ten years later, those Field's fans were STILL taking to the streets to protest the change.

They may not get their Field's back, but karma does seem to be coming for Macy's. With all the stores they've been closing, their nameplate may be "long lost" in another several years.

How do you keep your pussyfoot soft?

Raw steak on the labia tenderizes the cunt

I do miss Mervyns. It was the best place for budget-priced real gold and Skechers

Sterns

Bradlee's

I understand the Macy’s hate over the stores lost to them, but Dillard’s is the one that ate my store so I hate them more.

R157 was the May’s, you mentioned in Brooklyn a separate chain from the May Co. in California?

Strawbridge & Clothier - Philadelphia. It was an old fashioned department store; it was so beautiful and elegant. I miss it.

[quote][R166]- I already posted that.

This happens, R161. Don't worry, we still love you.

Macy's and May Co ruined every store they bought.

Macie’s

I loved Younkers.

Bullocks Wilshire

And he loved you, r192.

One of those lousy companies (either May Co or Macy's- they were combined at one point) shut down the glorious Bullocks Wilshire. We still have the building, but I hope those CEOs got horrid and painful cancer

America really went to shit due to unregulated capitalism. Now everything is owned by same dozen companies and we're seeing this streamlining of brands. Everything is cheapened, boring and repetitive now and deprived of uniqueness. Malls have went to shit too and are basically ghost towns.

I'm with R7.

B. Altman and Co.

"Altman's" Everything was wonderful about that store. The service was unbelievable. The Book Department and Rare Print/Autograph Department were one of a kind. Christmas shopping with the red boxes and B. Altman logo...Charleston Garden for lunch. I can remember going there with a note from my mother giving her permission to use her charge plate.

Altman's alway had a fair number of priests and nuns shopping in the store. Most department stores gave a clerical discount, but Altman's CEO or some exec was an O'Neill.

Gimbel's and A&S in Brooklyn were nice department stores. Others lone gone...Martin's in downtown Brooklyn and Wanamaker's.

So sad they're long gone. Went to Macy's in June and it was awful. The salespeople have been reduced to check out clerks.

Brooks Brothers has gone downhill. Their merchandise is poor quality..

I don't know where to go nowadays to buy a suit. Paul Stuart maybe, but you'll pay an arm and a leg.

"Strawbridge & Clothier - Philadelphia. It was an old fashioned department store; it was so beautiful and elegant. I miss it."

It is said Stockton Strawbridge was literally heartbroken that other family members had voted to sell the chain to May Company. He died shortly thereafter.

I was in Center City a couple of weeks ago and the first floor of Strawbridge's has been converted to a Giant Heirloom Market. Imagine a deli counter where fine jewelry and accessories used to be sold. Old Stockton must be turning over in his grave. At least they left the beautiful chandeliers in place.

And of the dozen or so branch stores, I think only 3 or 4 are still functioning as department stores. The others have either been torn down (Burlington and Cherry Hill), vacant and soon to be torn down (Echelon/Voorhees Town Center) or repurposed (Plymouth Meeting, Springfield)

Jewel Mart.

They were sort of interesting because they only had one of each item on display and you had to walk around the store with a clipboard writing down what you wanted, then give it to them when you were ready to check out and they would retrieve the items for you from their back room and send them down a conveyor belt to you and the cashier.

They mainly just sold small appliances, electronics., home decor stuff like lamps and such. Their stores were rather small because they didn't need so much floor space for customers to browse.

PA: Kaufmans, Gimbels, Hornes, Mansmanns, Treasure Island, Grants

NJ: Bon Ton

TN: Goldsmiths

If I have to go shopping at a mall, I'll go to Fashion Island in Newport Beach. That's usually for eating or the movies, but at least there's an ocean view. The Macy's there is a shithole, with dressing rooms piled to the ceiling with clothes and barely any staff. My mom needed something there a few months ago and we walked up to a handwritten sign, Sorry We're Closed. In the middle of the day.

I worked at a Macy's briefly and it sucked. Very unpleasant coworkers and management and nonstop Karens who argued about prices and left the clothing areas a mess. We were always short-staffed too and expected to do everything. For a company that prided itself on it's history, it's quality has gone to shit and they are super unprofessional.

Sorry R202.

Bargain Port

It's amazing Macy's is still in business.

R203 Thank you. It was just one of the many side jobs for the holidays during my 20s. I worked a lot of shitty retail jobs and food service jobs during my college days. Macy's just stuck out because I assumed they were a classy upscale brand who would treat their employees well. I had nostalgia from the Thanksgiving and Christmas day memories too. I was just shocked at how unorganized and unprofessional it was. A total mess and the management was never helpful and played favorites. And even with my employee discount, I couldn't find any stuff I liked to wear. So a bit of a disillusionment for me.

R182 I used to think those Fields people were ludicrous but I've come to respect them. I mean it's NEVER going to come back, but I feel the same way about my regional chain that Macys ate and then ruined (Kaufmanns).

The artists of Alexanders facades

I worked at the old Robinson's (now Macy's) during college. First I was in the stationery department doing wedding invitation orders because of my good penmanship (lol), and then moved to furs. That was great, because you made decent commission. Until some bitch complained because I saw her in her slip. Like I really cared about some hag with sagging tits. I quit after that.

Great discount though. If it was clothing considered suitable for work, you got a 50% discount.

I browsed at Macys

But I shoplifted at Alexander's! Yes I shoplifted at Alexander's!

My mommy called it Monkey Ward's

Your mommy was a strumpet, r211.

Ben Franklins and Bell Scott

The Treasury

Speaking of Bullocks Wilshire...

That's a great episode of Huell. What a lovely person.

R53, My and my husband's wedding bands were from Service Merchandise! I have some beautiful 14k rope chain necklaces from there, as well!

For my local area, the most missed department store is Hess's, nee Hess Brothers. Great sales plus classy.

Jordan Marsh; we had one in our local town and there was one in downtown Boston.

When I was in my early 20s, I got a job as a clerk. My mom was thrilled. We used my store discount and it excelled what I made. She thought they'd find that odd but I said to her that they don't care. As long as we're spending money.

My mom let me use her Bullock's charge plate to buy some shoes for the school dance.

Then my cunt sister wouldn't teach me any moves.

I was fuckbuddies with a mature daddy who was some kind of engineer and building manager at the B.Altman flagship store. Mid 80s right before it closed. He was KINKY AS FUCK and had 9 inches and fucked me in several back rooms over two years. It was a labyrinth of fascinating archaic mechanics and machinery behind the scenes, that building.

R220- Thank you for covering our innocent memories in your old fuddy-duddy's cum.

How dare you sully this wonderful thread!

The post at R220 is brought to you by BIKTARVY®.

r202 don't be naive. that is literally every retail store today.

i love r221

R223: You're right and it's been true for a long time.

I was fingerbanged by my cousin Wilbur in the Tea Room at Bergdorf's in 1974!

My downstairs still moistens at the memory!

It's a family legacy.

The Hub - Steubenville, Ohio

Pogues in Cincinnati. I Magnin in the Bay Area. Liberty house was all over the Southwest and Ca and Hawaii

R224! Me too!

On a December holiday bus tour day trip to NYC with do your own thing during the day and Radio City Music Hall movie and Christmas program in the evening circa 1979 with my mom, we went to Macy’s and the man at the urinal next to 15 year old me started openly masturbating and displaying it to me. I was shocked! Shocked I tell you!

New Orleans again...Godchaux's, Gus Mayer, and the correct spelling is Miller Wohl from upthread...old time Canal Street shopping photos online, the hustle and bustle of commerce and business from Claiborne Avenue to the river...

Southwestern OH: Shillito’s, Pogue’s, McAlpin’s, Elder-Beerman, Gold Circle, Van Leunen’s, Steinberg’s, Johnny’s Toys

This thread sponsored by Bain Capital.

Thanks, Mitt!

I love r220

Gilchrist’s, Raymond’s, and RH Stearns were Boston’s second-tier department stores after Filene’s and Jordan Marsh. Now it’s just Macy’s, and they’re a shell of what they were.

Gilchrist’s used to make the best macaroons and sell them through a window to the side of the entrance to the store in Boston’s One Hundred Percent corner, now known as Downtown Crossing. Not only were the macaroons good, they were durable. Admiral Byrd’s 1938 Antarctic Expedition took them in their attempt to reach the South Pole.

Raymond’s was further down Washington Street towards the Combat Zone. Their slogan was “Where U Bot the Hat” anticipating the need for Spellcheck by decades. I have no idea what the phrase meant. Yes, they sold hats, but they sold everything else, and often overstock from other “stoars” as well. Famous, too, for Oriental rugs.

RH Stearns was very classy, where the saleswomen would take whatever you wanted to see out of a glass case and display it for you, the customer. It was Grace Brothers without Captain Peacock or Mrs. Slocombe. Now it’s Senior Housing facing the Boston Common.

After a hard morning’s shopping, it was either Warmuth’s or Dini’s for lunch or Bailey’s for a sundae in the afternoon. Then back to the Bedford Street Mechanical Garage to noisily collect the Country Squire as the driver slammed it off the elevator onto the pavement for the ride home to suburbia.

Shit on r235’s wordy face

Bamburgers, Wanamakers, Jamesway and Woolworths

R236!

Done!

Building 19: new england. Schottensteins/Value City: Ohio, Pennsylvania

R235- That was the name of a character in the mini series- Little Gloria Happy At Last (1982)

They’ve already been mentioned, but I also have fond memories of Bullocks-Wilshire and I. Magnin.

Bullocks-Wilshire was my mother’s favorite store and a lot of the clothes for my brother and me were bought there. When our mother took us shopping there, we often had lunch in the Tearoom. It seemed so genteel that our mother never had to tell us to behave; that came naturally in those surroundings.

Our mother also liked the Beverly Hills location of I. Magnin. For some reason she didn’t care for their larger Los Angeles store located near Bullocks-Wilshire. What I remember most were the miniature mint-flavored marshmallows that came in a fancy tin.

R220 I need more details and a photo.

I remember Value City or as we called it, VC Boutique.

In my hometown of Madison, WI the upscale department store was Manchester's, closed early 80s. We had two locations of mid-range Prange's which was bought by Younker's in the early 90s. Also had two branches of the Milwaukee division of Gimbel's which was dissolved in the mid-80s. One location became Boston Store (from Milwaukee) and the other Marshall Field's, now Macy's.

Visiting my dad in Florida in the 70s & 80s I remember Ivey's, J Byron's, Gayfer's, and Burdines.

Have lived in Chicago since the late 80s and fondly remember I Magnin & Bonwit Teller on Michigan Avenue.

Kohl's

R245 Looking at who was interested in buying Kohl's when they recently explored their options, I think at some point soon Kohl's will end up merging with either Belk or J.C. Penney. The other option might be Amazon, since they already handle a lot of Amazon pickups.

For many lower/middle class shoppers, if they go clothes shopping at a brick and mortar department store, it tends to go: Walmart

People rag on Macy's all the time but Dillard is worse. They bought a lot of upper middle brow stores and gutted the customer service, often neglected the stores and filled them with stodgy house brand junk. They seem to do well in small to medium markets in the south and southwest but have wound up closing most of their stores elsewheer.

R247 Especially after their takeover of Mercantile Stores and the nameplates: Bacon's, Castner Knott, de Lendrecie's, Gayfers, Glass Block, Hennessy's, J.B. White, Joslins, Lion Store, Maison Blanche, McAlpin's, Root's and The Jones Store.

Dillard can't be worse than Macy's. Macy's did the exact same thing.

R247 doesn’t know squat about Dillard’s obviously

The shame of it all is, all of these stores got rid of their in-house brands. ALL of them thought makeovers to make them look like Kohl's was the magic answer. And now you cannot find the brands you could find before in Dillards or the Boston Store or anywhere else, but all of them have a Dockers section and all of them have a Sephora, because apparently every fucking store in the entire fucking world needs to have a fucking Sephora in it.

Arlan's.

I will rag on Macys until the bitter end, but unfortunately it's the only middle left here.

We shopped Swillmart Discount Stores and then hit the Food Clown for groceries.

Peebles. It was like the Harriet Carter catalog opened a retail store.

The Federated-May merger meant that the Macy name mostly got applied to middle brow stores (or lower middle brow stores like May's). Dillard bought stores that were supposed to be a step up from that, except they aren't. Upper middle brow stores sold more exclusive merch and had better service. Dillard has neither.

Erie, PA: Hallie's, Carlisle's, The Boston Store, Dahlkemper's Catalog Showroom (not technically a department store but still...)

R247 "upper middle brow stores". What does that mean? Sweaters by Brandeis and cookware by Georgia Tech?

R256 The problem was that the stores that Dillard's bought WERE a step up from them but then they took them down to their level.

I loved Sekhs Fifth Mudtrack.

R257 I hear the Boston Store on State Street was quite something in its day.

LaMont's, Frederick & Nelson's, Meier & Frank's. Newberry's, Woolworth's and Mervyn's.

Dullard's (Not a misspell) always seems to have a fan or two. Upper middle brow: Higbee's, Cain-Sloan, Stix, all a step up from May, Castner-Knott & Famous-Barr, respectively. The "upper middle brow" stores were "aspirational": people wished they could shop there all the time, but they weren't as exclusive or expensive as truly high end stores like Halle's or Vandervoort's.

R263 lives inside his delusions of class grandeur I see

R254: There used to be a pretty clear hierarchy to these stores. I'm guessing your're some sort of pseudo not snob who probably has all kinds of places they wouldn't be caught dead shopping.

Its weird, the only upper middle brow store in the USA that I can think of now- is Bloomingdales.

I would put Nordstrom just below Neiman/Bergdorf/Saks..

Everything else is shit.

Grew up going to Joskes and Foleys.

I don't know if it qualifies as a department store, but my father loved a place called Houston Jewelry that carried all kinds of crap, not just baubles. I spent hours and hours happily wandering there as a kid. Their security system gave off a really high-pitched whine that I could just barely hear as we came through the foyer. As I got older, I could no longer hear it but would feel a pressure in my ears. For some reason, I looked forward to this.

R266 I haven't been to one in a long time but I would put Von Maur between bloomies and Nordstrom. I mean they do have in-store pianists.

They’re gone! Move on….

Dayton's, downtown Minneapolis; Donaldson's. downtown Minneapolis. Both gone. The Dayton family founded Target, though, so they're doing all right.

Hall’s department store in the country club plaza in KC. Halls of Hallmark Cards fame of course.

R271 They closed?

I thought one of the 2 Hall’s stores closed?

Life seemed so much more beautiful before the 90s

the "brows" - low, middle and upper - refer to intellect. And possibly novels and universities. NOT DEPARTMENT STORES.

Maybe you could try your armchair flyoverstan sociology with the the terms "class" such as middle class or upper class. Or how about popular and posh. For crissakes. Perfume counters and notion departments do not intellects.

I'll settle for "fancy". I.Magnin & Co was fancy. Or posh. Or luxury. It was not "high brow".

I always thought it was tiers or ranges for department stores: lower, middle, and upper tiers or low-end, mid-range, upper range.

for example. Anything but "brow".

Is Neiman Marcus "well hung"?

In the Bay Area: Emporium Capwell, I. Magnin, Joseph Magnin, Livingston’s

In Central California: Gottschalks, Weinstock’s, Mervyn’s

Have any of them been found yet?

I posted earlier about Quackenbush Department Store in Paterson, NJ. The other big store in the downtown shopping center was Meyer Brothers. When I was in HS, all the wealthier kids wore Bass Weejuns loafers, purchased there. I wore knock offs.

A huge Alexander's was opened off Route 4 in Paramus. My father would take us by to look at the huge modern art mural being constructed. It was a marvel at the time. When we finally shopped there, I was disappointed with the interior and the layout. I expected some sort of sleek futuristic decor.

Georke's and Levy Brothers...the nicer department stores in Elizabeth, NJ. Two Guys From Harrison in Union, NJ. There were some nice department stores back then, and going shopping was a treat. We got dressed up and made a day of it. In Westfield, NJ....Hahne's department was high end, in a lovely affluent town. There was one in Newark, NJ...when Newark was a nice city to visit....plus, Bamberger's. That's a looong time ago.

Daffy Dan's, too...a lower priced clothing store in Elizabeth, NJ. They had seconds and could find some nice stuff. There was a girl in my class, who was very well dressed and stylish...and she bought a lot of her clothes there. Holy cow...going down memory lane..lol.

R155, it was a smaller sailboat tucked inside a yacht club in Boston Harbor in my home town, the swarthy Peruvian was his ex, and the weather turned bad just as we approached it- so we never left anchor. I also felt an undercurrent of jealousy among them, and yes, I was a clueless young whore and likely would’ve dropped trou if we’d gone out to sea away from the prying eyes of the club balcony and members I knew.

He was in construction, had a rhyming Boston Italian name like “Johnny Fontonni” and reeked of using too much Tide in his laundry. The scent still reminds me of him.

We hooked up a few times as FB but he has to be 20 years older than me, hot man though.

Lynn's -- no one would be caught dead shopping there, often just off a main street. They had dollar shirts and even dollar dresses.

How would you know that?

Sears and KMart have completely disappeared from the local landscape.

The Sears of my youth in North Hollywood used to occupy the entire lot. Now the building is divided between empty retail spaces for lease, Ross, and Burlington Coat Factory, site of the LAPD shootout that resulted in the death of an innocent teen shopping for her quinceañera dress.

Does Daffy's count? "Clothing bargains for millionaires." I think it was purely a NYC store, or maybe there were some just outside the city.

In its heyday, you could find the most amazing one-offs from very chi-chi designers for literally 5-10% of retail. I bought several super high-quality leather and shearling jackets at about 80% off retail. The flagship on 18th & 5th was just packed with the bizarre, the haute, the demented, the unexpected... you never knew what you'd find, or what size(s) would be in stock. But it was a treat just browsing. They also had accessories, housewares, luggage, toys, and whatever other lots they'd managed to acquire.

Testing

R290, at their peak, there were several Daffy's in New Jersey, as well as one in the old Bonwit Teller space in Center City Philadelphia.

Bonwit's in Boston was a stand-alone building near downtown, with a grand entrance, valets, and manicured trees/lawn. Their store bags had beautiful violets on them. After that the elegant Louis was in the building until they went under; now it's a museum.

Sakowitz in Houston.

I completely forgot about Louis.

R293 A museum about department stores?

Valley Fair in Irvington NJ -- I work there between college freshman and soph. years one summer. I do remember Two Guys on Rte. 22 in Union.

And mom shopped for the "good" boys and men's clothes at Gruber's in Irvington.

[quote]I do remember Two Guys on Rte. 22 in Union.

I thought it was in North Plainfield. Were there two Two Guys that close to each other on Route 22?

It was on Rte. 22 Union near the Parkway. There were others in the state.

i think Daffy Dan's in NJ was the same as Daffy's?

The Kmart of my youth used to occupy the entire building until Pic 'n' Save took over the east wing, later to be replaced with Big Lots. Sears Auto Center took over the west wing, then closed altogether, along with Kmart. Big Lots moved out this year and now the building and lot sit empty with weeds growing, the asphalt cracking in the heat, and vandals spraying graffiti throughout. A sign of the times.

Shits on 44th street

Labia’s in Boston

I was reading a post by the entertainment attorney at CDCN. He says Bezos continues to say that we will continue to have variants of Covid. The entertainment lawyer says it is because he wants to kill all the brick and mortar competition this time around.

^^^pfffft

R302- I MISS THEM SOOOOO MUCH!!!!

R305 I used to shop at Pussy’s on 2nd street

YES! I loved shopping at Pussy's!!!!! They had that great restaurant upstairs. I used to eat Pussy's!!

^^^^Sorry- I meant EAT +AT+ PUSSY'S!

R287: I read ads in the newspaper and I knew no one would be caught dead at Lynn's.

I can't imagine anyone missing KMart--the stench of stale popcorn and cheap subs, the house brand merchandise that quickly fell apart. There were plenty of other discounters that didn't just sell crap: Caldor, Gold Circle, Venture, Topps and hard goods-oriented stores like the ones owned by Cook United .

R309 their popcorn was the main reason to go to K-Mart when they stopped popping popcorn I knew the end was coming.

Liberty House in Hawaii. Why does Macy's have to eat up everything nice?

Chubby and Tubby in Seattle. It was a REAL store, not a joke.

r290, how could you forget to mention the communal dressing rooms at Daffy's? According to entries on squirt.org, it was quite the cruising place.

Hook’s

bump

Does anyone remember Haggarty’s in Southern California? It went out of business when I was nine years old. I don’t think I was ever inside the store. They had a location in Beverly Hills, on the southwest corner of Wilshire and Rodeo Drive. My mother used to often take my brother and me to lunch at the Brown Derby, located on the northwest corner of Wilshire and Rodeo. We’d see Haggarty’s across the street and laugh about the name. To two young boys, the similarity of the name to “haggard” was very funny. Years later, the building was occupied by Bonwit Teller. One of my earliest boyfriends worked part-time there as a waiter in their restaurant. He was very cute, but my best memory of him is the employee discounts he got for me.

I’d love to see a satirical movie along the lines of “The Department Store That Time Forgot”. It could be a variation on the theme of “Pleasantville”. DL writers, submit your scripts to Hollywood!

Grace Brothers.

Fan Fair

Buffums. Long Beach and OC

The Dorothy (Buffum) Chandler Pavilion of the LA Music Center is named for a daughter of the stores’ founder because she, as Mrs Norman Chandler - her husband was then the publisher of the LA Times - raised most of the money to build it.

How? She asked the Jews. Nobody in LA’s power structure had ever before asked Jewish Angelenos to contribute to civic causes because, well, nobody in LA society talked to the Jews back then. Dotty did and with their help, built a concert hall.

LA was stupid and treated the Jews and movie people like Nashville treated the "hillbillies." Now both cities realize they wouldn't be shit without the ones they despised in the past.

We still despise them, we're just nice to their faces.