With each department store that closes, a world vanishes

[TeamPooka]

"Americans went from dressing up to go shopping to dressing down to go shopping, and now they needn’t get dressed at all."

This piece really brought me back to the mega stores of my youth when shopping at a department store, especially during the holidays was a big deal.

"You might remember these vanishing icons simply as places to buy things, whether a Craftsman tool to upgrade your home or an Hermès scarf to upgrade your suit. But I think of them as a singular kind of American culture — small cities, almost, with distinct social hierarchies and gossiping neighbors and dream chasers. I spent my department store years in Ann Arbor at Jacobson’s, a chain mainly in Michigan, Ohio and Florida that was akin to Nordstrom. The store manager was like the mayor; everyone perked up when he strolled through, surveying his domain, bending to pick up bits of invisible fluff from the carpet. Department managers often had college degrees, and earned salaries and perks that made them the store’s upper middle class. Buyers from the designer section were the people who took the vacations you yearned for — they made glamorous trips to New York and Europe, coming back with look books and fabric swatches, letting us lower-ranking employees see the colors that would be popular next season. Young career men and women on the selling floors outfitted themselves in the latest fashions months before anyone else, at a generous discount, and showed off the styles after work, often spending large chunks of their paychecks to become walking advertisements for the store at nearby clubs. We didn’t have to wonder how new fashions would look on our customers: Smiling models regularly strolled through the store, bearing a printed card with the designer’s name and pausing for inspection.

These stores made an entire lifestyle possible for people who worked in them. Conversely, it was important for customers to see us as symbols of what they could attain, too. Customers were part of our community; our job was to sell them things that would highlight their good taste and let them share the sense of satisfaction that we felt after selling something special. That went both ways. After Diane von Furstenberg landed on the cover of Newsweek in 1976, customers came to Jacobson’s wanting one of her wrap dresses. It took a few years for them to make it to our Midwestern town, but when they did, I waited for one markdown, and then a second, before buying one.
...
Managers showed us the ropes, taught us tips on selling and caught us up when we made mistakes. I’ll never forget the look on my manager’s face when I erroneously told a shopper that a high-priced velvet bedspread was machine washable. In the men’s department, I matched shirts to ties, but I learned quickly that men wanted to buy suits from men."

more at link...

With each department store that closes, a world vanishes
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/with-each-department-store-that-closes-a-world-vanishes/2018/10/19/00293ef0-d24a-11e8-b2d2-f397227b43f0_story.html?utm_term=.bbee6a8c14b9

[brooklynite]

1. ...and another world replaces it.

The supermarket replaced the friendly grocery store where the proprietor pulled the items off the shelf for you. Now we're evolving from the supermarket to the online grocery model.

[Hortensis]

10. Yes. Remembering, btw, that Sears was the Amazon of its day

and put many thousands of local stores out of business.

Regarding your evolution, I'm wondering if that won't include a rebirth of local pan-specialty stores. The current model of hopelessly expensive urban neighborhoods surrounded by amenity-desert suburbs is unsustainable, and a damned good thing.

We once lived in a modestly prosperous smallish community that itself was part of a big city (that was part of and surrounded by giant L.A. County and City of L.A.) but had its own charming central shopping street and a delightful local Christmas parade and civic events in the park, among other wonderfully local-community amenities. An American dream community within a giant urban area that provided many jobs. It can happen virtually everywhere there's enough middle-working-classes prosperity to support it.

[Adrahil]

18. My town is experiencing this...

Downtown shops that were once large department stores are now specilaty retailers and local restaurants. They were empty for long years, but entrepreneurs have figured iut how to thrive in an Amazin world: don’t try and win a fight you can’t.

[FreeState]

32. That's happening here too

It’s nice to go into a shop and speak with the owner(s) and one or two employees.

[Hortensis]

44. This is nice to hear, you guys.

So much to be done and so many opportunities for exciting advances when we get through this regressive period...

[obamanut2012]

55. That is actually happening

I read an interesting piece recently about how big-box bookstores put smaller book stores and music stores out of business, but now they are disappearing, and small, niche bookstores and music stores are thriving, as are certain smaller clothing stores.

[Hortensis]

58. Next step, reconfigure into communities that can develop

identities and local pride within the larger population, with parks and other communal areas and ways to walk to them.

It's actually been a while since I've read about what's happening in spite of this regressive era. I'm wondering if this direction of change, unlike most urban improvements, might appeal to the kind of conservative leaders who control red areas, and not be confined to regions with progressive governments.

[Initech]

11. And Jeff Bezos' fortune grows by: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[kimbutgar]

2. Was at a Sears closing yesterday

Very sad. We needed a new microwave the one that closed was out if them and ended going to a Sears that wasn’t closing and brought a Kenmore. I realized that will probably be the last kenmore product I buy. It was kind of an symbolic goodbye.

[underpants]

3. I got two great deals at one closing here

$900 washer for $230 and a $6-800 dryer for about the same.

I hit the Macy's that closed in the same mall regularly and got some great deals. My wife and daughter found a cool shirt that had clearly been hidden away - probably waiting for the discount % to go up.

[underpants]

4. Malls also used to be big hang out places for suburban teens

Or so I'm told. I wasn't a mall person.

[TeamPooka]

6. Those were some my teen years

[KentuckyWoman]

5. Unfortunately the death of brick and mortar doesn't mean the death of wasteful consumption

People still fill up giant walk in closets with cheaply made crap. They just order from their phones.

Warehouses and delivery drivers will replace retail workers.

[Garrett78]

20. Yep.

[llmart]

22. Amen!

I don't like to make blanket statements, but it seems to me that Americans prefer quantity over quality in just about everything. I will never understand the allure of a walk in closet that's filled to the brim. I have an acquaintance who is relatively well off and she has an entire closet just for her shoes. I own about 6 pair of shoes and in that I'm including two pair of athletic shoes; one for gardening and mucking up and another for my daily walks. My father used to say, "Why do you need more than one pair of shoes when you only have one pair of feet?" As teenagers my siblings and I used to roll our eyes.

In the near future, warehouses and delivery drivers will be replaced by robots.

[Totally Tunsie]

42. Even delivery drivers will be an endangered species

as drone delivery becomes popular and prevalent.

[customerserviceguy]

52. So true

People try endlessly to get life satisfaction from buying stuff. I make do with what I've got, for the most part. Aside from consumables (food, toilet paper, etc.) I try to find used stuff on eBay for less than full retail. And when the money still left on an Amazon gift card I got for my 60th birthday (I will be 63 next month) is gone, I plan to quit Amazon.

I really don't need a lot of consumer crap.

[Demovictory9]

7. google "dead malls". videos of malls on decline or closed, tours of closed/closing stores

I too remember when it was a big deal to go to a department store. I remember the back to school visits in particular.

-----------------------------------

slightly off topic.

The mall was main street for a few decades. I guess main street is now the internet or star bucks.

it's interesting to go to a very large indoor mall near me. It's on death's door ... Sears closed. a lot of the activity is around one of those indoor children play places. supposedly the mall will be closed and a 'mixed use development will be built. but for now, I still see middle age to elderly people sitting in the mall, just sitting and people watching.

[llmart]

24. I rarely go to malls but my experience on my last trip to one was the same.

I just told a friend of mine the same thing - that mostly all I saw was mall walkers.

[Ohiogal]

8. I remember

As kids my parents would take us to Cleveland at Christmas time to see Halle's, Higbee's, the May Company. and Sterling Lindner's. My mom dressed up in a nice suit and heels, and my Dad wore a suit and tie. One of those stores, I forget which one, actually had an elevator operator who would call out what was on the floor the door opened onto ... 'Third floor! Ladies' Lingerie, Handbags. Domestics!"

The first floor of Halle's was one of my favorites because it was all marble and had glass cases full of beautiful jewelry and expensive perfume and scarves, and overhead the beautiful chandeliers made you feel as though you were in a very special place. But the 7th floor was the toy floor. It was so exciting for me and my sister, who, if we were well behaved, would each get a Steiff stuffed animal to take home. The sales lady wrote up your purchase and sent it to the office in those vacuum tubes. My mother dressed us up in our best dresses. I remember she bought me a pair of black velvet shoes at one of the big stores and I thought I was really something!n Ah, thanks for bringing back a good childhood memory.

[llmart]

25. Wow! I can relate to your story.

Grew up in a suburb of Cleveland in about the same era I presume. The classic movie "A Christmas Story" brings back so many memories and is why I watch it every year.

The only difference in my story is that we just went down to see Santa, and not every year, plus we never got anything bought for us that day. Just window shopped. Sterling Linder was the best!

[Ohiogal]

37. Do you remember

the big slide at Sterling Lindner’s? Very similar to “ A Christmas Story”.

[llmart]

43. You know, I can't say that I do.

I do remember watching "Mr. Jingaling" on TV though and Captain Penny.

[Throck]

9. Isn't this sort of an economic evolution?

Internet and Amazon didn't exist in my youth, people paid cash and candy bars were an actual silver dime. Now I can shop Amazon Prime on my smart phone and some truck drops it off at my front door in 48 hours.

Rumor has it drones are in the plans.....

[JI7]

15. but sears could have benefited from the internet also

especially since people like to see large appliances in person. they could offer discounts and gift cards for their clothing or other products if people but a large appliance as a way to sell more to someone who may originally come in just for a washer and dryer.

[TeamPooka]

34. Actually the Sears catalog sold on credit and layaway for 100 years before the internet.

[JI7]

12. many businesses were destroyed by shitty ceos and other execs looking

to get rich quick.

sears, toys r us, kmart certainly were.

they cut down on customer service and fill the stores with crap. stores look like fucking warehouses.

look at the apple stores and american doll stores. toys r us especially could have focused on updating stores so people want to go there to shop. the toy section at target was more appealing than toys r us.

[WA-03 Democrat]

40. +1

[PSPS]

13. "bending to pick up bits of invisible fluff from the carpet"

The store manager was like the mayor; everyone perked up when he strolled through, surveying his domain, bending to pick up bits of invisible fluff from the carpet.

This is one hallmark of a successful retail store: A manager that knows how retail works. The store must be clean with stock in its place. If someone removes an item from its place for inspection and doesn't put it back, staff puts it back in the blink of an eye.

If you've been to a retail store lately, it almost looks like the aftermath of a sale out of "Who's Minding the Store." There are items strewn about, empty food containers on displays and dirty floors. Anyone who knows retail realizes this kills business.

My theory is that, when a sore's founder retires or passes away, the motivation of the enterprise goes with them. The successors are often merely schooled in general business or finance. They see their job to keep the money-printing-machine going and hitting the next quarter's estimate. The store isn't their raison d'etre like it was the founder's. Thus, they don't have the same emotional investment in it. Come to think of is, that's true for any enterprise. CBS under Moonves bears no resemblance to CBS under Paley. Hyster stopped being Hyster after Swigert. BATUS killed Marshal Field. We all know what Lampert did to Sears.

[llmart]

27. The shopping experience isn't what it used to be, that's for sure.

I despise what shopping has become. They jam so much clothing onto racks that a buyer can barely get between and half of it ends up on the floor. Nothing turns me off more than seeing someone's used coffee mug or slurpy container on a shelf and retail staff walking right by it. Like you, I've walked into a store thinking it looked like a stampede went through. The customers are just as bad. I have a really good friend, whose daughter works in a department store and the stories she tells about what she's seen are disgusting. I won't go into detail.

[Wellstone ruled]

14. Wards had a excellent training program for any new hires.

And all those skills I learned back in the Stone Age,helped me in Sales the rest of my life. Still remember one of the Grey beards and his patience and detail to every sale and the customer behind that sale. And you dressed as if you were going to Meeting the Queen. Slacks,white shirt and matching tie,black or brown Oxfords with a mirror shine. You wore a matching sport coat when working men's and boy's wear. Always a hanky in your pocket. Finger nails clipped and clean,name tag on your shirt or jacket in plain site as so your customer could read it when you shook his or her hand and thank them for their purchase and invited them back when ever they needed anything .

Was in a Macy's last November around Thanks giving,Sales people scattered like ants when you wanted help. Have not been back since. Sad,their loss was a Amazon gain.

[Johnny2X2X]

16. Retail being replaced with warehouse

Warehouse jobs have replaced retail jobs. But those are being automated quickly.

[NastyRiffraff]

17. I remember Woodies (Woodward & Lothrop) in the DC area

Also, Hecht's, Landsburg's, Garfinkle's, Khan's. But I'd get all my school clothes from Woodies. All are gone.

[kwassa]

30. We have Woodies flatware from their tea room

My MIL bought it at a yard sale. Engraved with the logo. We eat with it all the time.

[SMC22307]

31. Yep, those were good stores. I actually have a couple of...

blazers, jackets, and coats from Woodies - back in the '80s! Raleigh's and Lord & Taylor, too. Made in USA, quality stuff.

[appalachiablue]

36. I remember all and miss DC stores. One summer I worked at Lord & Taylor

in Friendship Hts., after I'd asked Garfinkel's Spring Valley branch store if they had any openings.

End of an era, and good clothing made in the US doesn't exist anymore. What a shame.

[SMC22307]

38. It is a shame -- it was quality stuff. I still use a hand-mixer...

from the '70s! Made in Connecticut. Harvest Gold. Ha ha. Friends and I worked at various malls. I worked Social Dresses at Woodies and a good friend worked cosmetics at Garfinckel's. Now? I can't tell you the last time I've been to a mall. My mother up in PA has lost her Bon-Ton's and her mall is REALLY dead. Christopher & Banks is still holding on, but I wonder for how long.

[kcr]

39. Lord & Taylor is still around in the NYC area

I remember Woodies and Hects from when I lived near DC. It was right around the time they were closing.

[SMC22307]

41. There are a couple in my area, too.

I just don't find them to be as good as they once were. I also don't go shopping as much considering I now work mostly from home and my work wardrobe isn't near what it used to be. They had killer dresses... and sales!

[elmac]

19. Trillion dollar amazon has taken their place

so much power, so much money in one place. Walmart started the ball rolling on the retail monopoly biz and now they are feeding on the crumbs. Its fluid but what won't change is the monopolistic retail environment.

[msongs]

21. one can walk around Lowes for 30 minutes and no employee will say a thing to you

as they walk by in groups of 2 or 3 talking and laughing amongst themselves

[Raven123]

23. One cause of their demise was the lack of quality, proprietary merchandise

It seems like every store carries the same stuff. You need a reason to go into a store.

[TeamPooka]

48. You are correct. Their merchandise buyers are all buying the same crap

[DAMANgoldberg]

26. In 3 locales...

Where I grew up in:

Pizitz - McRae's, Loveman's, Parisian (all successor Dillards), Gus Mayer-Birmingham

Where I went to undergraduate school:

Gayfers (successor Dillards)

Where I live now:

Belk (still around), Ivey's (successor Dillards), The Hecht Co (successor Macys)

Other store names:

Davidson's, Rich's {GA, AL, SC} (successor Macys); Castner-Knott {TN, AL} (successor Dillards); DH Holmes {LA, MS, AL, FL} (successor Dillards)

[Tikki]

35. Where we lived during the 1970's...we're still here but these stores....

NO MORE:
Disco Fair, Two Guys, Federated, Akron, Grants, Mervyns, The Treasury, White Front,
Lucky Department Stores, Montgomery Wards, Woolworths, Newberry, Zodys..must be more...

Tikki

[mr_lebowski]

53. I remember White Front ... their stores had a particular arched roof ...

There were two near where I lived, one became a place called Gemco which was the only 'membership' store I think existed around my area in my youth. They lasted like 15 years at the site and it was a big part of my growing up. Eventually they went out of business and the old site has been a Target for at least 20 years now. The old Monkey Wards is a Kohls, and there were lots of Mervyns, they only went out of biz like, what 10 years ago?

[no_hypocrisy]

28. Here in north New Jersey, these department stores were venerable years ago

but closed:

B. Altman
Bests
Abraham & Straus
Meyer Brothers

[aikoaiko]

45. I grew up in Bergen County, NJ and hit the Paramus Malls hard at Rt4 x Rt17

Remember this mural on Alexanders?

[no_hypocrisy]

46. Oh yeah, I forgot Alexanders. Thanks.

And Two Guys.

[aikoaiko]

47. And Crazy Eddie's -- not really a mall store, but always close by to one.

[safeinOhio]

29. There is a growing new world out there in used goods.

Junk shops, flea markets, auctions, estate sales, antique malls, yard sales and many more venues. I live on a busy highway and if I'm outside, someone will stop and ask about stuff in my driveway. I had a trailer in the back away from the road. Thought I would sell it so I made a sign. Went in the house for a drink and a guy going down the road saw it back there. Pulled out some cash and drove away with it before I could even drag it out to the road.
Has many of the social advantages of local stores. Get to socialize with strangers and might find something to trade for.

[bucolic_frolic]

33. Shopping and dinner was family time

Goods were more scarce, you learned to value the time and the items you bought.

[AwakeAtLast]

49. What they are describing happened almost 50 years ago

I'm almost 49 and I have never experienced what was described in this article.

[TeamPooka]

50. im 54 and I did.

[obamanut2012]

57. I am a couple years older than you and barely did

For maybe until I was seven or so.

[Liberty Belle]

51. I loved department stores and hate buying online. You can't judge quality

on something like the thickness of a rug or even a pair of sweat pants. Often things are thinner than expected.

I want to try on clothes; most often things don't fit quite right. It's a waste of time to have to ship things back. I'd rather find things that are a good fit, and mix and match things when you have them altogether to see true colors.

I lived at one point in an area without any department stores, and really missed them because I wear a small size (or did then) and there wasn't a store in town that carried my size. Ordering from catalogs was my only option.

Ordering online is something I usually only do if I can't find what I want in a store, or for something that's too bulky to fit in my small car. It's great to order a BBQ online and have it delivered or a desk you'd assemble.

There was also the glamour and allure of the nicer department stores, as a child. Some were several stories high with giant Christmas trees at the holidays and even a pianist playing classical music. Now the clothing stores all play rap music so loud i can't wait to get outside.

A department store was also the place you could go and get something for everyone on your gift lift in one place. Great the year I had surgery in December and gout out just a couple of days before Christmas. Clothes, kitchen items, household goods, even chocolate candies! They would even gift wrap for you. Now it's easy to just get a gift back, but back then we had to wrap each box by hand.

You could also see the trends in furniture, and clothing. And for women, you could get a free makeover at the cosmetics counter and advice on what might be best for your skin tone. Nordstrom's even had a personal shopper! You could tell her what you wanted, say, a dress for a formal occasion or a suit for work, tell her your preferences and she'd have them all waiting for you to try on during your lunch break from work. Department stores also had in-store seamstresses and tailors to do alterations as needed.

When I lived in Sacramento, i loved going into San Francisco to shop. With the large Chinese population you could find a lot of classy suits and clothing in petite sizes. I worked in the Capitol and needed to look professional back then.

I never really had a lot of money, but would occasioally splurge on that something special you just couldn't find anywhere else back then except at a nice department store.

Most of the ones that used to be near us are gone: no more Sears, May Company, Montgomery Ward, Bullock's, Buffams, or countless others. The moderate priced ones have been replaced by ugh, Walmarts and the higher end ones have given way to things like sporting good stores, kids' play areas or at one mall, classes for senior citizens, not even retail at all.

We do still have a Macy's, and a JC Prnney's, though both are troubled and may not last much longer. They are not the stores they used to be. There are fewer departments, and they're trying to attract the younger generation, which means getting rid of much of what my generation enjoyed. Macy's does have great rewards for regular customers that I do appreciate. My daughter now likes shopping at Macy's too, and has come full circle--she used to order a lot online but had bad luck with things coming in mismatched; she tried 3 times to order pearl earrings for her wedding day, they'd come in totally different colors. One trip to the store and she got everything easily.

In those days the department stores sold quality appliances, even less expensive places like Wards or Sears. My old Kenmores were warhorses that didn't break. Now everything is planned obsolescence -- they cost a lot more, then break and you can't even fix them or only at a high cost. There's no pride of workmanship with manufacturers anymore -- everything is made overseas and is basically crap.

My originally small appliances that I got as wedding gifts lasted 20 or 30 years in most cases. Try that today. Not.

[TeamPooka]

54. thnk you for the wonderful post

[obamanut2012]

56. Ones that don't suck stay open

Belk is an excellent store and is doing well, as is Ivey's and some others. They have good products at decent prices, and Belk has a good online model.

Sears eas ravaged by a CEO, but more importantly, there stuff started to suck. I'm not a kid, and absolutely wouldn't buy the majority of their clothes for either work or leisure, and it was expensive. Kohl's is much cheaper if you shop sales, and the stuff is much nicer and "hipper" for work and leisure.

They have downgraded Craftsman tools, too -- their quality isn't good any more.

They have downgraded Kenmore even the last ten years, and they also now suck. Lowe's and Best Buy have better deals on better models, but get your appliances at IKEA if you live by one: they are still high-quality.

Why pay more for meh quality goods, when you can go a quarter of a mile and get something better, or order it online and have it delivered? And, I have had a problem for YEARS with how their commission personnel are almost always men in the higher-commission areas like appliances and electronics.

[Ilsa]

59. I don't like buying clothes online.

Other items, like books, household items, etc, are much easier to find online, sadly. But I still enjoy going to specialty shops around the holidays.

[enid602]

60. miss

I'll miss the 'vanished world' of Bullocks Wilshire more than that of Sears Roebuck.