Cleveland's Leading Downtown Department Stores: a Business Legacy
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Cleveland State University EngagedScholarship@CSU Cleveland Memory Books Fall 2014 "Let's Go Shopping at the Square" Cleveland's Leading Downtown Department Stores: A Business Legacy Richard Klein Cleveland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/clevmembks Part of the Architectural History and Criticism Commons, Interior Architecture Commons, Marketing Commons, Sales and Merchandising Commons, and the Urban, Community and Regional Planning Commons How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! Recommended Citation Klein, Richard, ""Let's Go Shopping at the Square" Cleveland's Leading Downtown Department Stores: A Business Legacy" (2014). Cleveland Memory. 25. https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/clevmembks/25 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Books at EngagedScholarship@CSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Cleveland Memory by an authorized administrator of EngagedScholarship@CSU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. “LET’S GO SHOPPING AT THE SQUARE” CLEVELAND’S LEADING DOWNTOWN DEPARTMENT STORES A BUSINESS LEGACY BY RICHARD KLEIN, PH.D EISBN-13: 978-1-936323-48-7 EISBN-10: 1-936323-48-6 This digital edition was prepared by MSL Academic Endeavors, the imprint of the Michael Schwartz Library at Cleveland State University, 2014. Permission for MSL Academic Endeavors and Cleveland Memory Project to reprint granted by the author(s). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book is a tribute to the eight major downtown Cleveland department stores and their many loyal customers. For over 150 years, these large stores dominated the local retail scene. They represented exciting places that not only provided a full range of goods and services all under one roof, but also, offered a special shopping adventure every time their customers visited. I also wish to acknowledge the many men and women who dedicated their working lives to providing their customers with the best products and services year in and year out. A number of my colleagues and friends assisted me throughout this effort. Bill Beckenbach, an Urban Center Fellow at Cleveland State University, first approached me about writing this book. He believed that there was a need for such a study. Once I started writing, Bill provided worthwhile suggestions based on his own experiences as a born and bred Clevelander and local business leader. Mr. John S. Lupo, former President of Higbee’s, offered a wealth of information and insight regarding the local retail scene especially from the 1960s to the 1990s. Others assisting me in this endeavor included my longtime colleague and friend Mr. William C. Barrow, CSU Special Collections Librarian; Ms. Lynn Duchez Bycko, CSU Special Collections Assistant and Ms. Elaine Herron, Subject Department Librarian Cleveland Public Library-Public Administration. My wife Jo Ann, a dedicated shopper in her own right, also lent her expertise. i “LET’S GO SHOPPING AT THE SQUARE” CLEVELAND’S LEADING DOWNTOWN DEPARTMENT STORES A BUSINESS LEGACY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The arrival of discount department stores, on-line shopping services, specialty shops and warehouse clubs over the last fifty years had a pronounced impact on retail activity. An entire new generation of shoppers has never experienced the excitement of downtown department stores. This is unfortunate. For over 150 years they ruled. They provided quality merchandise at affordable prices all in a service-oriented environment. Cleveland, Ohio epitomized the fast growing city of the 19th and 20th centuries where this kind of retailing prospered. This writing will focus on Cleveland’s eight major downtown department stores. Starting with the development of ready-made clothing, at the outset of the Industrial Revolution, it will trace the evolution of the department store as seen through these specific retailers. Using them as a barometer of local change affords a human aspect to what might otherwise be construed as impervious economic forces at work. This writing will also emphasize economic and social changes wrought by Baby Boomers and how they impacted traditional stores. Retail success never lasts forever. The ability of local stores to meet the challenges of their day insured their success then. Their inability later-on to fulfill the needs of a changing customer-base led to their demise. Learning from their successes and failures may assist modern retailers as they attempt to remain at the top of their game during our own highly mobile age. ii “LET’S GO SHOPPING AT THE SQUARE” CLEVELAND’S LEADING DOWNTOWN DEPARTMENT STORES A BUSINESS LEGACY Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................... i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................... ii INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... iv CHAPTER ONE THE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME............................................................ 6 CHAPTER TWO MODERN DEPARTMENT STORES ORIGINS .............................................................. 18 CHAPTER THREE CLEVELAND’S EARLIEST RETAIL TRADITIONS ..................................................... 38 CHAPTER FOUR THE STERLING-LINDNER-DAVIS STORY .................................................................. 60 CHAPTER FIVE BEST QUALITY-LOWEST PRICES: IT’S GOT TO BE HIGBEE’S............................. 86 CHAPTER SIX THE PEOPLE’S STORES: TAYLOR’S AND BAILEY’S ............................................. 175 DEPARTMENT STORE IMAGES ...................................................................................... 201 CHAPTER SEVEN HALLE’S A TREASURE HOUSE OF GIFT .................................................................. 215 CHAPTER EIGHT WATCH USE GROW: THE MAY COMPANY ............................................................. 252 CHAPTER NINE THE PARTY’S OVER ..................................................................................................... 316 CHAPTER TEN FOOD FOR THOUGHT................................................................................................... 323 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................. 343 INDEX .................................................................................................................................. 392 iii INTRODUCTION Discount department stores, on-line shopping services, specialty shops and warehouse clubs dominate much of today’s retail scene. They fill the void created by the closing of many locally-based downtown department stores over the past fifty years. National department store chains such as Wal-Mart, Target, Macy’s, Kohl’s, Dillard’s, Saks 5th Avenue, J.C. Penny’s, Nordstrom’s, Sears & Roebuck and K-Mart have survived the on-slot of those closings. Although some such as Sears and K-Mart are finding it increasingly difficult to sustain their retail niche. Their lack of significant capital outlays over the past twenty years to modernize and upgrade their stores generally has impacted sales. However, economic problems, of that magnitude, are nothing new to the U.S. retail scene. Some economists, beginning in the 1960s, predicted bad times ahead for traditional department stores especially those who refused to change with the times. Problems first surfaced during the recession of 1957-58 when about fifty department stores closed their doors. If a minor recession like that forced so many stores to close imagine what a major economic depression might do to this industry. Many economists believed that the future of U.S. retailing would be in the hands of a new breed of retailer. They would not only fulfill the needs of their customers today, but also, set the pace for future consumer spending. If department store owners doubted their wisdom they had only to look around. Small suburban shopping strips, large-scale shopping centers and huge regional malls with their growing number of discount department stores and specialty shops had begun iv to nudge out giant retailers. It would be only a matter of time before they dominated. Critics, at that time, considered these recent, and in many cases, dramatic shifts in the preferences and practices of customers to be a major wake-up call for traditionally- focused retailers. They warned department store owners to act quickly to combat this growing threat or they will find themselves out of business. Specific recommendations for change ranged from adopting more flexible layaway plans and instituting better return policies to offering a greater variety of merchandise and initiating more lenient installment programs. Unfortunately, few large-scale retailers paid much attention to these warnings. U.S. department stores, in the immediate post-war years, enjoyed unprecedented high profits. Rising wages for the U.S. workforce, promoted in large measure by an expanding national economy, accounted for much of it. The majority of department store owners saw no reason to worry about potential future financial downturns and they certainly were not about to change their highly successful business strategies. Local retailers viewed these dire warnings as just that, unsubstantiated caveats with little basis in fact. Or so it seemed, then. Large-scale store owners believed that this latest round of competition would end quickly once