Right now, you’re probably running around buying gifts for family and friends.
Imagine what it would have been like 150 years ago – before New York introduced
the country to a new way to shop – the department store.
THE idea of the department store as we know it was not new. In 1838, the Bon Marche’ store in Paris opened, featuring a large variety of dry goods under one roof. It would be the world’s first department store.
The Bon Marche’ idea served as the blueprint for a new store in New York City. In 1846, Irish immigrant Alexander Stewart used his inheritance money to open a fancy dry-goods store at Broadway and Chambers Street. Stewart already had already opened a dry-goods store in 1828, but this new one was big and fancy. T.A. Stewart’s Department Store would change the way Americans shopped forever.
The elegant cast-iron and marble building was nicknamed “The Marble Palace.” It featured a glass dome skylight, a rotunda, grand emporium and live organ music.
Stewart’s building was the first of its kind in the city, but soon another stretch of buildings would get the cast-iron treatment. First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln loved T.A. Stewart’s so much that she ran up a bill for $27,000. The store featured everything from clothes and accessories to furniture and toys – all under one roof and at a fixed price.
Along with the new concept of “everything under one roof” came advertising. The customers, who were overwhelmingly women, could read about a sale in the daily paper and come to the store to shop. Before then, women shopped in their neighborhoods at specialty stores. But now department stores offered endless choices on just about everything. They also offered money-back guarantees on anything purchased.
By the mid-1800s, Broadway from 10th to 23rd streets became known as the Ladies-Mile because it had more great stores than any other place in the world.
The Siegel Cooper Co. opened in 1896, selling “everything under the sun.” It was the world’s largest department store and it featured a grand fountain. “Meet me at the fountain” was a favorite catch phrase. The customer was always right, and managers would do almost
anything to make them happy.
The arrival of department stores on the Ladies-Mile was important because it brought women into the business district to shop – an area previously dominated by men.
Rowland Hussey Macy worked on a whaling ship as a young boy and had tried without success to open a dry-goods store. He finally struck gold with his store on the Ladies-Mile on 14th Street.
The red star tattoo he got during his days on the ship became the store’s emblem and is still in use today. Among other things, Macy’s was the first store to promote female executives.
In 1902, Macy’s moved to its present location at 34th Street where it still bills itself as the world’s largest store.
With Macy’s, B. Altman, Gimbel’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor, Bonwit Teller and Bloomingdale’s, a new shopping district was born.
Shopping would never be the same again – until malls, megamarts and cyber shopping, that is. But that’s another story.
Activities
LOOK through today’s paper for items you’d like to buy. Total up how much these items would cost.
LIST each item and what kind of specialty store you think would have it.
DESIGN your ideal department store. Be sure to include how many floors and departments it would have.