For most of the 20th century, department stores reigned as urban centers of upscale retail commerce. Each city’s downtown had its iconic names, whether it was Marshall Field’s and Carson Pirie Scott in Chicago, O’Neill’s and Polsky’s in Akron, or Kauffman’s in Pittsburgh. And in Cleveland, Higbee’s, the May Company, and Halle’s graced Euclid Avenue.
But the ’60s and ’70s brought dramatic changes to retailing, with movement away from city centers to malls, chains scoping up iconic names and turning them all into Macy’s, and more budget-minded stores taking the place of the elegant emporiums where you could get clothing, kitchenware, furniture, books, records, photo equipment and more in specialized shops on multiple floors, with usually a bargain basement underneath and lunch with friends in the elegant restaurant.
The new book, Lost Department Stores of Cleveland, by Michael DeAloia looks at the era when the wives of Millionaires Row tycoons pulled up to the grand entrance in a carriage for a day of shopping, and wearing a hat and gloves to “go downtown shopping” was a must. You can order the book here or find it in a locally owned independent bookstore because we don’t want them to go the way of the big department stores!