Department Stores

Lazzie Bear was a Christmas plushie sold at Lazarus department stores staring with the 1986 holiday season. He retired in the early 2000s, when the chain, after several mergers and acquisitions, took the Macy's name.

The??Shillito's Elves may be in storage, but their??workshop??and holiday spirit live on.

Frederick & Nelson??was a department store??chain based in Seattle. Founded in 1891 as a furniture store, it soon expanded into selling general merchandise. At its peak in the 1980s, it boasted 10 locations in Washington State and Oregon but closed in 1992.

Rink's was founded in Hamilton, Ohio, between Cincinnati and Dayton, in 1951 by Hyman Ullner. It was later acquired by Gray Drug and later Cook United, owners of Uncle Bill's. The last Rink's store closed in 1987.

Founded in Howard Brothers Discount Center grew to chain of 110 stores by the late '60s.?? Remember the fun of shopping there with this great design on our super-soft heather gray tee.

Harveys was a department store chain that began in 1942 with a store at the corner of 6th Avenue North and Church Street in Nashville. In the 1960s and 1970s it added locations in the surrounding suburbs as well as other towns across Middle...

Rich's was a department store chain headquartered in Atlanta. It opened in 1867 and was absorbed by Federated Department Stores, operators of Macy's, in 2005. One of it's long-standing holiday traditions was the Pink Pig, child-sized monorail. introduced in??1956 as The Snowball Express, its...

Stix, Baer & Fuller was a department store chain based in St. Louis. Founded in 1892, it was absorbed by Dillard's department store in 1984.

A popular discount department store for generations, Woolworth was also famous for its in-store lunch counter.

It was the biggest event of the year, after the Christmas holiday of course, at this Cincinnati-based department store chain. Each spring, shoppers would descend on McAlpin's to pick up the craziest bargains in town. Although the store would have deals throughout the day, during...

Ames Department Stores Inc. was a chain of discount stores??founded in 1958??in Rocky Hill, Connecticut and at its peak operated 700 stores in 20 states. Despite some success in its later years, Ames was plagued by debt and a slow decline in sales and...

Founded in 1967 in Columbus, Gold Circle??was a discount department store chain??that grew to 76 locations in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Western New York State. The chain was dissolved in 1988.

The Lit Brothers, Samuel and Jacob, opened their first department store in Philadelphia in 1891 at the corner of North Eighth and Market Streets. After adding several suburban locations, the whole operation shut down in 1977.

Halle's was founded in 1891 in Cleveland. A shopping institution for generations, it closed its doors in 1982. It is best remembered for featuring Mr. Jingeling, who as Santa's "Keeper of the Keys," and could be found on Halle's Seventh Floor downtown throughout the...

With it's popular flagship store on State St. in the Loop, Marshall Field's was a landmark, destination, and a Chicagoland institution. In 2005, the chain was acquired by Macy's with all stores rebranded with the new owner's name.????

A sibling to the famous Filene's department store, Filene's Basement was a separate chain that featured??high-end goods and was known for its distinctive, low-technology automatic markdown system.??

Gimbel Brothers, better known as Gimbels, was an American department store chain from 1887 until 1987. Though it stared in Indiana it is widely known for creating the Gimbels Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia, the oldest such parade in the country.

Rich's was a department store chain headquartered in Atlanta. It opened in 1867 and was absorbed by Federated Department Stores, operators of Macy's, in 2005. In 1968, it launched the Richway brand, a chain of stores. Their slogan was,??"We don't look like a discount...

Higbee's was a department store founded in 1860 in Cleveland. It almost went out of business during the Great Depression, but reorganized and became quite successful after World War II. In the 1950s and 1960s, suburban were locations were added at the new shopping...

Spartan Mart was a discount department store chain that operated in the 1960s and 1970s.

More-Way was Milwaukee, Wisconsin's favorite discount department store.

Shillito's was Cincinnati's first department store. It was founded by John Shillito and William McLaughlin in 1830 as McLaughlin & Shillito, but that partnership soon split up. In 1878, Shillito's moved to a new building on Race and Seventh streets, which was remodeled in...

Marston's??was founded by George Marston in 1881 in downtown San Diego. In addition to its flagship store, it had two suburban locations. It was sold The Broadway in 1961.??

Van Leunens opened in the 1950s as China-Town. In 1973 the name was changed as its offerings had grown and diversified. The chain grew to seven locations: Amelia, Fairfield, Mason, Milford, and Monfort Heights in Ohio. There were also locations in Erlanger and Newport,...

Two Guys from Harrison, better known as the Two Guys department store chain, was founded in New Jersey, was founded in the late 1940s, somewhat by accident. Brothers??Herbert and Sidney Hubschman, who had operated a snack bar at the headquarters of RCA, obtained several...

A mall staple in the 1970s and 1980s, Chess King was founded in 1968 in Boston. At its peak it had over 500 stores. However, it was so closely identified with those two decades, soon into the 1990s it was no longer considered hip.

This was always one of the best deals in the record store, especially if you catching up on an artist's catalog.

The Rike-Kumler was established in Dayton in 1853. David L. Rike and his associates started their venture near Third Street and Main downtown.??The business started when the firm of Prugh, Joyce & Rike was formed. This organization continued for a short time until the...