THE DEPARTMENT STORE in AMERICA
- Belinda S
- Jun 30, 2022
- 7 min read
Updated: Nov 11, 2022
An Entrepreneurial Phenomenon
One of America's greatest manifestations of entrepreneurial success is the modern department store. A cultural phenomenon associated with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, modern department stores flourished in measurement to the rise of national stability, prosperity, and happiness. Archetypes of the department store concept span across eons back to antiquity, beginning with the days of bartering (9,000 - 6,000 B.C.), to the Agora marketplace in Ancient Greece (circa 800 B.C.) and beyond.[1]
Interiors and exteriors of flagship department stores in the United States and abroad are emblems of architectural excellence from a bygone era. The stunning techniques intrinsic to most landmark department stores constructed in the late 19th to mid-20th centuries boast of exquisite craftsmanship--reflecting beauty in design that is comparable to cathedrals. Their dazzling interiors, subdivided according to merchandise, are often decorated with glittering chandeliers, marble accoutrements and works of art or sculpture. Produced by artisans and architects of the highest caliber, these costly structures are virtually impossible to duplicate in the 21st century.
Department stores showcase practical and luxury goods in elegant yet accessible settings, transforming shopping into a glamorous excursion or, a special occasion when dining in their trademark restaurants. During their zenith, department stores contributed to the enhancement of their communities beyond the scope of commerce--functioning as sponsors of revolutionary technology, cultural events, customer services and public education. Currently, some department stores continue to celebrate holiday seasons with customary Christmas festivals, fireworks, theater and parades.
A subject worthy of voluminous scholarly analysis, department stores are nostalgic components of the American experience and drivers of the economy. For the moment however, only a portion of their significant history will be reflected in my summation. This series begins with two preeminent department store entrepreneurs that shaped the cultural landscape: the founders of Wanamaker's in Philadelphia and Macy's of New York.
John Wanamaker
John Wanamaker (1838-1922) was a native-born Philadelphia entrepreneur and philanthropist, appointed to Postmaster General (1889-1893) by President Benjamin Harrison. While in office, the prodigious pioneer organized free delivery in rural areas and the production of the first U.S. Commemorative Postage Stamps--a sixteen stamp series of Columbus's voyage, issued to "coincide with Chicago's 1893 World's Columbian Exposition."[2]
Wanamaker's first venture into retail began in 1861 on Sixth and Market Streets in Philadelphia, at a store he named Oak Hall, in a partnership with his brother-in-law Nathan Brown. In 1869, John founded Wanamaker and Co., subsequently opening his flagship store in 1876 at the Grand Depot on Thirteenth and Market Streets.[3] The store was later reconstructed in the Renaissance Revival style by Chicago architect Daniel H. Burnham, who converted Wanamaker's into an ornate, 1.9 million square feet, twelve-story masterpiece containing a sophisticated, full service restaurant. Construction lasted until 1910 and was followed by an auspicious reopening in 1911 with President Taft in attendance.[4]
Wanamaker not only forged a congruently luxurious, utilitarian and vanguard universe that combined retail with adventure, he propelled technology and civilization forward. He and his company were witnesses and initiators of epochal episodes in history, beyond the limited purview of the retail industry. And within the industry, Wanamaker was the first retailer to institute the price tag, round-the-clock telephone service, newspaper advertising, and the money-back guarantee. From their inception, Wanamaker's concepts were wildly popular with the consumer public, evidenced by the doubling of profits from $4,000,000 to $8,000,000 in 1879.[5] At the time of his passing in 1922, Wanamaker's estate was valued at $100 million, a worth of over $1.5 billion today.[6]
The annals in Golden Book of Wanamaker Stores are testaments to his revolutionary legacy. Many exciting moments flowed freely throughout Wanamaker's lifetime like rivers after fresh rains. Always socially conscious and charitable, Wanamaker sponsored the 1903 exposition in honor of the Louisiana Purchase held at the World's Fair, accompanied by a seventeen gun salute echoed at his store's center square. He consistently received official recognition and was visited by American and foreign dignitaries, was honored with Presidential appointments, and received acknowledgements as in the cable from Japanese General Kuroki in 1904. Nor should we forget Wanamaker's promotion and utilization of science, exemplified by several special events at his store. One took place in 1904, when Wanamaker hosted the first exhibition in the United States of the recently discovered metal radium, at his locations in Philadelphia and New York.[7] Shortly thereafter in 1905, Wanamaker's anticipated the future of customer service and became the first store in global history to initiate "continuous telephone service day and night", ensuring that mail order customers would be attended to around the clock. And on December 2, 1905, Wanamaker made history again by "personally setting in motion the power plant of the new Philadelphia store," which shone brightly on December 20, just in time for "Christmas Illumination". Predictably, Wanamaker's leaped into the future of technology, as their flagship store was beaming with a "mighty blaze of electricity shining from [the] windows".[8]
During the company's period of remarkable growth, Wanamaker's established satellite stores in New York City, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, London and Paris.[9] A beloved Philadelphia institution for more than a century, Wanamaker's department stores thrived until 1995, when all thirteen stores were purchased by the May Co. for $460 million dollars and renamed Hecht's.[10] Although Wanamaker's glory days are behind them, their accomplishments and the landmark Wanamaker Building remain permanent fixtures in America's heritage.
Currently hosting a Macy's, the treasured Wanamaker Building still features the twelve story Grand Court, which is home to a 2,500 pound bronze eagle; glorious marble floors; the magnificent, functional 28,482 piped organ; the Crystal Tea Room; crystalline chandeliers; and colossal granite columns. A marvelous symbol of artisanal architecture, the building is protected as a historical site. Graciously, Macy's, the other iconic American department store in this narrative, continues to observe the traditional Christmas festivities.[11]
Macy's
Macy's Department Store, celebrated for their Christmas-Thanksgiving Day Parade and featured in the iconic film Miracle on 34th Street, began as an unassuming Manhattan dry-goods shop on 14th Street and Sixth Avenue. Founded by Rowland H. Macy (1822-1877) in 1858, the shop earned a total of $85,000 in the first year of business. After partnering with his nephew and cousin-in-law Robert Valentine and Abiel T. La Forge in 1875, Macy's modest modus operandi was rehabilitated with the addition of quality merchandise, allowing for the store's exponential growth. Thereafter, R.H. Macy & Co. was so fundamentally transformed that by 1877, the developing premier department store engulfed eleven contiguous buildings.[12]
Tragically, all three partners passed away prematurely. Rowland was the first, dying in 1877 from kidney disease, next was La Forge in 1878, then Valentine in 1897. In the wake of so much misfortune, Macy's was sold in 1895 to former suppliers Isidor and Nathan Straus, who were brothers under contract with the store. Ultimately, the Straus's purchase permanently disconnected the Macy family survivors from their company. The Straus brothers moved Macy's in 1902 to Herald Square on 34th Street, where it became the largest store in the world following the 7th Avenue expansion, completed in 1924. A gorgeous feat of architecture, the signature flagship store is ten floors and encompasses an entire city block. [13]
Macy's was eventually acquired by Federated Department Stores Inc., who in 1994, renamed themselves Macy's Inc. in honor of the iconic brand. Founded in 1929 by Xavier Warren, Macy's Inc. is among the largest department store holding companies in America. In addition to Macy's, a few of their quality department store investments include Bloomingdale's, Abraham & Strauss, and Bluemercury.[14]
Epilogue Rowland Macy passed away prematurely, but left behind a legacy which would flourish beyond his wildest dreams. Since 2022, Macy's has officially been in business for 162 years, and presently operates 511 stores nationwide.[15] During their apex until the sale of the company in 1995, Wanamaker's shared an equally profound success story. Wanamaker's no longer exists as an enterprise, nevertheless, the store and its founder remain emblazoned in collective memory due to their multifaceted contributions to American and global society.
Following the deaths of Rowland Macy, his partners, and the ingenious Straus brothers, a corporate bureaucracy has animated Macy's Department Stores and enabled their survival. As were the Straus brothers, John Wanamaker was an involved, philanthropic man who managed operations from his heart and indelibly imprinted his brand. We can only speculate what more Rowland Macy would have accomplished, had destiny granted him more time. Despite the vagaries of life however, Macy and Wanamaker each imprinted the future of humankind, establishing themselves in the annals of history as two of the daring entrepreneurs who reared America's Golden Age.
Citations: 1. Stephanie Braun, "The History of Retail: A Time-line," Lightspeed Company, 2015. https://www.lightspeedhq.com/blog/the-history-of-retail-a-timeline/. 2. Smithsonian National Postal Museum, "Postmaster General John Wanamaker," Smithsonian, https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/the-nation%E2%80%99s-first-commemorative-stamps/postmaster-general-john-wanamaker. 3."Oak Hall, site of first Wanamaker's establishment, Market Street, Philadelphia, April 1861," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/index.php/node/38376. 4. Historical Society of Pennsylvania, "Sixty Years of Holiday Cheer at Wanamaker's," Hidden City, https://hiddencityphila.org/2018/12/60-years-of-holiday-cheer-at-wanamakers/. 5. Stephen R. Fox, The Mirror Makers: A History of American Advertising & Its Creators (Urbana-Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1997), 25–28. 6. Leadon University, "Wanamaker: An American Success Story," Leadon University of San Diego, https://www.leadonuniversity.com/wanamaker-american-success-story/. 7. Joseph Herbert Appel and Leigh Mitchell Hodges, Golden Book of the Wanamaker Stores - JUBILEE YEAR 1861-1911 (Philadelphia: John Wanamaker Firm, 1911), 92. 8. Joseph Herbert Appel and Leigh Mitchell Hodges, Golden Book of the Wanamaker Stores - JUBILEE YEAR 1861-1911 (Philadelphia: John Wanamaker Firm, 1911), 93. 9. John Wanamaker Collection 2188, The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, http://www2.hsp.org/collections/manuscripts/w/Wanamaker2188.html. 10. UPI Archives, "Era Ends as Wanamaker Store Closes," https://www.upi.com/Archives/1995/08/28/Era-ends-as-Wanamaker-store-closes/9442809582400/. 11. Ibid. 12. Macy's Inc., "From Humble Beginnings to Becoming One of the World's Largest Retailers," https://www.macysinc.com/about/history.
13. Amy Lamare, "The History of Macy's: Can America's First Department Store Survive the Retail Apocalypse?" The Business of Business, 2020, https://www.businessofbusiness.com/articles/the-history-of-macys-can-the-uss-first-department-store-survive-the-retail-apocalypse/.
14. Ibid.
15. Macy's Inc., "From Humble Beginnings to Becoming One of the World's Largest Retailers," https://www.macysinc.com/about/history.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Appel, Joseph Herbert and Hodges, Leigh Mitchell. Golden Book of the Wanamaker Stores - JUBILEE YEAR 1861-1911. Philadelphia: John Wanamaker Firm, 1911. Braun, Stephanie. "The History of Retail: A Time-line." Lightspeed Company, 2015. https://www.lightspeedhq.com/blog/the-history-of-retail-a-timeline/. Fox, Stephen R. The Mirror Makers: A History of American Advertising & Its Creators. Urbana-Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1997. John Wanamaker Collection 2188. The Historical Society of Pennsylvania. http://www2.hsp.org/collections/manuscripts/w/Wanamaker2188.html. Lamare, Amy. "The History of Macy's: Can America's First Department Store Survive the Retail Apocalypse?" The Business of Business, 2020. https://www.businessofbusiness.com/articles/the-history-of-macys-can-the-uss-first-department-store-survive-the-retail-apocalypse/. Leadon University. "Wanamaker: An American Success Story." Leadon University of San Diego, https://www.leadonuniversity.com/wanamaker-american-success-story/. Macy's Inc. "From Humble Beginnings to Becoming One of the World's Largest Retailers." https://www.macysinc.com/about/history. "Oak Hall, site of first Wanamaker's establishment, Market Street, Philadelphia, April 1861," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/index.php/node/38376. Repka-Franco, Virginia. "A Fascinating History of Macy's Department Store in Herald Square," 2017, https://classicnewyorkhistory.com/macys-department-store-history-and-info/. Smithsonian National Postal Museum. "Postmaster General John Wanamaker." Smithsonian. https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/the-nation%E2%80%99s-first-commemorative-stamps/postmaster-general-john-wanamaker.
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