GUEST POST--Department Stores: Palaces of Service and Style

 by Guest Blogger Donna Mumma

Imagine walking into a multi-floored palace with marble floors beneath your feet and crystal chandeliers hanging overhead. The smell of freshly baked bread, cookies, and pastries mixes with the fragrance of sweet perfume. Pleasant, relaxing music plays as you journey down a wide marble walkway flanked by fluted columns fit for an ancient Grecian temple. Every person you meet smiles, welcomes you in and immediately offers their help. And everywhere you see the latest fashions in clothes, hats, gloves and cosmetics, with more of whatever your heart desires waiting for you on other floors.

This was the experience shoppers enjoyed in the old department stores that once ruled the heart of a city’s downtown. These stores shaped the culture of their areas while also bringing glamor to the upper-, middle-, and working-class folks who lived there. Going to these stores was a dress-up affair, for family’s and singles alike, and all of them provided a shopping experience for their customers so different from that of today.

Beyond being an emporium of one-stop-shopping, the department stores became a vibrant, active member of the community. Most had an upscale restaurant or tearoom that became “the” place to meet, or a cafeteria where employees and customers could enjoy a reasonably priced meal in a less formal atmosphere. There were also lunch counters, some gaining notoriety during the Civil Rights movements in the 1960s when African Americans staged sit-ins to protest the unfair, exclusionary practices at the department stores. 

Throughout the year, the department stores hosted fashion shows, bridal weeks, and Christmas parades. The annual unveiling of the Christmas window displays became a yearly must-see that kicked off the holiday shopping season. More practical events were also scheduled throughout the year. These included cooking demonstrations and classes, cosmetics seminars, and even charm schools for children during the summer when school was out. And on the sweeter side, many housed bakeries that became famous for their own signature treats such as cookies, cinnamon pastries, or cakes. 

The exceptional services didn’t stop there. Many of the old stores housed doctor’s and dentist’s offices, making it easier and more efficient for customers to take care of their health. In Florida, new residents to the state could visit their store to buy and ship oranges or grapefruit to their northern relatives. These stores worked hard to provide all the goods that their customers might need, including hard to find items like prosthetic limbs. 

Bridal salons became a popular part of the department store experience. These shops were run by elegant, well-informed consultants who stood ready and able to guide a bride through every decision she must make leading up to her marriage. This service went far beyond just finding her wedding gown and bridesmaids’ dresses. The consultants also offered their brides tips on how to furnish and care for their new house, how to cut the cake at the reception plus suggestions on where to go for the honeymoon. Some bridal salons kept collections of white runners for the church aisle, candelabras, crystal punch bowls and cups that brides could borrow for the wedding or reception 

The old stores recognized that women made up the largest percentage of their customer base, giving women power and status that they hadn’t enjoyed in the past. Stores garnered their highest profits in Cosmetics and Ladies Sportswear and prominently displayed these on the first floor. They catered to all the stages of a woman’s life, from her birth, her first Easter dress, prom dress, bridal gown, maternity wear and baby layettes, and finally the Mature Women’s section. Women did most of the buying, and they received the most attention in marketing campaigns.

Women found another level of status in the department stores through employment. Many started as clerks, a prestigious job at the time, and worked their way up to become well-respected clothing buyers who influenced the styles their customers wore. Others held jobs as bookkeepers, and secretaries. The stores provided a natural means of mobility, and women were able to gain success and independence not enjoyed by earlier generations.

The stores focused on a new market that emerged after the Second World War; the American teenager. Young people had money to spend on clothes, records, books, even fun items for the beach or their favorite sports. Department stores gave these new buyers a voice, setting up Teen Advisory Boards who met with the buyers and offered suggestions on modern tastes. Many housed a Young Miss section for high-school aged girls, and Collegiate departments for co-eds on upper floors, giving both groups a feeling of having their own place to shop separate from their parents.

Men were not forgotten by the old stores. Before World War 2, some stores had floors devoted exclusively to men. There, men’s suits, shoes, and other clothing necessities were found as well as other products they might need such as hunting supplies, sporting goods, and work clothes. Some stores even had a cigar room set aside for their gentlemen shoppers to take a break and relax with peers in manly surroundings void of any feminine influences.

The old department stores enjoyed a long-lived heyday, but as America moved to the suburbs the glamor of shopping downtown faded. Many of the old stores were bought by large conglomerates and renamed, while others closed their doors forever. The palatial buildings housing them were repurposed into office buildings. Many were leveled to make way for more modern shopping centers with a variety of big-box stores. In later years consumers saw the rise of indoor shopping malls. 

Time moves on, and the old ways must change. But anyone who follows history knows the old can become new. Maybe future generations will decide they need a little glamor in their shopping and the model of the luxurious downtown department store, dedicated to service with style, could rise to prominence once again.

Donna Mumma perfected storytelling in her first grade classroom, spinning tales exciting enough to settle a roomful of antsy six-year-olds. She is an award winning author of both fiction and nonfiction who loves to blend history, mystery, and a touch of faith in her stories. A native Floridian, she now lives on the Sunshine State’s west coast, sharing life with her family, and her energetic collie, Duke. Her newest book, The Women of Wynton’s, tells the story of four women who work at Wynton’s Departmet Store, and must put their dislike of one another aside to solve the murders of fellow employees. Especially when it seems their beloved boss, Mr. Wynton, seems to be next on the murderer’s list.