MABLEY & CAREW COMPANY
J.T.
Carew-Founder R.G.
Carew-V.P.
Two Newspaper Artist Drawings
Four night views of the Mabley & Carew Co. on the northeast corner of 5th & Vine. This store opened in 1881 and closed in 1930. Fountain Square is now on the site.
Millinery
Section
Children's & Misses Hat
Section
Waist
Section
Women's Suit Section
Mabley & Carew card for Kail-stem-iks shoes
H. S. POGUE COMPANY
H. S. Pogue 410 Race St. opened in 1878. Expanded into Carew Tower. J. S. Trevor Thomas Trevor
Treasurer ? Manager
ROLLMAN'S DEPARTMENT STORE
Rollman's Dept. Store was located across the street from Mabley & Carew on the northwest corner of 5th and Vine. Opened in 1867 on the site of the Havlin Hotel. The 4th card shows the drug & toiletries dept. on the upper level. The 1st card below is a postal card from Rollman's sent in 1932 with an advertisement for portraits. The 2nd is a postcard advertising a new dress style.
THE McALPIN STORE
When the Shillito Company moved to Seventh Street in 1877 the dry goods firm of McAlpin, Polk & Company took over the building at 13 West Fourth Street. The company expanded twice, first into the Mitchell Furniture building in 1900 and then the Aeolian Pianos building in 1938. The 2nd image above shows McAlpins before its expansion into the Aeolian Piano store.
1906 Fall Festival Souvenirs
Football
Girl
Yachting
Girl
Rose
Tennis
Girl
Automobile Girl Equestrian Girl
Shoe Department
P.O. Stewart (Manager?)
THE SHILLITO COMPANY
The John Shillito Co. Started in 1830 at a store on west 4th St. next to the Post Office. The first two non-postcard images below show the store at this location. A new store was built there in 1857 (2nd image) but within 20 years it became much to small and built a new store on 7th Street. When John Shillito opened this store in 1878 at the southwest corner of 7th. & Race it was the largest department store in the country under one roof with 840,000 sq. ft. of retail space (next 2 images).
4th Street
Store
7th & Race Store
Costing $181,500 the building was 6 stories tall
with a central atrium 120 high and 60 feet in diameter topped by a 45-foot
diameter hexagonal skylight built on a steel framework. The skylight can be seen
in the 2nd image below. This image was taken later in its life after the open
atrium had been filled in with selling space that held part of the furniture and
glass departments. The Cincinnati Fire Department later made the store cover up
the skylight.
Shillito's was bought in 1930 by F&R Lazarus and the building was modernized in
1937. Except for the side facing Shillito Alley that is across from the
Cincinnati Athletic Club the original brick siding was removed and replaced with
a shell of granite, limestone and marble with Mayan inspired designs.
*
*
*
*
Piano
Dept.
Millinery
Dept.
Upholstery Dept.
Cloak & Suit Dept.
Ad card for the novel "Who Goes There!"
Ad card for the novel "The Way Home"
The card above was produced by the M. H. Birge & Sons out of Buffalo N.Y. who were manufacturers of wallpaper. The card shows some of their product that was sold at Shillito's.
LAZARUS
Not a postcard
Advertisement
Same image
By 1928 Shillito's sales had fallen from being
Cincinnati's largest department store to fourth and was bought out by, Columbus
based department store and holding company, F. & R. Lazarus Co.
Lazarus added a eight story addition to Shillito's original building at 145 W.
4th Street in 1936-37 and the old original building was resurfaced to match the
new structure. The interior was completely modernized. In 1946 a new garage and
service building was added.
In 1929 Lazarus and Abraham & Strauss of Brooklyn joined to
form Federated Department Stores. In 1945 they opened headquarters in
Cincinnati. In 1980 the triangular shaped building at 7 West Seventh Street was
constructed for their headquarters. (see below).
In 1998 the original building was converted into apartments called
the Lofts at Shillito Place. The atrium and the original skylight was discovered
still intact. It was recreated using energy-efficient materials and has been
recreated. Today there are 18 loft-style apartments with office space on the
main floor.
In 1982 Federated merged Shillito's and Rikes of Dayton. In 1986 Shillito-Rikes was combined with the Lazarus chain of Columbus, and the Shillito name was dropped. The Campeau Corp. of Canada took over the business. In 1994 Federated took over Macy's Inc. when that company was emerging from bankruptcy. In 2003 Federated began changing all their stores names, except Bloomingdale's, to Macy's.
THE S. & H. KNOX COMPANY
The S. & H. Knox Co. (A.K.A. Woolworth's) The store on the left was at 1133 Main and the one on the right was at 28 W. 5th. St. The 3rd non-postcard image is the photograph used for the center card.
ALMS & DOEPKE CO.
Opened
Newspaper
drawing
Son of William
In 1865 Frederick and William Alms joined with William F Doepke to create the Alms & Doepke department store on Main Street. In 1878, the store moved to a much larger building in a choice location on the North side of the Miami Erie Canal at Main St. By the turn of the century, Alms & Doepke were the second largest mercantile establishment west of New York City. With the decline of the Over-The-Rhine which was the major source of customers for the store, profits fell and the store closed April 3, 1954. The last three images above are early illustrations of the building, the 1st from the west end and the last 2 from the east end. The building now houses local government and court system offices. On March 3, 1980 the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
D. L. Liebman's Big Store at 419-427 West 5th Street was founded in 1896 was one of the earliest department stores to feature a beauty salon inside.
The Great Western Specialty Co. 426-428 Elm Street.
CHECKER STORES
Back was too damaged to
repair
The Park Department Store,
Tri-County Mall
Kings Mills
Westwood Department Store
Madisonville's Progressive
Store 5919-20 Madison Rd.
