Woodward & Lothrop.

[shawn]

I was reading today about a defunct department store in
Washington D.C, the name was Woodward & Lothrop. It had a nickname WOODIE'S. I can see it now a gay dept store in a large city with the name WOODIE'S. I love it.

 

[toggleswitch]

Wasn't that a *POOF* bar on QAF?

 

[veg-o-matic]

I loved Woodie's! And note the very careful placement of that all-important apostrophe.

It was one of the last of the old-fashioned department stores where service was the rule of the day and quality was on the shelves. It had a certain dignity to it that I never even made the connection with the name.

Now we've got Macy's. And for a change of pace, Macy's. Oh, and look over there--Macy's. Blecch.

Gregm, if you're reading this, do you remember Parke-Snow?

veg, who likes woodies, too!

 

[volvoguy87]

Woodie's & shopping experiences of yester-year.

I remember when Woodie's was in business. Sadly, I grew up in Manassas, nowhere near a Woodie's. The best we ever had was Hecht's (now swallowed by Macy's). My mother was too cheap to set foot into Hecht's (though, for the record, I never said that). My childhood shopping was done at horrid places such as Zayre. The last time I was in Hecht's, it was a feeling of shopping with grace and mannors, at least in the men's department. Try matching that service at Wal-Mart! Too many stores now confuse an over-polite staff with one that is knowledgeable about the products they sell. I don't want the salesperson to be my best friend, I want them to be able to help me find the very best product for my needs. Of course, Woodie's disappeared from the scene when shopping fell from grace. Even with the best staff in the world, the stores still so often carry pure junk, even very expensive junk. While we can have our vintage appliances for ever, sadly, our vintage service will not last so long.

Thanks for the memories,
Dave, no longer in Manassas

 

[tomturbomatic]

When I moved from Atlanta to Washington, DC in 1976, Woodward and Lothrop seemed very much like Rich's in the quality of merchandise and service. When I lived in Annandale, it was the store at Landmark Mall that was close. For a long time, I used to go downstairs when they still sold major appliances and visit a Maytag 806. When I first moved here, I lived in Silver Spring and shopped in the store in Wheaton. I loved that store because I knew where everything was and did not waste time looking around.

In the 80s when all of the corporate raiders were doing leveraged buyouts, a man named Taubman bought Woodie's. He used its value to partially fund some other investment that went bust. No one would buy the chain for the amount he needed so it was liquidated. It was very sad. The beautiful Wheaton store is now a Penny's. I have not set foot in the Penny's. The Men's Department sold the Arrow permapress shirts that I liked and the store had good sales. I miss the lady I bought suits from and Hecht's(MACY'S)does not carry all of the brands that Woodie's did. The independent department stores of each city were influenced by the city, but also became something associated with the city. It was always an adventure to enter a new store and see what they sold. Did they have housewares and major appliances and, if so, what brands? Was it a junky place or nice and, for my brother, did it have a toy department? Now, it will be the same thing everywhere. I wonder if all of the Macy's stores will have the same Christmas decorations hanging from the walls and ceilings?

 

[tomturbomatic]

Dave, Is Levy's still in business in Savannah? The only time I was in one was about 1961 or 62. It was sorta sad. The stock was so old that we actually found a old 45 of a pop song my brother and I liked.
Tom

 

[volvoguy87]

Levy Brothers' Department Store in Savannah

Tom, sadly the Levy Brothers' Department Store has long-since closed. The store was sold to Maas brothers which closed up shop by the late 1980s. The old store on Broughton Street is now the Jen Library for the Savannah College of Art & Design. SCAD has done a lot of good here in Savannah, but counter to their claims, their historic preservation ethic leaves much to be desired. On a brighter note, downtown Savannah is making a spectacular recovery and the shops on Broughton Street are occupied and the lofts above are very popular. I love living downtown, it saves so much time when compared to living in the 'burbs.

Although downtown Savannah is recovering, it still lacks a department store and any kind of grocery store.

Keep the memories of good retail and service alive,
Dave

 

[sikiguya]

Good Service

Von Maur has the best customer service around. Free alterations, free gift wrap, and people who actually CARE about their customers. Von Maur employees keep books with their customer's info in it so they can call them if some new line of clothing comes in that the employee thinks they might like. They keep your measurements in a book for easy alterations. They call you if something you want goes on sale. They will call other stores until they find the item you want (even if it is on clearance) and will have them ship it to the store or your home.

They even have a grand piano player at every store. It's so nice to go there and sit on their couches and listen to the music.

Plus, you cannot beat their sales. I just got my husband a $130 Nat Nast silk shirt for $30 the other day and I buy all my kids clothes there. They have great sales and good quality merchandise.

Oh, and the INTEREST FREE credit card they offer is wonderful! My husband will never buy another suit anywhere else.

Just my little rave for stores with exceptional customer service.

http://www.vonmaur.com

 

[tomturbomatic]

Dave, Thank you for responding. When I would travel with my father on his business trips during the summer in the 50s and very early 60s, we usually stayed in downtown Savannah and ate at the S&W or Morrison's (?) Cafeteria across from the old warehouses on the river. After dinner, he and I would walk through the squares that were surrounded by the falling down mansions that have been so beautifully restored. Back then, I think the Juliette Gordon Low House was the only home not looking like a strong wind would knock it down. Mom and dad honeymooned at the OLD DeSoto Hotel when he was stationed at (then) Camp Stewart. When the whole family would go for a few days while daddy called on accounts there, we would stay at what we were told was the first Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge way out on Victory Drive. It was Colonial (I guess) in style, unlike all of the others that were more modern architecture and it had a huge swimming pool. It had a round deep part with two sort of kidney-shaped shallow ends. One side had two slides with these little water jets squirting from the top. One was quite tall and just climbing the ladder with wet feet and hands was enough to make you think twice about doing it. With the water, the slide was always cool even in the hot sun and slicker than snot on a doorknob. I went down that slide in many positions, but I learned after only one attempt NOT to slide feet first on my stomach. I racked my young self and it was almost an hour before I could stand completely straight.

One time when we stayed in the city, my mother and brother noticed Rose Fromberg Antiques as we were coming back from dinner so the next day we walked over to it. It was a totally boring place for me with lots of signs cautioning you about the penalty for breaking anything, but they had fun. When we started staying at the HJ's on the highway, what should be across the road but the relocated Rose Fromberg Antiques. I was older then and told them to go without me.

So Maas Brothers that used to have a big store in St. Pete that is now an art museum, and a store in Sarasota that's closed, bought Levy Bros. Do you know if all the Maas Bros stores went out of business at the same time? Has Burdine's moved into the Savannah area? The area took a big economic hit when they closed the Strategic Air Command Base, according to my dad. I'm glad downtown is doing better. Thanks again for responding with all of the information. Tom

 

[volvoguy87]

Maas Brothers

Tom, The old DeSoto Hotel was torn down in 1966 and its replacement is the modern Hilton DeSoto. It is neck-and-neck with the 1971 Civic Center as the ugliest building in the historic district. Fortunately, city leaders want to replace the Civic Center, but Hilton has no such plans for their building. The folks of Savannah tend to be very nice, but they can hold a grudge for a long LONG time. There are many here who still won't set foot in the Hilton Desoto. Also, there are many people who are still upset about the old City Market being torn down and replaced with a parking garage, and that was in 1954. The HJ on Victory Drive is no longer a HJ, but it is still there, although I believe it is not a place respectable people frequent. The HJ near Route 17 on West Boundary Street was purchased by the college in the fall of 2004 and turned into a dormatory. I had the misfortune of being assigned to live there my 1st year of grad school and it was indeed a revolting experience.
The cafeteria of which you speak is long gone, but River Street and the first few streets in from the river are packed with shops and restaurants. The squares are nicely cared for and each one is like a pristine park, full of people and life. The houses and mansions in such bad shape have been restored and are homes, B&Bs, and businesses again.
I don't know if the store in St. Pete is vacant or not, but I do know that Maas Brothers folded some time ago. Burdine's has not moved into Savannah yet. Although the SAC base is closed, Fort Stewart is very much a part of the city, and I think there is an Air Force installatin of some sort here.

I love my new town even though it is not quite perfect yet,
Dave

 

[angus]

Well, Maas Brothers was part of Allied Stores and Burdines was part of Federated Stores. So when Federated took over Allied, all Maas Brothers that were not closed (usually because most Florida malls were anchored with a Maas Brothers and a Burdines) were converted to Burdines. I don't know how many or which stores were closed, but now all remaining Burdines carry the dreaded Macy's name. Same is true with all Rich's, Bullock's, Goldsmith's, Lazarus', Abraham and Straus, Bon Marche, and we won't even discuss the demise of the original Filene's which was also a Federated store until being sold to the May company as part of Federated's late 1980's bankrupcy.

Other great stores that fell prey to consolidation and acquisition by greedy developers were the elegant Bonwit Teller and the beloved B. Altman & Co. The Fifth Avenue flagship, once a grand and elegant hall of mahogany displays, crystal chandeliers and quiet good manners, beautiful, classsic merchandise and the nicest help anywhere is now part of the NY Public Library.

The list goes on and on with Newark's Hahne & Co, Bamberger's, San Francisco's I. Magnin & Co, Pittsburgh's Joseph Horne& Co, Cincinnati's Shillito's and Pogue's, L.A.'s the Broadway (Ok not the most elegant, but fun nonetheless), Cleveland's Halle Brothers and Higbee's, Seattle's Frederick & Nelson, Boston's Jordan Marsh, Portland, Maine's Porteous, Mitchell & Braun, Louisville's Stewart's, Denver's Denver Dry Goods, Minneapolis' Dayton's, Detroit's Hudson's, Dallas' Sanger Harris (scene of "the Store" in the Dallas series) and Joske's, Houston's Foley's, Phoenix's Goldwater's, Philadelphia's John Wanamaker and Strawbridge & Clothier, Milwaukee's Boston Store, and of course Chicago's Marshall Field &Co. These downtown stores were part of the fabric of their respective cities and I recall that each reflected the regional character of that city.

The homogenization of America - kind of makes me think about reading Orwell's 1984 while in high school - we laughed at it then. Now it is creeping up on us....

 

[tolivac]

Yes--I remember "Woodies" in the DC area-been to several of their stores-never went to the one that was in Northwest downtown DC-that was supposed to be the "Flagship" store.I used the one that was at the Marlow Heights shopping center-they also had a Hechts there.

 

[veg-o-matic]

Not to mention DC's Garfinkels and Baltimore's Hecht Company (I know it's really a DC store, but I think we adopted it), Stewarts, Hochschild-Kohn, and our beloved Hutzler's.

Where I grew up in Mass. we had Park-Snow, R.H. White's, Jordan-Marsh and Filene's. We were much more a J-M family than a Filene's one.

Thank goodness Higbee's is forever preserved in the movie "A Christmas Story."

(Which, by the way, is the best movie ever made, bar none.)

veg

 

[appliguy]

Hey Dave you did too grow up near a Woodie's

The one in Fair Oaks mall was there from the time the mall opened in 1980 until Woddie's went out of business and also there was one at Tysons. Also another D.C. store that no one talks about is Lansburgs which went out of business in 1976 and was replaced at Tyson Corner by Bloomingdales. PATRICK COFFEY

 

[appliguy]

Hey Dave you did too grow up near a Woodie's

The one in Fair Oaks mall was there from the time the mall opened in 1980 until Woddie's went out of business and also there was one at Tysons. Also another D.C. store that no one talks about is Lansburgs which went out of business in 1976 and was replaced at Tyson Corner by Bloomingdales. PATRICK COFFEY

 

[dalangdon]

Department stores I've known.

Angus, my mother was an Altman's and Bonwit's junkie! My dad worked in NYC a good chunk of every year, and she would always squeeze a few shopping trips to her favorite stores. I liked Altmans, but Bonwit's was (as I remember, at least, all clothing - or at least that's where Mom spent all her time)

At home we had Brandeis and Kilpatrick's in Omaha (both gone now) and Beno's and People's Store in Council Bluffs(dead as well) Beno's had a centralized cashier, but instead of a pneumatic tube system like many stores, it had a system of cables that spun constantly and little metal boxes that would ride on the cables from the salesclerk to the cashier and back.

Brandeis was big and fun, and Kilpatrick's was smaller and more elegant. Both carried good quality stuff.

 

[dixieland]

Tennessee Stores...

Tennessee has 3 great divides: East, Middle and west. Each part of the State has their own identity and therefore we each had our own stores to reflect said identities.
East:
-KNOXVILLE: Proffitt's (recently purchased by belk)Later Proffitt's came to Nashville but did not perform well as their merchandise selection was poor and store asthetics were sub-standard.
-KNOXVILLE: Miller Brother's (long gone)
-CHATTANOOGA: Loveman's -not to be confused with Loveman's of Alabama (same family though). Loveman's also had a location in Nashville.

Middle:
-NASHVILLE: Harvey's a flashy, fun store with a carousel, live animals and such.
-NASHVILLE: Cain-Sloan was where the old-money shopped. Cain-Sloan was our Bloomingdale's and featured The Iris Room restaurant, Bunnyland (easter display)and the white gloves and manners etiquette classes.
-NASHVILLE: Castner Knott Co. Your everyday middle-class department store which was the last to leave us in 1998. Castner's (as we called it) was exactly in tune with the consumer and had a very strong following. Articles still appear in papers about this great institution. Also known for its Teen Board, manners classes and hair salons. The logo featured a CK... when Calvin Klein first started using a similar logo many Nashvillians assumed it was a store brand because of the CK.

West:
-MEMPHIS: Goldsmith's was the place to shop until it became macy's a couple of years ago. The stores were a very big part of life in West Tn and Northern MS as well as Eastern Arkansas.
-MEMPHIS: MM Cohn was a Little Rock store which had several locations around town. MM Cohn was elite shopping during its hey day. MM Cohn still exists as a budget style store in LR. I would like to buy it and bring back the fabulousness of shopping.
-MEMPHIS: Lowenstein's was know for it's cute little Christmas Character, Mr. Bingle. Mr. Bingle was also known to live at Maison Blanche in New Orleans. Mr. Bingle was introduced to Memphis children by way of televised puppet shows during the holidays. Mr. Bingle was brought to Memphis to counter Goldsmith's use of Rudolph as their Christmas mascot.
-MEMPHIS: BRY's & GERBER's - I am too young to remember these stores but I have heard of them.

Anyway - a quick synopsis of TN retail history. I'd like to see some of these come back to life.

 

[angus]

In later years,I thought Goldsmith's used Goldoe Goose and Smitty Duck........