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All Hail The Department Store
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par3
02/09/09

In reply to All Hail The Department Store
over here in eastern europe the departments store is still 'new' and 'foreign' lol i guess we really are way behind. while i lived in the states i worked at Marshall Fields (r.i.p) and did displays which was awesome.... from 5am to 1pm- i learned a lot about the way department stores really worked and from a business perspective it's pretty interesting esp when as a kid i walked around the store dozens of times, but later i was behind the scenes... kinda cool.
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Sally Forth
02/08/09

In reply to All Hail The Department Store
Okay. First post ever, Saturday night, just a wee drunk. But three - no four- things:

I'm 54 [jesus, god, how the hell did that happen?] I only mention this because:

I grew up in the last days of the grand, magical department store, where in order to visit, you would get dressed in your Sunday clothes and be on your finest behaviour because you were entering the world of FANCY.

I grew up in the heart of the Nordstrom epicenter, Seattle/Bellevue, when they still had monkeys in glass cages in the kid's department [hey, none of us knew any better]. Still love the policies [and the family that brought us the policies], though I no longer can afford to shop there. Which brings me to:

Target. Aside from the fact that I don't think they sell large appliances, is Target not the new department store? They don't have all of the FANCY, but they do have the style. And the goods. Who among us has been able to escape from Target without spending a hundred bucks? And been happy [and smug] doing so?
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DoubleExpresso doesn't know what to think....
02/08/09

@Sally Forth: my mom told me recently that people used to have trained monkeys, like as companions. I'm all like WHA!?
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brendastarlet is on it
02/07/09

In reply to All Hail The Department Store
When I was a toddler, my mother took us home to Grand Rapids where there were two downtown department stores, Wurzberg's and Herpolsheimer's. We were walking on the sidewalk outside one of them, and "Silver Bells" came on a loudspeaker. To this day, I can't hear that song without thinking of that evening, and I couldn't have been more than two.
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ImDatNinja (loves her Red Sox)
02/07/09

In reply to All Hail The Department Store
Makes me think of "Today's Special" once again. Jezebel, you bring out the nostalgia in me goshdarnit!
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mtbee
02/07/09

In reply to All Hail The Department Store
Best department store ever: KaDeWe in Berlin. Its food court is mind-boggling. And, if you've got the euros to plunk down, it's a great place to buy fancy (and smallish, if you're on a budget) trinkets.
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brendastarlet is on it
02/07/09

@mtbee: whenever I am in Europe, I love to visit department stores. For one thing they have food halls (which are great to get yogurt and fruit for your hotel room, and inexpensive food-type presents for people.) For another, there's always a restaurant.

The German department stores all seem to put them on the top floor, where you can get a beautiful view of whatever city you are visiting. And if you're vegetarian, there's always an amazing salad bar where you can fill up.
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Jack_Burton
02/07/09

In reply to All Hail The Department Store
Even though I'm a dude, I go to the dept. store from time to time.

What would I do without "white sales?" Gotta get sheets n' towels every so often...

Or those sales they have on quality underwear a couple times a year?

Cheap merino wool sweaters? Cheap, decent-quality Oxfords?
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LipstickLibrarian
02/07/09

In reply to All Hail The Department Store
Bullocks, Buffum's, The Broadway . . . those were the days.
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Little Time Bomb
02/07/09

In reply to All Hail The Department Store
I love looking at all the amazing Christmas windows in the big department stores in New York. Just losing that would break my heart. That being said all the department stores I loved as a kid have been eaten by others. Jacobson's became Hudson's which became Marshall Field's which are now Macy's. I hate to pile on Macy's but around here most of their merchandise is a bit crap with shrinking choices everyday.

I still really miss Jacobson's and the big Hudson's with the elevator ladies and beautiful fixtures.
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brendastarlet is on it
02/07/09

@Little Time Bomb: Jacobson's didn't become Hudson's. They were two separate stores. Hudson's became Marshall Field's and then Macy's. I won't shop there, period.

Jacobson's simply went out of business. I still miss them. I worked there in h.s. and college, and it taught me everything I needed to know in life.
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Little Time Bomb
02/08/09

@brendastarlet is on it: Their toy department was the high point of my life when I was 5. I used to beg my Mom to take me!
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ImogeneHerdman
02/07/09

In reply to All Hail The Department Store
@ hortense (re: S. Millhauser)

Yes, he is brilliant. "Edwin Mullhouse" sat on my shelf unread for a few years, mocking me, and when I finally started it I couldn't put it down. His stories almost always strike a chord that's visceral yet ethereal -- if that makes sense -- somewhere between ecstasy and despair, with a slight touch of, say, John Hodgman. I hope Jezzies scrolling through take notice!
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Hana Maru
02/07/09

@ImogeneHerdman: I've never read him, but that is some review! I will be sure to look for him at the library. I love getting book recommendations.
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MTmom
02/07/09

In reply to All Hail The Department Store
When I was little (about 150 years ago) my grandmother would take me to Manchesters in downtown Madison, Wisconsin. We would have lunch in the Tea Room and there would be a fashion show with pretty, local college girls walking around the tables showing the best new outfits in the store to we ladies who lunched.

My grandma wore her mink jacket and I wore a nice dress, white cardigan, short white gloves, white ankle socks and black patent leather shoes.

I LOVED IT! and it is one of my fondest memories of time with with Grandma who died when I was only 12.

She also had a convertible and when she put the top down we would each wear a silk scarf over our hair. She always had a couple of extras in the glove compartment.
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Everything MidnightBikeRide does is a balloon.
02/07/09

@MTmom: I made it to the tea room at Younkers (another midwest chain) a few times bofore it closed a few years ago. I think it's amazing that that was once a part of these cities, that people really would get all dressed up and go to tea in cities where everyone now is grabbing starbucks in their flip-flops.
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kelsium
02/07/09

In reply to All Hail The Department Store
When I was growing up my mom worked in the china section of Hudson's. Everything in department stores always seemed so BIG and SHINY and GROWN UP to me... sigh. Now it's just expensive.
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Peppermint
02/07/09

In reply to All Hail The Department Store
I'm an American student in London, and I went into Selfridge's and sort of boggled. More than any other department store I've been in, it's like multiple stores within one store!

Also their food court made me laugh. Fancy dinners, fancy dinners, and more fancy dinners... and then bizarrely overpriced American cereals.
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gherkinfiend
02/07/09

@Peppermint: I just PM'd you...
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Cookie Dough Monster
02/07/09

In reply to All Hail The Department Store
Am I the only one who loves Lord and Taylor? I know it's a dying chain, but the one by me is great. The service is always really good (especially in the shoe department), and they've got a great mix of nice things I can afford and REALLY nice things I can just pine for.
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arodriguez.romero
02/07/09

@Cookie Dough Monster: I like L & T for dressy clothes. (kohl's for everything else)
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katie.scarlett.o'hara
02/07/09

In reply to All Hail The Department Store
Any Florida girls that remember Burdines? That was always the "fancy" department store when I was little. Then it was eaten by Macy's. Blech.

Also, is Lord and Taylor totally gone now? All the stores in my area closed but are they gone everywhere?
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arodriguez.romero
02/07/09

@katie.scarlett.o'hara: no, there's still Lord and Taylor
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arodriguez.romero
02/07/09

@katie.scarlett.o'hara: and I'm not from Fla. but I remember Burdines after many vacations in Miami
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ImogeneHerdman
02/07/09

In reply to All Hail The Department Store
Old-school (late 1950s) Harrods apparently used to have an elaborate pet store that sold exotic animals -- in her amazing memoir "The Three of Us" Julia Blackburn describes being taken to Harrods by a family friend to buy a pet, and she took home a tiny bushbaby (a teeny-tiny primate with huge eyes -- I think perhaps the same kind of delicate, sentient animal that [rightly] bit Paris Hilton.)

Berlin's KaDeWe used to be mind-boggling, with an entire separate floor dedicated to chocolate (or this might be my childhood memory embellishing.)

Special thanks to Hortense for mentioning Stephen Millhauser!
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hortense
02/07/09

@ImogeneHerdman: He is my favorite! What a genius.
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