manu/mldr-zoomed-100char-total-queries-documents

chunk_id stringlengths 3 9	chunk stringlengths 1 100
82_6	Lothrop, the Washington, D.C., department store. In 1994, Woodies, as it was known, filed for
82_7	bankruptcy. The assets of Woodies were purchased by the May Company Department Stores and
82_8	JCPenney. In 1995, Wanamaker's transitioned to Hecht's, one of the May Company brands. In 2006,
82_9	Macy's Center City became the occupant of the former Philadelphia Wanamaker's Department Store,
82_10	which is now a National Historic Landmark.
82_11	History Beginnings
82_12	John Wanamaker was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1838. Due to a persistent cough, he was
82_13	unable to join the U.S. Army to fight in the American Civil War, so instead started a career in
82_14	business. In 1861, he and his brother-in-law Nathan Brown founded a men's clothing store in
82_15	Philadelphia called Oak Hall. Wanamaker carried on the business alone after Brown's death in 1868.
82_16	Eight years later, Wanamaker purchased the abandoned Pennsylvania Railroad station for use as a
82_17	new, larger retail location. The concept was to renovate the terminal into a "Grand Depot" similar
82_18	to London's Royal Exchange or Paris's Les Halles—two central markets, and forerunners of the modern
82_19	department store, that were well known in Europe at that time.
82_20	The Wanamaker's Grand Depot opened in time to service the public visiting Philadelphia for the
82_21	American Centennial Exposition of 1876, and in fact resembled one of the many pavilions at that
82_22	world's fair because of its fanciful new Moorish facade. In 1877 the interior of Wanamaker's was
82_23	refurbished and expanded to include not only men's clothing, but women's clothing and dry goods as
82_24	well. This was Philadelphia's first modern-day department store, and one of the earliest founded in
82_25	America. A circular counter was placed at the center of the building, and concentric circles
82_26	radiated around it with 129 counters of goods. The store also accepted mail orders, though it was
82_27	not a large business until the early twentieth century.
82_28	Enlightened retailing
82_29	Wanamaker first thought of how he would run a store on new principles when, as a youth, a merchant
82_30	refused his request to exchange a purchase. A practicing Christian, he chose not to advertise on
82_31	Sundays. Before he opened his Grand Depot for retail business, he let evangelist Dwight L. Moody
82_32	use its facilities as a meeting place, while Wanamaker provided 300 ushers from his store
82_33	personnel. His retail advertisements—the first to be copyrighted beginning in 1874—were factual,
82_34	and promises made in them were kept.
82_35	Wanamaker guaranteed the quality of his merchandise in print, allowed his customers to return
82_36	purchases for a cash refund and offered the first restaurant to be located inside a department
82_37	store. Wanamaker also invented the price tag.
82_38	His employees were to be treated respectfully by management (including not being scolded in
82_39	public), and John Wanamaker & Company offered its employees access to the John Wanamaker Commercial
82_40	Institute, as well as free medical care, recreational facilities, profit sharing plans, and
82_41	pensions—long before these types of benefits were considered standard in corporate employment.
82_42	Innovation and "firsts" marked Wanamaker's. The store was the first department store with
82_43	electrical illumination (1878), first store with a telephone (1879), and the first store to install
82_44	pneumatic tubes to transport cash and documents (1880).
82_45	Wanamaker's commissioned a Philadelphia/New Jersey artist, George Washington Nicholson (1832–1912),
82_46	to paint a large landscape mural, "The Old Homestead", which was finished in March 1892. The mural
82_47	was still owned by Wanamaker's in 1950, but has since passed into a private collection.
82_48	In 1910, Wanamaker replaced his Grand Depot in stages, and constructed a new, purpose-built
82_49	structure on the same site in Center City Philadelphia. The new store, built in the Florentine
82_50	style with granite walls by Chicago architect Daniel H. Burnham, had 12 floors (nine for retail),
82_51	numerous galleries and two lower levels totaling nearly two million square feet. The palatial
82_52	emporium featured the Wanamaker Organ, the former St. Louis World's Fair pipe organ, at the time
82_53	one of the world's largest organs. The organ was installed in the store's marble-clad central
82_54	atrium known as the Grand Court. Another item from the St. Louis Fair in the Grand Court is the
82_55	large bronze eagle, which quickly became the symbol of the store and a favorite meeting place for
82_56	shoppers. All one had to say was "Meet You at The Eagle" and everyone knew where to go. The store
82_57	was dedicated by President William Howard Taft on December 13, 1911.
82_58	Despite its size, the organ was deemed insufficient to fill the Grand Court with its music.
82_59	Wanamaker's responded by assembling its own staff of organ builders and expanding the organ several
82_60	times over a period of years. The "Wanamaker Organ" is the largest fully operational pipe organ in
82_61	the world, with some 28,750 pipes. It is famed for the delicate, orchestra-like beauty of its tone
82_62	as well as its incredible power. The organ still stands in place in the store today and free
82_63	recitals are held twice every day except Sunday. Visitors are also invited to tour the organ's
82_64	console area and meet with staff after recitals. Once a year, usually in June, "Wanamaker Organ
82_65	Day" is held, which is a free recital which lasts most of the day.
82_66	News of the Titanic's sinking was transmitted to Wanamaker's wireless station in New York City, and
82_67	given to anxious crowds waiting outside—yet another first for an American retail store. Public
82_68	Christmas Caroling in the store's Grand Court began in 1918.
82_69	In 1919, , a Spanish newspaper said of its New York store that it was 100 special departments all
82_70	under one roof, including (The Department of Personal Service for Latin-Americans).
82_71	Other innovations included employing buyers to travel overseas to Europe each year for the latest
82_72	fashions, the first White sale (1878) and other themed sales such as the February "Opportunity
82_73	Sales" to keep prices as low as possible while keeping volume high. The store also broadcast its
82_74	organ concerts on the Wanamaker-owned radio station WOO beginning in 1922. Under the leadership of
82_75	James Bayard Woodford, Wanamaker's opened piano stores in Philadelphia and New York that did a huge
82_76	business with an innovative fixed-price system of sales. Salons in period decor were used to sell
82_77	the higher-price items. Wanamaker also tried selling small organs built by the Austin Organ Company
82_78	for a time.
82_79	Slow decline
82_80	After John Wanamaker's death in 1922, the business carried on under Wanamaker family ownership.
82_81	Rodman Wanamaker, John's son, enhanced the reputation of the stores as artistic centers and temples
82_82	of the beautiful, offering imported luxuries from around the world. After his death in 1928, the
82_83	stores (managed for the family by a trust) continued to thrive for a time. The men's clothing and
82_84	accessories department was expanded into its own separate store on the lower floors of the
82_85	Lincoln-Liberty Building, two doors down on Chestnut Street, in 1932. This building, which also had
82_86	a private apartment for the Wanamaker family on its top floor, was sold to Philadelphia National
82_87	Bank in 1952; the initials on the building's crown read "PNB" until November 2014, even though the
82_88	bank no longer existed (PNB was acquired by CoreStates, which was then acquired by First Union,
82_89	which was rebranded as Wachovia Bank after acquiring Wachovia Corporation, and later acquired by
82_90	Wells Fargo & Co.). Over time, Wanamaker's lost business to other retail chains, including
82_91	Bloomingdale's and Macy's, in the Philadelphia market. The Wanamaker Family Trust finally sold John
82_92	Wanamaker and Company, with its underpatronized stores, to Los Angeles, California-based Carter
82_93	Hawley Hale Stores for US$60 million cash in 1978. Carter Hawley Hale poured another $80 million
82_94	into renovating the stores, but to no avail—customers had gone elsewhere in the intervening decades
82_95	and did not come back.
82_96	Later innovations
82_97	Finally, in 1986, the now 15-store chain was sold to Woodward & Lothrop, owned by Detroit
82_98	shopping-mall magnate A. Alfred Taubman. Taubman reorganized the business with a shortened
82_99	corporate name (Wanamaker's Inc.), and poured millions more into store renovations and public
82_100	relations campaigns. This too was no help, as Taubman's retail interests were heavily in debt and
82_101	the stores' combined sales were a disappointment. Believing that the Wanamaker Building space was
82_102	more valuable than portions of the historic Wanamaker store, the Philadelphia flagship store was
82_103	reduced to its first five stories, the Juniper Street side became the lobby of an office building
82_104	for the upper stories, and the former basement budget "Downstairs Store" became a parking garage.
82_105	The Crystal Tea Room restaurant was closed and eventually leased to the Marriott Corporation for

82_6

Lothrop, the Washington, D.C., department store. In 1994, Woodies, as it was known, filed for

82_7

bankruptcy. The assets of Woodies were purchased by the May Company Department Stores and

82_8

JCPenney. In 1995, Wanamaker's transitioned to Hecht's, one of the May Company brands. In 2006,

82_9

Macy's Center City became the occupant of the former Philadelphia Wanamaker's Department Store,

82_10

which is now a National Historic Landmark.

82_11

History Beginnings

82_12

John Wanamaker was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1838. Due to a persistent cough, he was

82_13

unable to join the U.S. Army to fight in the American Civil War, so instead started a career in

82_14

business. In 1861, he and his brother-in-law Nathan Brown founded a men's clothing store in

82_15

Philadelphia called Oak Hall. Wanamaker carried on the business alone after Brown's death in 1868.

82_16

Eight years later, Wanamaker purchased the abandoned Pennsylvania Railroad station for use as a

82_17

new, larger retail location. The concept was to renovate the terminal into a "Grand Depot" similar

82_18

to London's Royal Exchange or Paris's Les Halles—two central markets, and forerunners of the modern

82_19

department store, that were well known in Europe at that time.

82_20

The Wanamaker's Grand Depot opened in time to service the public visiting Philadelphia for the

82_21

American Centennial Exposition of 1876, and in fact resembled one of the many pavilions at that

82_22

world's fair because of its fanciful new Moorish facade. In 1877 the interior of Wanamaker's was

82_23

refurbished and expanded to include not only men's clothing, but women's clothing and dry goods as

82_24

well. This was Philadelphia's first modern-day department store, and one of the earliest founded in

82_25

America. A circular counter was placed at the center of the building, and concentric circles

82_26

radiated around it with 129 counters of goods. The store also accepted mail orders, though it was

82_27

not a large business until the early twentieth century.

82_28

Enlightened retailing

82_29

Wanamaker first thought of how he would run a store on new principles when, as a youth, a merchant

82_30

refused his request to exchange a purchase. A practicing Christian, he chose not to advertise on

82_31

Sundays. Before he opened his Grand Depot for retail business, he let evangelist Dwight L. Moody

82_32

use its facilities as a meeting place, while Wanamaker provided 300 ushers from his store

82_33

personnel. His retail advertisements—the first to be copyrighted beginning in 1874—were factual,

82_34

and promises made in them were kept.

82_35

Wanamaker guaranteed the quality of his merchandise in print, allowed his customers to return

82_36

purchases for a cash refund and offered the first restaurant to be located inside a department

82_37

store. Wanamaker also invented the price tag.

82_38

His employees were to be treated respectfully by management (including not being scolded in

82_39

public), and John Wanamaker & Company offered its employees access to the John Wanamaker Commercial

82_40

Institute, as well as free medical care, recreational facilities, profit sharing plans, and

82_41

pensions—long before these types of benefits were considered standard in corporate employment.

82_42

Innovation and "firsts" marked Wanamaker's. The store was the first department store with

82_43

electrical illumination (1878), first store with a telephone (1879), and the first store to install

82_44

pneumatic tubes to transport cash and documents (1880).

82_45

Wanamaker's commissioned a Philadelphia/New Jersey artist, George Washington Nicholson (1832–1912),

82_46

to paint a large landscape mural, "The Old Homestead", which was finished in March 1892. The mural

82_47

was still owned by Wanamaker's in 1950, but has since passed into a private collection.

82_48

In 1910, Wanamaker replaced his Grand Depot in stages, and constructed a new, purpose-built

82_49

structure on the same site in Center City Philadelphia. The new store, built in the Florentine

82_50

style with granite walls by Chicago architect Daniel H. Burnham, had 12 floors (nine for retail),

82_51

numerous galleries and two lower levels totaling nearly two million square feet. The palatial

82_52

emporium featured the Wanamaker Organ, the former St. Louis World's Fair pipe organ, at the time

82_53

one of the world's largest organs. The organ was installed in the store's marble-clad central

82_54

atrium known as the Grand Court. Another item from the St. Louis Fair in the Grand Court is the

82_55

large bronze eagle, which quickly became the symbol of the store and a favorite meeting place for

82_56

shoppers. All one had to say was "Meet You at The Eagle" and everyone knew where to go. The store

82_57

was dedicated by President William Howard Taft on December 13, 1911.

82_58

Despite its size, the organ was deemed insufficient to fill the Grand Court with its music.

82_59

Wanamaker's responded by assembling its own staff of organ builders and expanding the organ several

82_60

times over a period of years. The "Wanamaker Organ" is the largest fully operational pipe organ in

82_61

the world, with some 28,750 pipes. It is famed for the delicate, orchestra-like beauty of its tone

82_62

as well as its incredible power. The organ still stands in place in the store today and free

82_63

recitals are held twice every day except Sunday. Visitors are also invited to tour the organ's

82_64

console area and meet with staff after recitals. Once a year, usually in June, "Wanamaker Organ

82_65

Day" is held, which is a free recital which lasts most of the day.

82_66

News of the Titanic's sinking was transmitted to Wanamaker's wireless station in New York City, and

82_67

given to anxious crowds waiting outside—yet another first for an American retail store. Public

82_68

Christmas Caroling in the store's Grand Court began in 1918.

82_69

In 1919, , a Spanish newspaper said of its New York store that it was 100 special departments all

82_70

under one roof, including (The Department of Personal Service for Latin-Americans).

82_71

Other innovations included employing buyers to travel overseas to Europe each year for the latest

82_72

fashions, the first White sale (1878) and other themed sales such as the February "Opportunity

82_73

Sales" to keep prices as low as possible while keeping volume high. The store also broadcast its

82_74

organ concerts on the Wanamaker-owned radio station WOO beginning in 1922. Under the leadership of

82_75

James Bayard Woodford, Wanamaker's opened piano stores in Philadelphia and New York that did a huge

82_76

business with an innovative fixed-price system of sales. Salons in period decor were used to sell

82_77

the higher-price items. Wanamaker also tried selling small organs built by the Austin Organ Company

82_78

for a time.

82_79

Slow decline

82_80

After John Wanamaker's death in 1922, the business carried on under Wanamaker family ownership.

82_81

Rodman Wanamaker, John's son, enhanced the reputation of the stores as artistic centers and temples

82_82

of the beautiful, offering imported luxuries from around the world. After his death in 1928, the

82_83

stores (managed for the family by a trust) continued to thrive for a time. The men's clothing and

82_84

accessories department was expanded into its own separate store on the lower floors of the

82_85

Lincoln-Liberty Building, two doors down on Chestnut Street, in 1932. This building, which also had

82_86

a private apartment for the Wanamaker family on its top floor, was sold to Philadelphia National

82_87

Bank in 1952; the initials on the building's crown read "PNB" until November 2014, even though the

82_88

bank no longer existed (PNB was acquired by CoreStates, which was then acquired by First Union,

82_89

which was rebranded as Wachovia Bank after acquiring Wachovia Corporation, and later acquired by

82_90

Wells Fargo & Co.). Over time, Wanamaker's lost business to other retail chains, including

82_91

Bloomingdale's and Macy's, in the Philadelphia market. The Wanamaker Family Trust finally sold John

82_92

Wanamaker and Company, with its underpatronized stores, to Los Angeles, California-based Carter

82_93

Hawley Hale Stores for US$60 million cash in 1978. Carter Hawley Hale poured another $80 million

82_94

into renovating the stores, but to no avail—customers had gone elsewhere in the intervening decades

82_95

and did not come back.

82_96

Later innovations

82_97

Finally, in 1986, the now 15-store chain was sold to Woodward & Lothrop, owned by Detroit

82_98

shopping-mall magnate A. Alfred Taubman. Taubman reorganized the business with a shortened

82_99

corporate name (Wanamaker's Inc.), and poured millions more into store renovations and public

82_100

relations campaigns. This too was no help, as Taubman's retail interests were heavily in debt and

82_101

the stores' combined sales were a disappointment. Believing that the Wanamaker Building space was

82_102

more valuable than portions of the historic Wanamaker store, the Philadelphia flagship store was

82_103

reduced to its first five stories, the Juniper Street side became the lobby of an office building

82_104

for the upper stories, and the former basement budget "Downstairs Store" became a parking garage.

82_105

The Crystal Tea Room restaurant was closed and eventually leased to the Marriott Corporation for