He was named a board member at Federated in 1973. He became president of the department store chain in 1959 and added the titles of chairman and chief executive officer 10 years later. Lazarus started working as a sales clerk in his family's Columbus store in 1936 after he graduated from Yale University with bachelor's degrees in American history and art history.
moved Lazarus's headquarters to Cincinnati in 1986. The family's influence in the stores declined when corporate parent Federated Depart ment Stores Inc. Lazarus's great-grandfather as a one-room men's clothing store in Columbus, eventually grew to more than 40 stores in five states in the Midwest. But what really drew the crowds was the lavish animated holiday window decorations.COLUMBUS, Ohio - Charles Lazarus, 93, the last member of his family to lead its namesake Lazarus chain of department stores, died at his home in Gahanna on Monday after a brief illness, his son said. Block Company sponsored a downtown Christmas parade with the hope of enticing shoppers into the store. The sixth-floor auditorium was a venue for style shows, symposiums and cooking demonstrations.Īlso on the sixth floor was the Antoine Beauty Salon, a replica of the famous Paris salon of coiffeur M. Block’s shoppers had their choice of places to eat: the Men’s Grille, the Fountain Luncheonette and the Riley Room. But it wasn’t just a “ladies' tea room" Indiana Supreme Court justices took their noon meal there nearly every day. The stylish models would sashay among the ladies luncheon crowd. Painted in a pastel green and yellow, it had single booth seating along a wall of murals to give people the feeling they were dining on a terrace. The sixth-floor Terrace Tea Room was elegance defined. The bakery/grocery sold everything from crullers to baked ham. Block’s sold housewares, garden equipment, paint, electronics, draperies, and luggage and even had a cocktail corner. The gentlemen could buy a suit, a camera and visit the sporting goods department or cigar store.
Block's featured sophisticated designs from famous designers including Hollywood designer Adrian. There were salons aplenty French, fur, bridal, millinery and gowns. Moths or cigarette ash damage your suit? You could get it rewoven on the north mezzanine, while the south mezzanine offered a bookshop and drug store.
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Full page newspaper ads referred to it as “The Pride of Hoosierdom.”īlock's billed itself as "One of America's most beautiful stores." The store oozed sophistication but could pull off a downstairs budget store with style. Clerks were fashioned in long black dresses and wagon loads of flowers were passed out to customers. Looking for deals: Hoosier Bargain Days lured shoppers back to downtown Indianapolisĭuring the grand opening celebration, five orchestras were stationed at various points in the store. The interurban system and eventually buses would practically bring thousands of shoppers to the front doors of Block’s every day. It was a prime location, with the Indianapolis Traction Terminal located across the street. opened at the southwest corner of Illinois and Market. 3, 1911, a new eight-story department store designed by Arthur John and Kurt Vonnegut Sr. Block took a risk on a location that was considered off the busy retail strip of Washington Street.
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