Long ago on independence square (Kansas City, St. Louis: crime, how much, to buy)

[MarketStEl]

[quote=MRG Dallas;58511308]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

I've just dipped into this long-running thread, and it's fascinating.

But since someone brought up the department store right on the square:

When did Emery, Bird, Thayer acquire Bundschu's?

By the time I came along, the Emery Bird name appeared atop the store's neon sign.[/QUO

Sorry, I can't be more specific, but by 1961 (per Polk's Directory) it was already EBBunschu (no Thayer)

Thanks.

Not knowing how far back you go as a Kansas City resident (I don't live there anymore, but I was born and raised there — same house, same street, from birth to age 16, when I went off to New England to attend college: I've lived in the Northeastern US ever since), but Emery, Bird, Thayer, founded in 1865, was Kansas City's carriage-trade department store.

The main store on 11th ("Petticoat Lane") from Walnut to Grand was built in the 1880s and hadn't really been altered much since it opened. It had incandescent lights, wood floors with balconies, elevators with operators and no escalators, and this was in the 1960s — Macy's. which had bought rival John Taylor Dry Goods in 1949, gave that store's 1881 building a total modernization, with fluorescent lights, escalators, automatic elevators, the works.

EBT bit the dust in 1973.

My read on why: Not only did it not modernize its stores (save for its Country Club Plaza store, built in 1925 and expanded in 1962), it didn't expand into the suburbs the way its rivals Macy's, Jones, and even Woolf Brothers and Harzfeld's did. That Bundschu acquisition was their one significant addition to the two stores it operated in the city itself.

[MRG Dallas]

[quote=MarketStEl;58513423]

Originally Posted by MRG Dallas

Thanks.

Not knowing how far back you go as a Kansas City resident (I don't live there anymore, but I was born and raised there — same house, same street, from birth to age 16, when I went off to New England to attend college: I've lived in the Northeastern US ever since), but Emery, Bird, Thayer, founded in 1865, was Kansas City's carriage-trade department store.

The main store on 11th ("Petticoat Lane") from Walnut to Grand was built in the 1880s and hadn't really been altered much since it opened. It had incandescent lights, wood floors with balconies, elevators with operators and no escalators, and this was in the 1960s — Macy's. which had bought rival John Taylor Dry Goods in 1949, gave that store's 1881 building a total modernization, with fluorescent lights, escalators, automatic elevators, the works.

EBT bit the dust in 1973.

My read on why: Not only did it not modernize its stores (save for its Country Club Plaza store, built in 1925 and expanded in 1962), it didn't expand into the suburbs the way its rivals Macy's, Jones, and even Woolf Brothers and Harzfeld's did. That Bundschu acquisition was their one significant addition to the two stores it operated in the city itself.

It was a shame the classic old buildings were knocked down so many dept stores right in a 2 or so block area

Macy's
Jones Store
Peck's
Rothschild's
Kline's
EBT

Who am I leaving out?

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by MRG Dallas

It was a shame the classic old buildings were knocked down so many dept stores right in a 2 or so block area

Macy's
Jones Store
Peck's
Rothschild's
Kline's
EBT

Who am I leaving out?

Well, now I know how long you've been a Kansas Citian. Peck's was the first of those to go; I remember visiting that store once with my parents. I was four years old in 1963 when the visit took place, and I think the store was on the ropes then.

If Rothschild's is part of that list, then the two I mentioned (Woolf Brothers and Harzfeld's) and The Palace (12th and Grand) also belonged, for those stores all sold clothing only. And at that time, the Hall family's department store was at 1114 Grand Avenue (not Boulevard) too; that store would be shuttered in favor of Halls Crown Center, which is now just a fraction of its former self but still the ritziest store in the city.

One of the Klines was in my class (1976) at Pem-Day.

[Mad Anthonie]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

I've just dipped into this long-running thread, and it's fascinating.

But since someone brought up the department store right on the square:

When did Emery, Bird, Thayer acquire Bundschu's?

By the time I came along, the Emery Bird name appeared atop the store's neon sign.

I have come out of the pool and garden long enough to supply the answer you seek!
The acquisition of the A.J. Bundschu Store by EBT was announced on January 9, 1959 and effective February 2 of that year. EBT bought everything but the building, which they did lease long term. All employees that wished to remain were retained. The negotiations leading up to the sale took 10 years! The Independence branch of EBT was called Emery, Bird, Bundschu's.

[Mad Anthonie]

Happy Independence Day Independence!

[dmouse]

Originally Posted by Mad Anthonie

Happy Independence Day Independence!

It sure was a loud one!

[MRG Dallas]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

Well, now I know how long you've been a Kansas Citian. Peck's was the first of those to go; I remember visiting that store once with my parents. I was four years old in 1963 when the visit took place, and I think the store was on the ropes then.

If Rothschild's is part of that list, then the two I mentioned (Woolf Brothers and Harzfeld's) and The Palace (12th and Grand) also belonged, for those stores all sold clothing only. And at that time, the Hall family's department store was at 1114 Grand Avenue (not Boulevard) too; that store would be shuttered in favor of Halls Crown Center, which is now just a fraction of its former self but still the ritziest store in the city.

One of the Klines was in my class (1976) at Pem-Day.

Harzfeld's Main @ 11th thru to Walnut
Rothschild's Main @ Tenth
Woolf Bros 11th NW corner Walnut

Add:

Adlers 1208 Main

Over more in your neck of the woods:

Plaza Mens and Boy's Shop 618 Ward P
Ladies Plaza Shop 243 W 47th
Brookside Shop 104 W 63rd
EBT 47th and Grand
Jones 31st and Troost
JCPenney 3039 Troost
Sears and Roebuck 500 Nichols Rd

5 & Dime Dept Stores

WT Grant 10179-19 Main
Ben Franklin 7148 Prospect & 5524 Troost

Woolworth 1103 Main 309 Alameda Rd (what's that?) 3923 Main
3118 and 4626 Troost
554 Walnut

Kresge's
1117 1131 and 3917 Main
3124 Troost
237 W 47th

[MRG Dallas]

Originally Posted by dmouse

It sure was a loud one!

Neighbors next door were shooting off LOUD She-BANG type fireworks until 11 pm

God love 'em, they're otherwise great neighbors, but . . .

Not to mention others nearby

I suspect most of this is to "entertain" the kids or LOOKITMEEEE attitudes.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by MRG Dallas

Harzfeld's Main @ 11th thru to Walnut
Rothschild's Main @ Tenth
Woolf Bros 11th NW corner Walnut

Add:

Adlers 1208 Main

Over more in your neck of the woods:

Plaza Mens and Boy's Shop 618 Ward P
Ladies Plaza Shop 243 W 47th
Brookside Shop 104 W 63rd
EBT 47th and Grand
Jones 31st and Troost
JCPenney 3039 Troost
Sears and Roebuck 500 Nichols Rd

5 & Dime Dept Stores

WT Grant 10179-19 Main
Ben Franklin 7148 Prospect & 5524 Troost

Woolworth 1103 Main 309 Alameda Rd (what's that?) 3923 Main
3118 and 4626 Troost
554 Walnut

Kresge's
1117 1131 and 3917 Main
3124 Troost
237 W 47th

Alameda Road was renamed Nichols Road after J.C.'s death, IIRC.

That probably was an earlier location, for the Woolworth's I remember was located on Nichols Road across Pennsylvania Avenue from Sears. (309 Nichols Road was a mostly-underground parking lot with a Russell Stover candy shop at the Broadway corner when I was young. On the 47th Street side of the lot was Putsch's Coffee Shop.) I used to hang out at its lunch counter if I had time to kill after my Saturday bowling league at King Louie Plaza Lanes.

Somewhere around 1978, it got razed and replaced by a Saks Fifth Avenue.

I'm not sure about an EBT branch at 47th and Grand. The building that housed EBT on the Plaza was at 47th and Broadway; a plaque on its corner stated that it was built in 1925 and enlarged in 1962. After Emery Bird's demise, the store became a Macy's.

My mom used to shop at Jones 31st and Troost a lot. We also bought stuff at that J.C. Penney store across Troost too. And after those stores closed, Mom would head to the main Jones (Store Company) downtown and the Penneys in Blue Ridge Mall.

Adler's also had branches in at least one of the late-1950s/early-1960s shopping centers Nichols built: The Landing, 63d and Troost. Mom would shop at that Adler's and at Chasnoff in the same mall (Chasnoff had a store on the Plaza too). I think Adler's also had a branch in either Prairie Village (where Jones anchored) or Red Bridge (which had a Macy's like the Landing; that store replaced a smaller one at 58th and Troost).

Do you recall Westport Men's Wear downtown, Harry Truman's "failed haberdashery"? His business partner was a Jewish fellow named Eddie Jacobson. My Dad bought most of his clothes from Eddie Jacobson's store at The Landing.

I think the Kresge stores at 31st and Troost and on the Plaza had both closed by the time I was old enough to remember. The first Kmart in the area opened on 40 Highway in Independence in the mid-60s.

In his paean to Bryant's Barbecue, Calvin Trillin's fictional soldier on leave exits that 12th and Main Kresge's to board a bus headed to the Black side of town at the urging of a local friend. He then gets off at 18th and Brooklyn, walks a half block or so north, and enters THE SINGLE BEST RESTAURANT IN THE WORLD.

I remember but never set foot in W.T. Grant. Ben Franklin had also left the scene by the time I arrived on it.

Jeez, I am getting old. Here I am all wistful for the Kansas City of my youth: Sledding down the hill in Oak Park, heading across town from my neighborhood to my school (William Rockhill Nelson — in light of my career, I consider it karmic that I went there), all sorts of stuff.

[MRG Dallas]

I should've mentioned my sources years were 1960, a couple for 1952, and then 1945

So that might explain why some of the stores and addresses were obsolete by your time

Let's try 1970:

Adler's was still at 1208 Main. It had 5 other locations:

Minnesota Ave KCK,
Prairie Village 3901 Prairie Ln,
The Landing, NE Antioch RD, and Metcalf South

Harzfelds was also at MS.

Downtown at Petticoat Ln, Plaza 445 Nichols, Blue Ridge Mall, Corinth 8230 Mission Rd

Klines 3 locations:

1112 Walnut
8700 Ward Parkway
5425 NE Center Mall

Macy's KC:

DT
1240 E Meyer Blvd
11134 Holmes
Plaza
North 5330 NE Chouteau Trafficway

I guess I had forgotten that Country Club Bowl became KL Bowl CCB was an old baseball rival

JCPenney has listed these locations:

3037 Troost was still there
8720 WardP
North
Blue Ridge Mall

2 SS Kresge's:

1104 E Meyer
1125 Main

FW Woolworth's:

8600 WardP
Plaza
North 1906 Swift
Still at 3120 Troost
BR Mall

I know I haven't addressed everything but I'll send this portion off

PS:
That KMart was 5 minutes from my home

There was also a Venture Store which was up Noland around I 70