Historical Heart {585}

The East Avenue Historic District - situated along East Avenue, one of Rochester's principal arteries, having a series of large late nineteenth and early twentieth century homes, houses of worship, meeting houses, and museums, which are well set back behind tree and shrub-lined sidewalks and expansive lawns. Originally established as a high class residential area, the mile-and-a-half long East Avenue Historic District contains approximately 700 structures, the largest and most impressive of which line East Avenue. The remainder of the East Avenue Historic District consists of a buffer area of lateral streets lined with smaller residences.

This article was part of one of my many internet research sagas; initially I was interested because of the show that Fashion Week of Rochester at the Sibley Tea Room downtown last year. Of course as I went on, and as I recalled all of the places my mother talks about with such revere, the good days of shopping in downtown Rochester, these other locations became a must to include on this post. As this is not something that I usually post, don't worry I will hold off on the history for a while! Until then, enjoy reading about what shopping used to be like for Americans but more importantly Rochestarians. 

Sibley, Lindsay & Curr Co., Rochester, New York

[This information Courtesy of...]

Sibley, Lindsay & Curr Co. building on Main Street, built 1905.

1926 Sibley Tower addition to the store.

Sibley, Lindsay & Curr Co. (1868)

228 East Main Street

Rochester, New York

DOWNTOWN STORE DIRECTORY (1,000,000 sq. ft.)

More info. From a Democrat & Chronicle "Whatever Happened to..." Article
Basement
Sibley's Budget Floor

Street Floor

Fine Jewelry • Fashion Jewelry • Handbags • Small Leather Goods • Gloves • Belts • Umbrellas • Fashion Sunglasses • Hosiery • Hat Bar • Fashion Accessories • Street Floor Sportswear • Street Floor Blouses • Street Floor Sweaters • Street Floor Lingerie • Romance on 1 • Bazaar • Cosmetics • Drugs • Pharmacy • Camera Shop • Stationery • Luggage • Books • Coins and Stamps • Repair Shop • Men's Accessories • Men's Grooming • Men's Furnishings • Men's Shoes • Men's Hats • Men's Coordinates • Men's Sportswear • Olympic Shop • New Directions • Men's Clothing • Flower Shop • Gourmet Foods • Candy • Delicatessen • Ice Cream Shoppe • Sidewalk Cafe • Snack Bar • Grocery • Fruits & Vegetables • Frozen Foods • Bakery • Butcher Shop

Second Floor

Miss Sibley Dresses • Miss Sibley Sportswear • Blouse Boutique • Miss Sibley Coats • Lady Sibley Shop • Town and Casual Dresses • Career Dresses • Career Coats • Concept Dresses • Concept Sportswear • Young New Yorker Dreses • Young New Yorker Sportswear • Concept Coats • Sibley Place • The Situation • Social Dressing • Dress Salon • Coat Salon • Designer Sportswear • Fur Salon • Bridal Salon • Anticipation Shop • Shoe Salon • Town and Casual Shoes • Young New Yorker Shoes • Aigner Boutique • Junior Sportswear • Junior Dresses • Junior COats • Junior Shoes • Kate's Place • Canned Ego

Third Floor
Lingerie • Sleepwear • Loungewear • Shape Shop • Junior Lingerie • Fabrics • Sewing Machines • Art Needlework • Linens • Sheets • Pillows • Bedding • Bath Shop • Draperies • Curtains • Floor Coverings • Rugs • Floor Coverings • Toys • Beauty Salon
Young Fashion World Children's Accessories • Children's Shoes • Infants' Shop • Infants' Furniture • Toddlers' Shop • Little Girls' Shop • Girlswear • Little Boys' Shop • Boyswear • Young Juniors • Piggy Bank Shop

Fourth Floor
China • Silver • Crystal • Waterford Gallery • Glassware • Table Linens • Gifts • Housewares • Cooks' Kitchen • Small Electrics • Appliances • Hardware • Garden Shop • Lamps • Art Gallery • Home Entertainment Center • Records • Pro Shop • Sporting Goods • Christmas Boutique

Fifth Floor
Furniture • Contemporary Gallery • Livin' Easy • Sleep Shop • Interior Design Studio • Ward Gallery

Sixth Floor
Tower Restaurant • Customer Services • Portrait Studio • Wilcox Travel Agency

BRANCH STORES

Southtown Plaza (1953)
Henrietta

Eastway Plaza (1955)
Empire Blvd. at Bay Rd.
Webster
50,000 sq. ft.

Newark Plaza (1957)
Newark
50,000 sq. ft.

Irondequoit Plaza (1957)
Irondequoit
120,000 sq. ft.

Greece Towne Mall (1967)
Greece
150,000 sq. ft.

Syracuse (1969)
400 S. Salina St.
278,000 sq. ft.
Erie Belle Restaurant

Eastview Mall (1971)
Victor
168,000 sq. ft.

Fayetteville Mall (1974)
Fayetteville

Deep Inside Rochester’s Big Old Sibley Building™ This former department store (Sibley, Lindsay & Curr Company) is truly massive. Rochester’s Sibley Building  weighs in at over 1.1 million square feet (23 acres of floorspace) – easily the largest building in Monroe County. WinnCompanies  out of Boston now owns the property and plans to spend up to $200 Million over the next five years to bring it back to life as mixed-use space. Holy smokes, do these guys have their work cut out for them. You may have noticed new windows and awnings along Main Street? Some 2,000 windows have yet to be replaced. Last week the UofR Urban Explorers Club went on a tour through the maze of hallways and spaces, from the dark sub-basement all the way up to the two massive water tanks on the tower rooftop… Before we begin, here’s a look at department store around holiday time, 1938. At one time you could get anything here. Clothing, shoes, hats, belts, handbags, cosmetics, fine jewelry, sportswear, household items, decorations, coins and stamps, electronics, cameras, portraits, groceries, baked goods, etc. There was a pharmacy, ice cream shoppe, sidewalk cafe, a gourmet restaurant; even a deli and butcher shop. See the oldstore directory here . It’s a much different picture today. Fairly empty with a few scattered reminders of the glory days. Like this clock. A plaque beneath it reads: A SIBLEY TIMEPIECE “Meet me under the clock” were the instructions that generations of shoppers used for their rendezvous at Sibley’s downtown department store. The four-sided timepiece originally hung from the first floor ceiling in front of the current escalators. The original clock has been restored, inverted and mounted on the steel pole for future generations to admire as a piece of past Sibley department store history. “Inverted” means that the clock was mounted on this pole upside-down – the clock faces had to be removed, flipped right-side-up, and reinstalled. Above the clock, the 5-story glass-enclosed atrium installed in 1990 is not original to the building. This atrium was cut open to let sunlight light in. Helicopters were used to lift the glass panels into place. WinnCompanies has also started to repaint some areas of the building. These are the very early signs of a rebirth. According to a news article on September 23, 1936 these were the very first escalators in western New York. On Sept. 30, 1936, hundreds of shoppers looked on as Mayor Charles Stanton pulled a cord which started the 1,500-foot, five-story conveyance system. All ten escalators cost $250,000 to install and could carry 8,000 people an hour. WinnCompanies has just completed the restoration of ONE of the nickel-brass escalators at a cost of $200,000. All ten would cost just over $2 Million to renovate. These escalators have been running nearly non-stop since 1936. Rather than replace the inner workings with all new mechanics which might last 20 years, they say it made way more sense to restore and reuse what is already there. And there’s no reason why they shouldn’t run for another 80 years. There are a total of 22 elevators in the building. The ones on the ground level in the main lobby are surrounding by green Italian marble. Sibley’s renovated the main floor and had a Grand Reopening on November 2, 1942. They hired an artist to create these relief sculptures to be displayed above each elevator. These first two represent the progress of Main Street over the previous 75 years. The next two celebrate local achievements in engineering and agriculture – harnessing the power and energy of the land and Genesee River… …to fuel industrial growth, productivity and spur enhancements in education, culture, energy, architecture, etc. Also not sure who the artist was. Today there are still a few tenants hanging on, including MCC (for now) and a Rainbow clothing store. We take a peek inside a set of double doors off the atrium. This is the southwest (Main and Clinton) corner of the building. It’s being used temporarily as an arts studio for city kids. This space will eventually be occupied by a restaurant and/or cafe. Now we head to the back of the building down several zig-zaggy hallways to the loading docks. Shipments of goods from all over the world would be received at these giant loading bay doors. Boxes of goods and other items would be sent down these shafts to the basement levels to be distributed and displayed throughout the building. This is where the baked goods were once made, down this ramp. But we didn’t get a chance to go down there. Instead we head up these stairs, where the shipping & receiving manager hung out. In its heyday, Sibley’s delivery room shipped nearly 10,000 packages daily. It’s quite dark in here. But we see a few chairs, shelves, some old Sibley’s boxes, and empty packs of cigarettes. CORRECTION: Those are Sibley’s bags, not boxes. I didn’t touch them so I wasn’t sure. But they looked super-thick like boxes! Now we’re going to jump onto a freight elevator and rumble on up to the sixth floor. These elevators are old-school! We step off the elevator on level six, into a huge empty space which used to be the Tea Room/Tower Restaurant kitchen. The floors are covered wall to wall with white tile (or what was once white). This place could use some elbow grease. These two service doors were for wait staff. The doors lead into this fancy restaurant known as The Tower Restaurant (I’ve also heard it referred to as the “Pompeian Room”). It served nearly 130,000 meals a year. It was renovated sometime during the late 70’s or early 80’s. A dance floor and fairly dated gold paneling was installed. This grand buffet was designed and built specifically for this room. It’s shown in the original 1904 architectural floorplans. A little side room used to store extra furniture was once a private dining room. Another side room off the main dining room, again for private functions. The ceiling covering has lost its desire to hang on. So far the chandelier is still hanging tough. This door takes us outside onto the roof. WinnCompanies plans to make this into a green roof deck for future tenants. They also plan to restore the clock tower. And there’s the glass atrium to the left. Nice views from here, but they’re even better from the top of the 12-story tower. We’ll see those later on. Let’s go back inside. It’s so dark in here sometimes I forget to look down and notice the nice floors. This is outside the ladies’ powder room… The ladies’ powder room. And this door leads to the ladies’ bathroom. Shall we? Nice color scheme. The sign on the back wall reads: “Every effort is made to keep this lavoratory as clean as possible for you. We will appreciate your cooperation in helping us maintain its cleanliness. Thank You” And this is the men’s lounge. I don’t have any photos of the men’s bathroom. It was a rather small space for my lens and not as interesting as the ladies’ room. Outside the men’s room and just past the guest elevator was this weird space. It has been reported that this was the kids’ Barber Shop? Anyway, there was a neat series of folksy murals on the wall, painted in the 1950’s by Lindus Vilimas from Sibley’s own Display Department… “Pleasant Valley of the Genesee” “On the Great Trail” “Upper Falls” …and there is a fourth one buried just behind the temporary wall on the right. I couldn’t squeeze my camera in there. Alrighty. Let’s go back downstairs. Our host wants to show us the basements. But not on this elevator. We take the freight elevator to the upper basement. There is sub-basement beneath here we’ll see later. It’s a maze of dark hallways. And storage cages. The building is heated with steam and toasty warm down here. These are two enormous boilers. The pipes down are clanging away like mad. Take a listen… There’s a ton of great junk down here. I could have spent days digging through it all but the group is moving fast. I start to fall behind. I don’t know what this room is. The Super Mario Bros. room maybe. OR, this could be the room that powered the pneumatic tube system for the building. Thirty-five miles of pneumatic tubes sent transactions from the sales counters to the “tube room” where change was counted out or the purchase was put on a charge account. Nearly 1,000 such transactions took place each day. Each one taking less than 40 seconds roundtrip. Who needs a computer anyway! Some kind of dark mystery room I don’t want to venture into. Piles of old wooden doors. This reminds me of my first apartment. I don’t get too comfy though. This place is starting to freak me out. We make our way past several elevator bays that open up into a wide open space. This area used to be where all the “bargain basement” deals were. Sort of the Sibley’s version of Filene’s Basement, though Sibley’s version probably came first. I’m not certain, but I imagine this old photo from 1940 might be somewhere down here in the Bargain Basement. Stairs. But we’re not going up just yet. After several twists and turns I have no idea where we are now. This looks like it could have been a cafeteria – for employees maybe? Could also have been the phone-order department. Operators here would handle nearly 10,000 calls each week. Phone orders at Sibley’s made up 5 percent of total sales. Ok, now let’s go even deeper. To the SUB-basement! Uh oh. It’s intensely dark and claustrophobic when finally I realize I made a wrong turn and have to head back. I’m completely removed from the group at this point. The clanging pipes are drilling into my cranium. Back on track now. This area was sort of strange, spatially. It was probably a 50,000 square foot space. Huge. But it felt just the opposite because of all the support columns everywhere. Like being deep inside a thick forest. Every wall and column has writing on it. I notice a classic rock theme to much of the graffiti down here. Remember the chutes from the loading docks upstairs? I think we may have found the bottom of one. This area was for wrapping and packing. How do I know? Because the threatening sign says so… I wonder what else went on down here besides wrapping & packing? Some good times, I’m sure. Ok, at this point I can’t hear any of the voices from my group. I’ve fallen way behind and need to kick it into high gear to catch up before I get trapped down here. Eventually we come back up and come to the main lobby of the tower. The tower was built in two phases with floors 7 through 12 added in 1924. By 1939, Sibley’s would be the largest department store between New York City and Chicago. Notice the fancy mailbox. This is connected to a Cutler mail chute, invented and produced in Rochester, NY. This one was in working order through at least 2000. It may still work but it’s currently not in use. Maybe because there are only two tenants in the tower now? The tour now takes us up to the 11th floor. The elevator lets out into one long hallway with tons of these glowing doors. I have this incredible urge to open up each one to see what’s behind them. We take a walk to the temporary WinnCompanies office. Great views of midtown from here. Lots of neat renderings and floor plans showing the new renovated Sibley building. From left to right: the office & retail lobby elevators, building exterior showing the green rooftop deck, and the residential (tower) lobby. These are the original original plans (from 1904). Hand drawn on silk and with famous local architect J. Foster Warner’s signature on each one, each page looks like a work of art and is worth as much as $1,000 per page to collectors. From these windows you can see out to Lake Ontario… …I mean, if it were a clear day. Here’s the view looking down Main Street East (on the left) and East Ave. (on the right). Holiday lights are being hung on the Liberty Pole today. We’re taking another walk down the hall to see some more stuff. I love these doors. It feels like we are on the set of “Mad Men”. Each door has a teeny mail slot. At some point our mail must have gotten larger because some of the doors have been modified with a larger one. These will all become high-end apartments. Because of the historic landmark status of the building, WinnCompanies cannot alter the doors or hallways in any way. The doors will have to open into a vestibule with another, more secure door inside. HISTORICAL NOTE: My very first full time job was working for an internet service provider called EZnet (late 1990’s before the dot com bubble). Behind this glass door was where I designed my first professional web site – for the company that made Jolt Cola. Alright, here’s a slightly more interesting door. Dentistry by Dr. Robert I. Morris. Closed Thursday Afternoons. This guy had some serious work ethic. Looks like Dr. Morris hasn’t been here in years. This place is frozen in time. There’s a series of three or four really cramped patient rooms. Let’s see those pearly whites. “CHEESE!” Gas masks. But the chair is missing from this room. I wonder what these were used for? A Capmaster and a Toothmaster. Somewhere around here are the Keymaster and Gatekeeper. Kodak was everywhere! Now we jump on yet another elevator to head up to the 12th floor. For some reason the elevator took us down to the 1st floor before taking us up. But we got to see another cool lobby. Alright, here we are on 12. At one time Sibley’s had fur storage vaults up here on 12. A D&C article in 1939 noted these vaults contained “thousands of valuable coats on miles of racks.” In addition to the vaults were “high pressure blowing machines for cleaning the furs before storage.” We didn’t see any of that. Just lots of open space with nice views. Nice view of the clock tower and Main Street West. While we’re up here let’s venture up to the roof… Here’s a view of the old central post office. This giant metal structure once held a Sibley’s department store sign. That’s the Temple Building and the Liberty Pole peeking up above the roofline. A webcam was installed here by the City to capture photos of the Midtown construction across the street. WinnCompanies plans to install a green rooftop deck up here as well. This one would be for the apartment residents. There might even be a disposal chute for doggy waste. Neat-o. The tower is actually shaped like an irregular triangle. In the center is a big open space so that interior offices can have a little daylight. WinnCompanies also plans to install a rooftop patio down in there. And there she is. Sibley’s, the former pride of Rochester retail. McCurdy's: McCurdy's (formally McCurdy and Company) was a Rochester, New York-based department store. Founded in 1901, the company was acquired by May Department Stores in 1994, but as a result of an antitrust settlement due to both McCurdy's and May's Kaufmann's stores being the predominant anchors in the area shopping malls, its stores were divested to The Bon-Ton Department store chain. Gilbert McCurdy helped found Rochester's Midtown Plaza, where its flagship store was located. Other locations were in Pittsford, New York, Greece, New York in Long Ridge Mall and Northgate Plaza, Irondequoit, New York in Irondequoit mall, Henrietta, New York in The Marketplace Mall, Geneva, New York in Town and Country Plaza and Victor, New York in Eastview Mall. McCurdy's was a medium to high priced establishment, in direct competition with Sibley, Lindsay and Curr (later just Sibley's). To make themselves accessible to all, the Midtown, Long Ridge (now Greece Ridge), and Eastview Malls had "budget stores" which ran seconds, closeouts, and special merchandise at prices just above the discount houses- with McCurdy's service and cachet. The midtown location also contained a bakery and restaurant. The Midtown Plaza location and Sibley's main store were directly across the street from each other on East Main Street in downtown Rochester, although McCurdy's was a bit more conservative in merchandising. McCurdy and Co owned Midtown Plaza in downtown Rochester NY, which was the site of the home store of the McCurdy chain. It was torn down in 2010. Midtown's most striking feature was the mechanical "Clock of Nations" in the main floor atrium. Rising through two stories, the clock featured mechanical dolls that would circle the main clock on the hour with a country highlighted each hour. The dolls were housed in capsules that featured a door that would open and close to reveal the dolls. The highlighted country's capsule would be illuminated and a melody appropriate to the country would play. Generations of children (and adults) sat in the atrium in eager anticipation each hour. When Midtown's patronage dwindled, stores closed and the future was obvious, the clock became a cause celebré all across the region. The clock was moved to the Greater Rochester International Airport terminal in 2008. Democrat&Chronicle: Whatever Happened to... McCurdy's was a retail giant and pioneer in Rochester for nearly a century and the last of the locally owned family department stores. Though perhaps overshadowed by Sibley's — which was profiled in an earlier "Whatever Happened To…" installment — McCurdy's certainly made its own enormous impact in Rochester. Foremost was the development of Midtown Plaza, the first downtown shopping mall in the country and a project that revitalized the city shopping scene. McCurdy's also was the first Rochester department store to branch to the suburbs when it opened in Greece's Northgate Plaza in 1953. The business started as McCurdy and Norwell Co. in 1901 before changing its name to McCurdy & Co. 18 years later. Founder John Cooke McCurdy was a transplanted Philadelphian who was born in Ireland. The flagship store opened at East Main and Elm streets. Arch-rival Sibley's was further west on Main Street at the time but moved a few years later directly across from McCurdy's. That part of downtown wasn't nearly as developed when McCurdy's set up shop. Buy Photo Ann Sarazan, right, and Terry Casale work amid Christmas decorations at the Midtown Plaza McCurdy’s store in 1988. (Photo: File photo 1988) "In 1901, the site of the McCurdy's store was considered practically 'out in the country,'" read a 1951 Democrat and Chronicle story. Business at the time was centered at the Four Corners area. McCurdy's was built on the site of the old Farmer's Hotel. McCurdy's decision proved wise. The McCurdy-Sibley block proved to be the premier retail sector for Rochester shoppers for much of the 20th century. Unlike Sibley's, McCurdy's remained locally owned throughout its tenure. Following John Cooke McCurdy as boss were succeeding family members Gilbert J.C. McCurdy, Gilbert G. McCurdy and Gilbert K. "Ken" McCurdy. When William B. Burks was named company president in 1980, it was the first time the job went to someone outside the McCurdy family. More in this series: "Whatever Happened To ..." McCurdy's was a classic downtown department store that had quality merchandise spread over several floors, classic holiday window displays around Christmas and a restaurant that was a favorite of older female shoppers. Men's and women's clothing, jewelry, cosmetics, toys and sporting goods were among the offerings. The store, which was enlarged several times, held fashion shows and had a hair salon, bridal salon and fur salon. McCurdy's opened its first "remote" branch store in Geneva in 1957. The most significant move that McCurdy's made was with Midtown. Downtown already was losing shoppers to the suburbs, and McCurdy's and the B. Forman Co., led by Maurice Forman, pushed for the innovative mall to breathe new life into the center city retail world. Midtown Plaza opened to great fanfare in 1962. Midtown Holdings Co., the company that built and ran the mall, was a McCurdy's venture. McCurdy's bought B. Forman in 1968 and ran that business for years. McCurdy's opened stores through the Rochester area including one in Greece in 1969 that ushered in what became Long Ridge Mall. An Eastview Mall store followed in Victor four years later. But the downtown flagship store continued to be the biggest money-maker and the focus for company officials. Miss America, Pamela Eldred, visited in 1970. Actress Eva Gabor showed up in 1975 to promote her wig line. McCurdy's offered a "Blue Blazer Spit 'n' Polish Course in Manliness and Manners for Boys" in 1971. "The basic idea is to demonstrate to boys in their formative years that there is nothing sissy about being well-mannered; that most real he-men are gentlemen," an advertisement for the event stated. Buy Photo In 1986, this was part of the $5 million renovation at the Midtown McCurdy’s: a new bakery and customer service counter. (Photo: File photo 1986) McCurdy's instituted a "Teen Board" to advise store officials about youth trends. The Midtown store went through a $5 million renovation in the mid-1980s. Mitch Broder described his visit to McCurdy's second-floor Garden Room restaurant in a 1987 Democrat and Chronicle story. "Very often — for reasons that are not completely clear — it is practically filled with potential replacements for the TV cast of The Golden Girls," Broder wrote. "They are many of them little, they are most of them old, and they are just about all of them ladies. Some are in their 60s, some are in their 90s, but most are in their 70s and 80s." The women came for the food, the atmosphere and the "excitement" of downtown, he wrote. Buy Photo Louise Lane serves Maureen O’Callahan, right, and Kay Stevens in the Garden Room on the second floor of McCurdy’s Midtown Plaza store. (Photo: File photo 1987) Much ballyhooed was the skyway built in 1989 to finally link McCurdy's to Sibley's. The pedestrian bridge, designed to keep downtown shoppers warm and dry during Rochester's brutal winters, was first discussed shortly after Midtown opened. The department store titans squabbled about it for more than 20 years before finally agreeing. Todd Lighty wrote in a 1988 Democrat and Chronicle story, "The Hatfields and McCoys of downtown retailing have decided to bridge their differences." Problems were just on the horizon. Sibley's closed in 1990 and McCurdy's followed suit in 1994. Tough economic times and a decline in downtown shoppers were blamed. Deborah Fineblum Raub covered a going-out-of-business sale at McCurdy's in a September 1994 Democrat and Chronicle story. "The ambiance is more like that of an old-fashioned wake, as shoppers send out the old institution in style — by buying," she wrote. It was a fitting end to a beloved institution that left quite an impression on Rochester during its 93 years in business. The May Co., which had purchased Sibley's, also bought McCurdy's. After lengthy proceedings in federal court about anti-trust issues, May divested its holdings in McCurdy's to Bon Ton, a Pennsylvania-based competitor. McCurdy's original building dates from 1901, and was expanded in 1913, 1923, and 1928. The store received a modernistic make-over in the  1960s with the opening of the Midtown Plaza shopping center, to which it was directly connected. McCurdy & Co. (1901) Main Street Rochester, New York MIDTOWN PLAZA STORE DIRECTORY First Floor Fine Jewelry • Costume Jewelry • Handbags • Small Leather Goods • Gloves • Scarves • Fashion Accessories • Blouses • Sweaters • Midtowner Sportswear • Place First • Midtowner Shoes • Lingerie • Loungewear • Robes • Foundations • Cosmetics • Notions • Stationery • Candy • 'Gate 1' Luggage McCurdy's Men's Shops Men's Accessories • Men's Furnishings • Men's Sportswear • Men's Shoes • Men's Hats • Men's Clothing • Contemporary Man • Young Men's Shop Second Floor Garden Room Restaurant • Oak Room Grill • The Jet Terrace • Beauty Salon • Midtowner Dresses • Women's Dresses • Women's Sportwear • Plaza Dresses • Plaza Sportswear • Better Dresses • Better Sportswear • Midtowner Coats • Plaza Coats • Better Coats • Fur Salon • The Image • Designer Shops • Bridal Salon • Shoe Salon • Junior Sportswear • Junior Shoes • Junior Dresses • Junior Coats Third Floor Baby Boutique • Infants's Wear • Toddlers' Wear • Children's Accessories • Children's Shoes • Boys' Wear • Girls' Wear • Teens' Wear • Young Juniors • Toys • Sporting Goods • Cameras • Books • Records • Fashion Fabrics • Art Needlework • Sewing Machines Fourth Floor Furniture • In-Vironments • Bedding • Rugs • Floor Coverings • Lamps • Art Gallery Fifth Floor China • Silver • Gifts • Glassware • Table Linens • Housewares • Small Appliances • Major Appliances • Garden Shop • Hardware • Televisions • Stereos • Linens • Bath Shop Sixth Floor Offices • Cash Office • Credit Office • Travel Service • Personnel Office BRANCH STORES Northgate Dewey Avenue Greece Geneva (1957) Town & Country Plaza Long Ridge Mall (1970) Ridge Road Greece Eastview (1973) 140, 000 sq. ft. Original Article Lower Level Gift Shop • Linen Shop • Gourmet Street Floor Fine Jewelry • Fashion Jewelry • Handbag Collections • Gloves • Accessory Collections • Sportswear One  • Stocking Collections • Cosmetics • Hat Bar • Stationery • Men's Shop • Luggage Second Floor Sports Shop • Coats • Suits • Dresses • Designer Salon • Designer's Spare Parts • The Gallery • Fur Salon • Bridal Salon • SHoe Salon • Intimate Apparel • Loungewear • Shape Salon • Junior Lingerie •  Third Floor Young World • Miss Forman, Jr. • Look Shop • Third Floor Dresses • Women's Shop • Gala "3" •  Fourth Floor Auditorium • FAO Schwarz Toy Bazaar • Executive Offices Culver-Ridge Plaza March 5, 1957 Pittsford Plaza March 10, 1968 Long Ridge Mall 1971 Irondequoit Perinton It perhaps doesn't evoke the same nostalgia as Sibley's or McCurdy's, but Edwards & Son was just as a big a player in downtown Rochester's department-store scene for decades. Edwards opened on East Main Street, near the corner of St. Paul Street, in 1905. The store expanded into an eight-floor, 500,000-square-foot marketplace giant that dominated the block before it closed in 1972. Like RocRoots: On Facebook There was a restaurant called "The Green Room," a sixth-floor golf school, and a paint school, dubbed the city's first when it opened in 1946 and called "something new for Rochester housewives." The architect behind the retail bonanza was Daniel M. Edwards, grandson of the company founder. His grandfather started the business in 1832 with a store in Johnstown, Fulton County. The grandson grew the company into a powerhouse, with stores in Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo. When Daniel M. Edwards died in 1927, a news obituary included excerpts fromAmerican Magazine that called him "the most important individual retail merchant between Fifth Avenue and the Loop in Chicago." Edwards was wheelchair-bound after he fell into an elevator shaft while leaving his Syracuse store. A 1935 news story mentioned that his condition thwarted Edwards' plans to expand his retail empire from Albany to Detroit. The Rochester store was the biggest. It wasn't as swanky as its contemporaries, but was just as popular, said Eugene Fram, a retired marketing professor from Rochester Institute of Technology and a noted retail expert. "When I arrived in Rochester in 1957, three department stores dominated the retail scene — Sibley's, McCurdy's and Edwards," Fram said via email from California, where he now lives. "Both Sibley's and McCurdy's were considered upscale. Edwards was seen as a more popular price operation, with a full range of services, (including) charge accounts and home delivery." Buy Photo The china department at Edwards & Son, a former downtown shopping giant. (Photo: File photo 1972) Edwards capitalized on the egalitarian approach. A 1941 advertisement called Edwards "Rochester's Largest Popular Priced Store." The store had a "teen board" whose female members advised officials on the latest fashion trends. Each year, one of the girls won a trip to New York City. The Boys Edwaco Club was established in 1945, with monthly meetings that included events for boys like hobby shows, magician acts and ping pong. Easter events for children were held in a sixth-floor auditorium. An employee-recognition program, called the "25-Year Club," was regularly covered in the news. So, too, was Women's Day, which Edwards called "Rochester's greatest one-day sale." Traditional roles were reversed for the annual event, which started in 1936. "Women clerks run Edwards store for a day," a 1940 account reported. "Male executives get out of office chairs and go behind counters to wait on customers."Remember, this was 1940. Edwards introduced new services with much fanfare in full-page announcements. A 1947 ad touted "the opening of America's newest, most modern, streamlined escalators." A machine that counts paper money, called a "Tickometer" and said to be the first of its kind in Rochester, arrived in 1951. The "Edwards Charga-Plate Account" was rolled out in 1953, and air conditioning was added in 1956. Edwards opened stores in Ridgemont Plaza in Greece in 1960 and Pittsford Plaza in 1961. But tough times were on the horizon; Edwards closed its downtown Rochester store in 1972, after losing money for years. Shoppers nationwide were in the midst of abandoning downtown retailers for the free parking and easy access of the suburbs. City centers were being torn up in the name of urban development. A 1972 news story of the closing noted plenty of bargain hunters and a good deal of tears. "Edwards is the first major downtown department store to close in the current spate of redevelopment," the story said. The problems went beyond the downtown location. Edwards' Greece and Pittsford stores closed a year or so later. The huge downtown building was purchased by Urban Development Corporation, a state agency. The search for a new tenant lasted for years. The city reopened the building in 1978 as The Mill, a more eclectic shopping center, but The Mill folded two years later after losing more than $1 million. It wasn't long before Sibley's and McCurdy's also closed their downtown stores. It was the end of an era — a time when downtown retail giants, including Edwards, ruled the roost. Article Link: Democrat & Chronicle