chas a . stevens
chas. a. stevens & company (chicago, ill .) archives .
stevens operates 20 stevens stores in the chicago area as well as 5 chas stores, scaled - down versions of the larger stores, and 3 chas. a. stevens petites stores. in addition, it has a chas store in philadelphia .
chas. a. stevens store records, part 1 [ manuscript ], 1890 - 1959 .
related materials at chicago history museum, research center, include charles a. stevens and company photograph collection (1989. 0283); the chas. a. stevens & bros. photograph collection (2002. 0225); the chas. a. stevens store records, part 2; and the ernest j. stevens papers .
but, whatever happened to the queen of them all: chas. a. stevens? now, that was a store worth remembering .
stevens began in 1886 as chas. a. stevens & bros. in dec. 1932, charles a. stevens died. beginning in 1933, the store was called chas. a. stevens & co. eventually it included a main store on state street in chicago plus other city and suburban stores. during the 1940s - 1960s, it was a fashion leader in women' s clothing in chicago. stevens stores were sold and eventually liquidated in 1988 .
the east side of state street from randolph to madison, with (left to right) the columbus memorial building, chas. a. stevens, and wieboldt’s .
gift of chas. a. stevens stores (1989. 0283) and gift of jeanne cameron in memory of anson w. anson (1990. 0759. 1) .
chas. a. stevens co. , which operates 28 women 's apparel stores in the chicago area, filed for bankruptcy reorganization wednesday with $ 22. 5 million in trade debts .
the east side of state street from randolph to madison, with (left to right) the long - gone columbus memorial building, chas. a. stevens, and wieboldt' s .
charles a. stevens & bros. to begin erection of 22 story structure at once .
the building is nineteen stories in height and the entire first seven floors, together with three basements, are occupied by chas. a. stevens & bros. the floors above the seventh are occupied principally by women’s clubs, specialty shops and business lines catering to women’s trade .
edmondson, who joined stevens as executive vice president and general merchandise manager in 1982, resigned earlier this month to pursue the leveraged buyout of the chain. he had been president of stevens since 1984 .
` 'stevens is doing okay, and it 'll do better operated in a more entrepreneurial way, '` crocker said in a telephone interview .
records for chas. a. stevens department store (chicago, ill .) include company charter, minutes, notes for talks and lectures and misc. items, 1865 - 1979. also included are the records of the american silk company that include their operating license and company minutes, 1902 - 1910. collection includes oversize photocopies of clippings, many from a 1931 - 1932 scrapbook, about the stevens stores and other retailers of women' s clothing in the chicago area .
some retail sources speculate that stevens 'biggest asset is the long - term leases it holds in many of the chicago area 's most - desirable shopping centers. stevens stores range in size from 20, 000 to 25, 000 square feet .
stevens filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization here, citing some $ 3. 1 million in debts to its 20 largest creditors .
sales at stevens were estimated at $ 70 million in 1985, virtually unchanged from 1984, with profits of less than $ 1 million .
crocker said the chain would continue to operate all 26 stores under the charles a. stevens name, with no changes in management. edmondson will continue as president, he said .
an aggressive national expansion program, developed in 1987, was scrapped for the remerchandising program when cash flow began to be a problem last fall, said a former stevens executive. when you 're trying to conserve cash ,
the stevens building is located at nos. 17 - 25 north state street, between madison and washington streets, and extends through to wabash avenue, having a frontage on both streets .
founded in 1886, stevens was the first store in the country to sell ready - made silk blouses and lingerie. in the 1960s, the retailer was the first in chicago to devote a floor to junior fashions, and boasts that '` many of today 's women can recall buying their first mini - skirt at stevens. '`
in the 1986 leveraged buyout, edmondson and fellow investors borrowed against the company 's worth to buy it from hartmarx, saddling stevens with heavy debts .
charles a. stevens, the 26 - store women 's specialty retailer, has been sold by hartmarx corp. to a group of investors headed by the chain 's president, john h. edmondson, the tribune learned thursday .
in addition, the company owes $ 19. 4 million to smaller trade and general creditors, said bill mcmahon, a manager in the chicago office of buccino & associates inc. , a financial consulting firm working with stevens on the reorganization .
stevens holds an 11 percent share of the chicago market (women who have shopped in the last 12 months), according to a shopper 's survey conducted for the most recent chicago tribune retail strategies survey .
current owners of stevens, through cas holding co. , are general electric investment co. , 40. 8 percent; mckinley financial group, 13. 4 percent ;
lincoln village had a wieboldt' s and a polk brothers store davidsins bakery. other stores .
charles a. stevens & bros. will begin at once the erection of a twenty - two story mercantile structure on the site of their present store at 17 - 25 north state street, extending from mandel bros new store to the columbus memorial building, through to wabash avenue .
seigs was too small. they may be talking about lords in evanston. evanston was a mecca then branson' s rothchilds wieboldt' s fields baskins lords lyttons stevens sears small store wards catalog store kroc and brentanos woolworth kyesge neisners etc .
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the financial package was arranged by the mckinley financial group, which is headed by douglas crocker. crocker said the chicago investment house, which is trying to diversify its predominantly real estate portfolio, has been working on the stevens deal since november .
a friend of mine just bought a clock that was supposed to have hung outside of weiboldts state st. does anyone know if and when that clock was sold? how about a picture? thank you
i am not aware if the downtown store had a grocery in the basement; i do know that it did have a budget store on the lower level. though i visited the store a number of times, i don' t recall, nor do i have any evidence of a supermarket there. perhaps a chicagoan could clarify. bak
unlike full - line retailers such as marshall field & co. and carson pirie scott & co. , which also sell home furnishings as well as men 's and children 's wear in all price ranges, stevens sells only higher - priced women 's apparel .
did @ kelly _ clarkson have a stroke? what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger... but it might give you a droopy right eye .
six stories and basement store. the basement and the first six stories above ground will be occupied in their entirety by the business of charles a. stevens & bros, while the remaining twelve upper stories, each containing more than 10, 000 square feet net rentable space, will be given over to the specialty shops, which will be reached by ten modern high speed elevators .
in an effort to boost its market share, which had declined about 4 percentage points since 1984, stevens radically remerchandised its stores this spring to appeal to career women interested in better and upper - priced clothing. all 20 of its larger chicago area stores were closed for two days in march to make the switch .
my friends and i loved that store [ so did my mother and her friends ]. seemed steven' s always came through when i was in a pinch. a high school dance? they would inevitably have the perfect dress. a new pair of shoes for easter? great selection and a beautiful shoe salon. gift for mom' s birthday? you could find a bottle of a favorite perfume at an affordable price. it was a store beyond compare and if it were still here in la grange today, oakbrook would see lots less traffic, that' s for sure .
the building will be nineteen stories above ground and three below, and will occupy 20, 000 square feet of ground, whieh, on the basis of a value of $ 250 a square foot, represents a total value of $ 5, 000, 000 .
a unique feature will be a spacious arcade, “style alley, ” extending through the entire block, with attractive show windows on side for the exclusive use of the shops above .
are you familiar with a candy that they made called
rose jellies
. my mother and i thought they were such a wonderful treat! i would love to know if i can buy them somewhere or is there a recipe book in the museum? oh please !
the hip wiebolt' s also had a section to buy cub scout uniforms and accessories .
my grandmother worked at a weiboldt' s off broadway, between lawrence ave. and wilson .
` 'we 've been hindered by the merchandise produced by the fashion industry, '` said john edmondson, stevens president and leader of the leveraged buyout that purchased the company from hartmarx corp. for $ 20 million in 1986. '` the company isn 't insolvent, but it is not able to meet its current obligations, '` he said .
i' m looking for a historical photo of the lakeview wieboldt' s dept store. any chance you could tell me where i could order a print or drawing of the building? thanks !
the store closings cost stevens $ 400, 000 on top of $ 10 million in new merchandise; more than $ 500, 000 in writedowns on the old goods; and $ 1. 55 million on research, media and fixtures, said edmondson. those figures come atop the $ 5 million spent on store renovation and the $ 2. 5 budgeted for renovations this year .
i never remember a grocery store at the hip wieboldts or randhurst. . wish this site had some decent photos
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wieboldt' s at lincoln and belmont was a wonderful store... it was a great part of my childhood. my mom and brothers and sisters and grandma would go down when they had their side walk sale usually in june or july. i then worked there as a teenager in high school... some great memories .
the meadowdale wieboldt' s was the best, and it was where my mom brought me to see santa. there were two outside displays and every christmas there would be a scene in one and santa in the other. great memories in the 60' s. my dad had a part - time job there clearing out the cash registers after closing and he brought me a couple of times. i had the run of the store, what a dream - come - true !
there was a hillman' s in the basement. used to go there with my grandmother in the 60' s .
i still have a $ 10. 00 gift certificate from wieboldt' s. my mom gave it to me years ago. she received it as a gift from a lady she worked with in montgomery wards keypunch. each time i come across it in the old file i can never quite toss it, like today. this time i decided to google wieboldt' s
i found a
wom pum
coin in my old bungalow. anyone know what this is or how old it is ?
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the decline in sales for retailers and manufacturers has been precipitous since last summer, according to a recent report by goldman, sachs & co. , a leading wall street investment firm. the industry ignored the fact that the population is aging, it charged .
retail sources estimated that edmondson 's group paid close to $ 20 million in a leveraged buyout of the marginally profitable chicago operation .
who was hillmen' s grogery store own by. and what was the name of the grocery store in the basemant of sears at 63rd and halsted, could it have been hillmen' s. wieboldt' s at 63rd and green had a hillmen' s in the basement which was only a block away from sears, two grocery store' s with the same name only a block away .
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i was lucky to buy 1 of the ribbon bow machines from the gift wrapping dept. still works great! mary from gift wrapping taught me how to use it! ! another great memory are the movie they filmed at the store after hours. cant remember the movies but i do remember how they would come in and change the 1st floor elevator into a bank teller window. or the fashion shows the vendors would do for the upcoming fashion season. oh my the toy dept was wonderful too thanks for this website. it brings back such great memories. you are right - service at that time was service. very different nowadays. does anyone remember the fabulous antique button store in the upper floor of the stevens building. spent many a lunch time in there! !! !
yes there was a wieboldts at stratford square mall in bloomingdale. bought a christmas tree their. suddenly all the merchandise was disappearing. i knew something was wrong. they never gave me their credit card until they were gonna go out of business. used it once .
my father was president of weibolts in the 1955 - 1965. i remember doing the grocery shopping for my mother in the oak park store. i remember shopping in the store and getting a discount. my family had a wonderful life in chicago because of weibolts. monica
i worked at the milwaukee ave store when i was in high school 1971 - - and thru college and it was a second job after college... after they closed the milwaukee ave store i was transferred to the state street store... .. that was a very fun time in my life i worked stock and on the docks and distributing the goods to the various dept' s... . i remember that in the beginning of each year we would have to do inventory and that was a big job to do over the weekend esp at the state street store, working thru the night. but that was a nice check for a high school / college job... also there was a grocery store in the milwaukee ave store off paulina entrance, i want to say it was named hillmen' s? ?
a feature of the building is the main floor arcade running through from state street to wabash avenue, making a covered thoroughfare through the center of the busiest block in chicago. this arcade is lined on both sides by show windows, which are used by the occupants of the shops .
the suburban stores apparently all had supermarkets in the late 1950s (source: billboard, 1958). did the downtown flagship have a supermarket ?
ernst johann lehmann was the founder of the fair department store in downtown chicago. the store was eventually purchased by montgomery ward, which gave that chicago - based chain store an outlet on state street. before that, it was a part (since 1925) of the kresge chain of department stores which had affiliates in newark, nj and washington, dc. (note that these were complete department stores, not the kresge' s many of us remember. i plan to add the fair to the exhibits in the department store museum when i can. if you have any access to the historical chicago tribune, such as through proquest historical newspapers from your library, you can do a search and learn a lot more. or, a simple google search for
e. j. lehmann
will turn up a great deal of information. the fair store was a famous piece of chicago - style commercial architecture, which was first brutalized with a new front in the 1960s, and finally demolished, only to be replaced with something which can only be described as a detriment to state street. i am sure it was
the fair
your mom talked about. bruce
how sad. and yet how wonderful that we had our beloved steven' s right here in la grange, if only for a little while .
the evanston store was at the northeast corner of oak street and church street. they had a parking lot / garage on the west side of oak street
i know i' m in slightly the wrong place but my lateral thinking isn' t at best just now and anyway someone out there might just know the answer to my question. in the 1960s (and before) (and for a while after) there was a sheet music / record store on wabash avenue where one could go to listen to records in booths. anyone know the name of it? it was a famous chicago music publisher i think .
i worked at the evanston store in the summer of l955 when i was 15. during the week i worked in the men' s department for a manager named mr. maybee. on fridays and saturdays he would have me work in one of the square counter arrangements they would set up going all up and down the main aisles. there was a grocery store, and they would put out sausage, deli meats and cheeses in one of the squares and give me a scale and a knife for slicing. taking the bus home on those hot summer days i reeked of garlic, other spices from the various sausages and meats. even my hair would have those fragrances. there were many nice people working there. they had a great yard goods department on an upper floor, and i used my discount to buy some lovely fabrics from which my mom made my school clothes for the next school year. i remember a girl named mimi swanson who told me about a new singer she was nuts about... ...... . elvis presley... ...... . that was the first time i heard of him. i remember two boys who worked in the grocery store bob and bert... ...... they flirted with all of us girls, and it was just a very special, fun time in a beautiful store .
does anyone remember the hot fudge sundaes in the travertine room? the hot fudge sauce was served in a silver pitcher to keep it hot. what luxury !
i was a member of wieboldt’s “youth board”, back in 1975. this was at the hip, and was run by a fabulous woman named romi reingruber. i also worked at that same store in 1976, when i turned 16. i worked in the card department. we also sold pet rocks (remember those ?) and some of the very first calculators. whenever anybody sold a calculator (they were very expensive at that time), we’d celebrate! ! !
@ anita, the lincoln village wieboldt' s was a small soft - goods only store which was originally mandel bros. that wieboldt' s bought in 1960 along with their state street flagship. i' ve seen in their ads in the chicago tribune that the state street wieboldt' s did not have a grocery department .
my first job was at the wieboldt' s store at the hip. i worked on the 3rd floor in the s & h department. what a great memory !
during the early 1950' s they sponsored a radio program called the cinnamon bear at christmas time. the cinnamon bear appeared in their stores and gave out coloring books .
i thought there was a wieboldt' s at stratford square mall in the late 70s or early 1980s. wikipedia (faint ammunition) seems to back me up on this .
i worked at the evanston wieboldt' s store in my sophmore year (1967) in the first - floor stationery department and later graduated to the records / books department. it was the first job for a whole after - school busload of girls from st. scholastica high school on ridge blvd. in chicago. we infiltrated all the departments and felt so very grown - up. there was a restaurant on the first floor, next to the cigarette / cigar counter near the entrance. cigarettes and cokes on our break! wieboldt' s had a great employee benefit called ed paid. you received a non - immediate 20% off every purchase (even candy from the candy counter). the ed paid receipts would go the the head cashier at the end of the night. the weekly 20% discount would be tallied and given to you in a cash envelope on saturday, along with a paycheck in cash money. we girls just naturally spent our pay and ed paid money back into wieboldt' s. ingenious on their part !
i met my husband at lakeview wieboldt' s. i worked across the street at lakeview bank and one day i strolled through wieboldts on my lunch break and, there he was behind the jewelry counter. that was almost 30 years ago. wieboldt' s was such a wonderful store, it was a very sad day for me when they closed !
i found a wiebolts gift box in my mothers old home 20 1 / 2 x 13 it is still folded flat and never used. great condition. is it worth anything ?
i' m trying to find contact information for a former employee from the 70' s in chicago. romi reingruber. not exactly sure if the spelling is correct. she would be aprx. in her mid 80' s by now. if anyone might have a contact or have any clues, they would be greatly appreciated! ! i' ve spent hours trying to use the internet, but i have such limited information to start with i' m at a loss. any help is appreciated! ! thank you! grantdrager @ urltoken
my parents would buy my sister' s and i a treat that was sold here and later at marshall field' s. it was found in the candy department. it was not chocolate or hard. it was crunchy and almost similar to a rice krispies treat, but not. last time i tasted one was over 30 years ago. when wieboldt' s went out of business, my dad would buy the treat in a box. the box was about 1. 5
thick and about 1' ×1'. the top was yellow with a man on it making the treat. the bottom was white. i don' t recall the name of the company or the name of the treat. can anyone help me
my name is james j. wieboldt. i once visited the store and had lunch there. i had a
wieboldt' s open faced sandwich
which was great. i paid for it with my wieboldt' s credit card. the cashier could not believe it and i had to show her my drivers license. i also bought clothing with the wieboldt' s label. my son' s name is william a. wieboldt - same as the founder of this store. it is realy something to see your name up on a store like that .
i enjoyed reading all the comments. today i had a consignor bring in a box of silk scarves from marshall fields and wiebolts. i immediately called my mom, who used to work at carson' s, to ask if she remembered wiebolts. of course she told me that they had just gone out of business 5 or 6 years ago. lol apparently, you could buy a silk scarf for 19 cents back in the day. some of the larger scarves from marshall fields were $ 2. 75 similar style from wiebolts were $ 2. 00 .
a few posts back someone asked about a department store in evanston owned by
two jewish brothers
. i recall selig brothers, a menswear shop on the 1700 block of sherman avenue in the 50' s and 60' s. i am happy to find this blog. i was general manager for bramson inc. and worked in the evanston, oak park, woodfield, and michigan avenue stores from my high school days in 1966 through their eventual closing in 1977. i have collected ads, catalogs and other bramson memorabilia over the years. mike warmington, now in sea bright, nj
does anyone remember the store at jefferson square mall in joliet, il. my mom worked there when i was a kid. i trying to research that particular store... to no avail .
like many others on this blog, i also had my first job at weibolt' s when i was a young teen - ager. i worked at the evanston store. it was a holiday job, and my one claim to fame was ringing up a $ 101 sale when the total actually should have been $ 100. i keyed in one of the prices incorrectly (this was back in the days before scanners). that brought out my direct boss, the department manager, the floor manager and even one of the top managers down to take a look while they figured out how to correct that measly one dollar mistake. talk about feeling as though i wanted to sink through the floor! otherwise, i shopped their often, collected my s & h green stamps and even redeemed them for stuff .
wonderful memories, i worked at the state st store the last five years befor they closed. i met a lot of great people there, i started as a clerk in the buyers office on the 10th. floor and was promoted after one year to assistant buyer for bed linens. i was wondering if you ever heard of a
lehman
department store in the chicago, il downtown area. i believe it would hae been there in the 1920 - 1930' s. i' m not sure, my mother told me she went downtown to
lehmans department store to pay a bill for my grandmother and the clerk asked her if she was related to the
lehman
owners of the store. my mother said no. . the name could also be spelled with (2) n' s !
born in 1958 into an american family with deep polish roots, i was encouraged at an early age to take education wherever i could get it. i was taken across the country as a child, by my first - generation american parents, to see the wonders of our continent, and several world' s fairs which my parents felt would be educational and fun for our family. all of these things have affected my life in so many ways since then. i achieved a couple of degrees in architecture, and attained licensure in 1990. my specialty in the field is creative design, for which i have received a number of awards and accolades. i am happily married for the second time. i experienced the sadness and pain of being a widower after my first wife passed away suddenly in 1996. i would not be telling the truth if i did not mention how central my roman catholic faith was in negotiating such a difficult time. it still is, in fact. i work for fieldstone a & e and, my free time is spent, learning, researching, writing, cooking, traveling, taking photographs, ballroom dancing, and enjoying my relationship with my wife and family with whom i am extraordinarily close .
edmondson couldn 't be reached for comment, and hartmarx declined to say anything until later in the day. crocker said a '` short, curt '` news release would be released later thursday .
of all the stores that are now gone this was my absolute favorite. i bought the most beautiful clothes there when i was a young woman. and they had
lay - away
!! !
i do remember a wieboldt' s in park forest plaza. am i correct? somewhat later it was demolished about 1972. a resturant named the
pickle jar
was at the east end of the building. it had been adjoined next to the
plaza grill
kiddy - corner to the main clock tower which also is no longer there. . could somebody help me out with my memory of this ?
the ford city store had a grocery when i worked there 1968, they would hold my groceries in the cooler until i got off work. i did the wigs and hairpieces there and at harlem and irving .
i never heard of wieboldt until i found an old war - time newsletter wieboldt window vol. xxvi no 8 chicago, ill. ma, 1948 in a box i bought at an estate sale. interesting .
i remember the wieboldts at the hip quite well. s & h green stamps redemption was on the 2nd floor at the north end, and you could walk thru the store, out to the south end onto a parking lot which was above all of the stores in that part of the plaza. the ramp up and down was a little scary, especially when we drove those big land barges in the 60s and 70s !
` 'they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, '` said a leading chicago retail executive. '` everybody 's really been hurt, but they had no where to turn. '`
i remember my mother buying my long length winter coat at gilmore' s in oak park back in the day. i loved that coat! funny how you remember certain clothes when you had when you were a kid... i remember the wieboldt' s in yorktowne and they had a very high quality of clothing back in those days. as many of the department stores did back them. not like the garbage you get now .
i' m sure the wieboldt' s store in evanston, illinois was there long past 1950. we didn' t move to evanston until 1950 and i used to go there on the bus when i was a teenager !
anonymous commented above about not remembering a grocery store at the hip wieboldt' s. yes, it most definitely did have a grocery store, on the first floor, towards the north end of the building. regarding randhurst, the mall had three anchors when it opened - carson' s, wieboldt' s and montgomery ward' s. when wieboldt' s closed, carson' s moved from their original location to the wieboldt' s store .
i grew up in chicago and lived there from my birth in 1946 until 2008 and am most familiar with the wieboldt' s stores in downtown chicago and in lakeview at school street, ashland and lincoln avenues north of belmont which was walking distance from where we lived. the lakeview store had a grocery department including fresh produce which faced onto lincoln ave. at the south end of the store. i don' t remember a grocery in the downtown store .
the on - line museum of north america' s independent department stores. the museum holds all sorts of information about classic department stores which either no longer exist, or are changed beyond recognition. a few of them are still with us, and provide an interesting connection to north america' s retail past. the others are presented so that they may be properly remembered as a tangible part of the lives of their customers, shopping destinations where memories were often made .
bruce, i think that wabash music store was the famous lyon and healy' s who crafted and sold orchestral harps among other things. but more to the point, as a child i went downtown with my mom to buy clothes at mandel bros, where my grandmother worked in boys clothing (i know, i know... it' s like the hunter on safari who one night shot a lion in his pajamas .) then we' d all go for lunch at field' s or carson' s. years later, while in college, i worked for wieboldt' s in the same building on state street as an elevator operator and, later, the starter. those were real operator - elevators with dead - man switch controls, fold - down seats and no inner doors or gates on the cars. one time, the story goes, a small boy fell forward, slipped between the elevator and the outer door and fell to the bottom of the shaft. he survived with minor injuries - a very lucky boy. that was before my time, and my grandmother is not around to confirm or deny. i' m not sure what business (es) occupy the building today but, at a time when field' s is macy' s and carson pirie scott is a target, of all things, i feel like it doesn' t really matter that much .
apparel sales around the country have been in a tailspin since last summer as consumers resisted what many called clothing 's '` sameness, '` price increases of up to 20 percent on many designer labels and the mini - skirt .
we lived in palatine in the 70' s and i remember the
wonderful
cream puffs they made in their bakery at randhurst. does anyone have a clue how i can find the recipe? carol in harrisburg pa csb1941 @ urltoken
i worked at the wieboldts store at 1 n. state street in chicago back in 1983 - 1984. it was a great experience, my first job that i got on my own without my dad' s assistance! i was happy to be part of the last of the glory days of state street! i started in the bargain basement where pants were 1. 97 a pair, and then moved up to the wabash ave side in the men' s department selling lee, levi' s and dungaree pants. christmas was still magical back then and most stores didn' t unveil their windows until the day after thanksgiving! - that' s a long lost tradition! we had a decent toy department, although it was waning from the heydays of the 30' s through the 60' s. people' s tastes changed... . the candy department in the middle of the second floor was still decent, and they did have great prices! alas, all good things come to a bungled end... . how come this store could survive the depression, but not the stupid 1980' s? bad management should have been fired and the store could have survived! james m .
it will be one of the most modern business structures in chicago and it will be unique in that it also will become the home of a large number of retail shops, designed to give every advantage in the way of exclusive and attractive surroundings .
i too worked at the evanston store in the late 1960' s as a evanston high school student. the store manager' s name was george burns and his assistant store manager was robert
bob
toehnies. the earlier posts about this fabulous store are all true and bring a smile to my face. there was a nice mixture of elder salespeople and students from several area high schools that would work part - time evenings and weekends. we wore suit and ties and learned the world of retail commerce. the 20% discount was handy for buying clothes, and they carried good brands. they had and sold most everything from groceries to having an optometrist in one of the
licensed
. departments. many of us got to be good friends and socialized on our own time .
chocolate, dark chocolate with thick raspberry syrup in the middle. my mom was a checker - cashier at the wieboldt' s store at milwaukee and paulina. in those days (1950' s) most ladies did not drive. she would walk about 6 blocks to work with me in tow. i used to stay at my aunt genevieve' s house right on ashland ave. less than a block away from wieboldt' s. my mom would pick me up after work and had either a lemon merengue pie or some scrumptious dark chocolate candies that were filled with a thick raspberry syrup. i' ve looked and tried candies from many places but have never been able to find anything that tasted that good. ah, memories are our secret treasures... we can' t go back, but we can remember... the good ole days. if anyone remembers the name of those candies, or better yet, where i can get them, i would be forever grateful. the candy counter was just outside the grocery department .
no worries... is the shop you are speaking of rose records? i used to buy classical music there when visiting chicago; they had a good selection on an upper floor, as well as one of my favorites, gramophone magazine from the uk. bruce
hello, my mother recently passed away and in cleaning out her house i found a river city bowl in a wieboldt' s box. having never heard of it, i looked it up and found this site. if anyone would like to have it, it is 9 1 / 2 inch square and in very nice condition. i don' t know if it has any value, but before i dispose of it, i thought i would ask. if you are interested, you can reach me at lindash2317 @ yahoo. com .
i have a picture of my mother cutting the grand opening ribbon of the harlem and irving store when she was about 7 y. o. she was the daughter of williams brother elmer wieboldt. that is about all i know. the family was not close as i remember .
like most commentors i got my first job as a stock boy at the
downtown
store
, 1 no. sate st. , in 1962, taking the
l
and getting off at the
state st. station
located at the basement door of weiboldt' s. i started during my sophomore of h. s in the shipping and receiving department on the 13th floor under the supervision of mr. thomas. he was a wonderful guy and took in many youngsters giving them a positive start in the work field. i have nothing but fond memories of gaining my financial independence for $ 1. 25 an hr. it enabled me to buy my first car and i' ve been making car payments ever since, thanks, mr. thomas. (i really mean that, thanks mr. thomas wherever you are )
i was on the junior fashion board of models at ford city back in 1973. it was a treat to go to the finishing school there, and do modeling for the stores. does anyone reading this blog remember who ran the board at that time? i would love to remember .
recently, however, it has concentrated on selling apparel and accessories to working women, a move seen as critical in differentiating it from department stores like marshall field & co. and carson pirie scott & co. , as well as from specialty retailers like lord & taylor and neiman - marcus .
hi baker' s daughter! i loved your father' s marble pound cake. i shopped at the weiboldts on milwaukee ave in the 60' s with my mother. i was a little girl i remember going there and the pound cake was sold by the pound and it was cut from large loaves. i remember the man cutting the loaf, he had dark hair and wore white shirt and pants. would love the recipe if you are so inclined and would gladly pay for the copy. one of my favorite childhood treats. you grew up in a great baker' s family !
what exactly happened to bring down wieboldt' s? i remember it vaguely from my childhood; it seemed to just fade away and leave a lot of stores sitting empty for years. somebody on another site claimed that the acquisition of the mandel bros. store broke them financially; is that true ?
we' ll be out of town for our 7 / 23 purple carrot delivery (vegan menu fox). three dinners for four people. they' ll let us redirect to a different address. want to try it out? the 7 / 23 box includes: 1. cherry ...
now, for the old timers who worked at mandel brothers, i worked as a stock boy, in 1955 at the age of 15. the best thing was the christmas window at the corner of state and madison. how we loved walking state st. just viewing the windows. those were the days
i thought that there was a department store owned by two jewish brothers in evanston; i cannot recall the name; if anyone could help me remember, i would appreciate it. roger plafkin plafkin farms - view on urltoken and urltoken 2150 buttrick ada, michigan 49301 1 - 616 - 676 - 0590 plafkin @ urltoken
i sure loved the river forest, il wieboldt' s christmas windows back in the 1950' s & 1960' s. in 1978 when i got married i purchased 3 sets of percale sheets from them. the top sheets & pillowcases are still in great shape. wish things would last that long now a days .
would anyone know where i can get information about a w south side wiebolt' s robbery, sometime between late 1936 and 1938... my grandfather was involved and shot and killed for his trouble. . i have heard many variations on this story over the years and would like to know the real story. .
how come this store could survive the depression, but not the stupid 1980' s ?
james, they did not have the corporate raiders back then. but i remember that store at harlem iriving plaza (the hip). when i was growing up my family and i went there a lot. i also remember the state street store. after awhile, the hip became an indoor mall. the store is now a carson pirie scott. wiebold' ts went out of business when i was about 18 or 19 y / o. around 1985 or so, wieboldt' s began selling junk merchandise that you would then find at kmart. then they closed all of their stores except for yorktown, the hip, and a couple of others. they of course said it was the big reorganization. brand names came back and wieboldt' s assured us improvements were coming. but in reality they were just selling off what they had left in the warehouse. the third floor of the hip store was vacated, except for the credit office. the dupage sheriff seized the yorktown store. wieboldt' s didn' t make it to the 1987 christmas season. in fact the hip store became an outlet to sell seasonal goods. i remember a sign saying ,
we are no longer wieboldt' s
.
a friend gave me an oval sign (cream background with gold edging and television in gold lettering. the sign has 2 hooks on the top and is about 47
long and 15. 5
high. she told me it came to her through her uncle who worked at weibolts and said it came from the tv department. she did not know which location or when the sign was removed and came into his possession. it is made of wood and for some reason i look at it and think 60' s. does anyone know anything about such a sign? even better perhaps there are pictures? would appreciate any help in getting the full story. thanks
i grew up in berwyn and my mom used to take me shopping at wieboldt' s in river forest. they had a hillman' s grocery store that, if i remember correctly, was the first part of the store we entered from the parking lot. it was kitty - corner from marshall field' s on lake and harlem .
hi bak, i just found your website as i am preparing for a lecture i will be giving ,
mannequin mystique ,
on feb 12, 2012 at the university of chicago. one of the images i am using is of an ad featuring w. a. wieboldt & co from 1923. it is actually promoting window display :
colorlighted using x - ray jove reflectors, color - ray portable window flood lights & spot light for each figure
dated 1923. i am excited to find your website. i have been researching the history of mannequins since 1978. i can' t wait to study your website. thanks for your contribution in this area! marsha bentley hale
i worked at weiboldts from about 1965 until 1974 when my first child was born. i was at the state st. store and worked as a buyer of handbags and small leather goods. i would love to hear from anyone that was there during that time. i have recently been trying to get information regarding the pension plan. i know that it is being maintained by an agency that handles businesses that have gone under. does anyone know how long the vesting period was for employees? i think that i may have missed it by a year (9 instead of 10 years) but would like to find out for sure. i can be reached at bjmorphy @ aol. com .
my wife and i met at wieboldts in ford city. she worked in toys and i started in stock. we met in 1979, we were married in 1983. she worked there until our daughter was born in 1984. i stayed until they closed. i worked my last 8 year there on the dock, and was the maintenance depth supervisor until wieboldts farmed out the janitorial dept. to a private company. i have many memories of the store. we were all like a family. mr bloch, steve greenwood, douglas leach. peggy and juanita in the office. forth lewis in toys, paul harmon on the dock. does anyone have any pictures of wieboldts or any stories. ?
i don' t really remember a wiebolt' s in lincoln village because i didn' t really go there at that time, but the address you give for lincoln village is not correct. lincoln village is on lincoln avenue between peterson and devon at 6103 n lincoln ave in lincolnwood. 4041 n milwaukee ave is in chicago at milwaukee, irving park rd and cicero .
wieboldt' s did have hillman' s as a grocery store, but it also had their own bakery with items made fresh daily. my dad was the baker. the first bakery was at milwaukee and paulina until the late 60' s early 70' s. then it moved to oak park and finally ended up at state steet until mid to late seventies when it closed. he went to work at the warehouse in desplaines on wieboldt drive after the bakery closed. at state street the bakery counter was in the bargain basement and baked goods were sent down from the bake shop which was up on the 13th or 14th floors. my dad worked monday thru saturday and would bring home freshly baked coffee cakes to have with his sunday morning coffee. a special treat was the pound cake, the loaves were about 7 inches wide and about a 18 in long. they were the best, especially the marble ones! a few years after he retired, my dad became ill and had visiting nurses come in to take care and check up on him. one of the nurses, looked very familiar to him. after talking about where he worked, and the nurse worked, the two discovered they both worked at state street at the same time. she was the bakery counter girl and that' s where they knew each other from. they talked about the
old days
and it cheered my dad up! my dad worked for wielboldt' s for 46 years and retired just before things got bad.
chas a. stevens was a chicago department store . it started in 1886 as a catalog business and eventually grew to 29 locations in the chicago metropolitan area . in 1988 the chain filed for bankruptcy and liquidated . its flagship state street store was the hub of fashion during the 1940s , 50 's and 60 's in chicago . it featured six floors of exclusively women 's clothing . the top floor housed a beauty salon named the powder box , and employed more than 50 operators . the salon was noted for catering to visiting celebrities and dignitaries . window displays at the store received several awards for design and display . 
chas a. stevens was a chicago department store. it started in 1886 as a catalog business and eventually grew to 29 locations in the chicago metropolitan area. in 1988 the chain filed for bankruptcy and liquidated. its flagship state street store was the hub of fashion during the 1940s, 50's and 60's in chicago. it featured six floors of exclusively women's clothing. the top floor housed a beauty salon named the powder box, and employed more than 50 operators. the salon was noted for catering to visiting celebrities and dignitaries. window displays at the store received several awards for design and display.
chas a. stevens was a chicago department store. it started in 1886 as a catalog business and eventually grew to 29 locations in the chicago metropolitan area. in 1988 the chain filed for bankruptcy and liquidated. its flagship state street store was the hub of fashion during the 1940s, 50's and 60's in chicago. it featured six floors of exclusively women's clothing. the top floor housed a beauty salon named the powder box, and employed more than 50 operators. the salon was noted for catering to visiting celebrities and dignitaries. window displays at the store received several awards for design and display.