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283 results for: Retail and Department Stores

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Image of Exterior of Chicago Boot & Shoe Store before Great Seattle Fire, circa 1889
Photograph

Exterior of Chicago Boot & Shoe Store before Great Seattle Fire, circa 1889

This image was taken before the fire destroyed the Chicago Boot and Shoe Store, located on the northeast corner of Front Street (now First Avenue) and James Street in Pioneer Square. By the next year, proprietor John Henry Rengstorff (1860-1917) had reopened his shoe store at 707 Second Avenue, near Cherry Street. The individuals in the image are unidentified except…
ID Number:1980.7092.2
Date:Circa 1889
Image of Exterior of Westlake Pharmacy, Seattle, circa 1910
Postcard

Exterior of Westlake Pharmacy, Seattle, circa 1910

George Christian Mack (1873-1952) was born Georg Kristian Mortensen in Norway, and immigrated to the U.S. in 1893. He moved first to South Dakota, where he began work as a druggist, and by 1910 had his own pharmacy in Seattle. The image seen here is of the exterior of Mr. Mack's pharmacy, located at 1901-1903 Westlake Avenue in Seattle. Handwritten…
ID Number:1982.158.1
Date:Circa 1910
Image of Woolworth's five and ten cent store, circa 1922
Photograph

Woolworth's five and ten cent store, circa 1922

Woolworth "Five and Dime" variety stores were a common sight all over the United States. Seattle's first Woolworth store was on Second Avenue; another opened later on Pine Street.In this photo, Woolworth's windows are filled with boxes of soap powder, bolts of fabric, stacks of notebooks, rows of socks, and countless other things to lure customers inside. Webster & Stevens…
ID Number:1983.10.60
Date:Circa 1922
Image of Valley Vegetable Gardens stall at Pike Place Market, Seattle, circa 1928
Photograph

Valley Vegetable Gardens stall at Pike Place Market, Seattle, circa 1928

Before the Pike Place Market opened in 1907, King County farmers had a harder time making a steady income. They either had to sell their produce to wholesalers or travel to town to sell directly to hotels, restaurants, and residents. If no buyers were found, the fruits and vegetables were left to rot. The market gave farmers a permanent place…
ID Number:1983.10.140.3
Date:Circa 1928
Image of Buying lettuce at the Pike Place Market, January 1924
Photograph

Buying lettuce at the Pike Place Market, January 1924

Even in January, Seattle shoppers could choose from neatly-piled lettuce, brussels sprouts, potatoes, and other fresh vegetables at the Pike Place Market. The price signs looks like the ones still in use today, but the prices have changed! In this photo, a woman shops for lettuce, at 10 cents per head. The onions are 5 cents a pound, or 6…
ID Number:1983.10.140.5
Date:1924
Image of Women modeling latest MacDougall & Southwick fashions, probably in Seattle, circa 1924
Photograph

Women modeling latest MacDougall & Southwick fashions, probably in Seattle, circa 1924

In 1875 Polish immigrants Ferdinand Toklas (1845-1924) and Paul Singerman (1847-1915) opened a retail business in Seattle which soon became the city's first department store. Toklas & Singerman, also referred to for a time as The San Francisco Store, was originally located at Cherry and Front Street (later called 1st Avenue). The store moved and expanded multiple times and was…
ID Number:1983.10.372.4
Date:Circa 1924
Image of Rhodes ten-cent store, circa 1927
Photograph

Rhodes ten-cent store, circa 1927

Five-and-ten-cent variety stores were very popular in the earlier part of the twentieth century. Seattle's locally-owned five and dime was Rhodes Brothers Ten Cent Store. This photo shows the elegant facade of Rhodes Brothers' second downtown store, which occupied this space on the west side of Fourth Avenue at 318 Pike Street from 1924-1931. Since the mid-1980s, the site has…
ID Number:1983.10.506
Date:Circa 1927
Image of Frederick & Nelson department store exterior, circa 1918
Photograph

Frederick & Nelson department store exterior, circa 1918

The first Frederick & Nelson retail store opened in 1889, right after Seattle's great fire. By 1916, the company was doing so well that it built a large new store at Fifth Avenue and Pike Street, which many people thought was too far out of town. Frederick & Nelson was one of Seattle's landmark companies for over a century. It…
ID Number:1983.10.1257
Date:Circa 1918
Image of South End Public Market, Seattle, circa 1919
Photograph

South End Public Market, Seattle, circa 1919

The South End Public Market operated at Washington Street and Third Avenue South. The market's offerings included restaurants, fresh produce, fresh and cured meats, and free delivery. The horse team in the lower right are turned perpendicular to the delivery wagon they are pulling so that they don't block street traffic. Signs in image: United Shoe Repairing. M.J.B. Coffee -…
ID Number:1983.10.1376
Date:Circa 1919
Image of Customers shopping inside Co-operative Grocery Store No. 1, Seattle, circa 1918
Photograph

Customers shopping inside Co-operative Grocery Store No. 1, Seattle, circa 1918

The Co-operative Grocery was part of the South End Public Market operating at Washington Street and Third Avenue South. The union-run market's offerings included restaurants, fresh produce, fresh and cured meats, and free delivery. This photo shows men and women shopping at the grocery, with a cart full of Crescent Baking Powder in the middle, a sign explaining that "This…
ID Number:1983.10.1377
Date:Circa 1918
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