"Downtown Department Stores, and other Retail Goodies"
All Current Photos by Adam Paul, others from Ghosts Archives
with Thanks to Daniel Gibbs for Informational Assistance

In a day and age where the terms "shopping" and "mall" seem to be married, the whole concept of "Downtown Shopping" seems foreign to many people.  Today's Downtown retail environment in the traditional vicinity of Howard and Lexingtons consists primarily of discount specialty stores similar to those found within many neighborhoods.

However, there was once a time when Downtown was THE ONLY place to go shopping, when a trip into town was something special, an occasion to be savored and enjoyed (assuming you didn't get annoyed by overbearing sales people).  From the late 19th Century through the 1950's, Howard and Lexington Streets was firmly established as Baltimore's premiere shopping destination.  However, this would start to change after World War II as many retailers opened new stores  in Suburban Shopping Centers.  This trend continued in the 1950's and 1960's, and by the dawn of the 1970's, it was growing clear that the romantic image of the Downtown hustle and bustle was being replaced by a forlorn and dowdy image of age and neglect.  The major Department stores began bowing out in 1977, and the last was gone by 1991, victim to the "progress" started by their owners in the Postwar period.

While a visit to Downtown is not the white gloves occasion it once was, one can still visit the former retail empire, marvel at the beautiful architecture, and ponder the atmosphere of days long gone.  Following is a brief history of this dynasty, and a guide to what remains of Baltimore's former shopping hub.

GRANDE DAME DEPARTMENT STORES:
HUTZLERS:

While it is hard to decide which of the "Grand Dames" should head up the list, one can certainly find little to object to Hutzler's garnering this honor.  After all, it was the first and the last of the "Grand Dames" to reside in Downtown.  Arguably, it carried the proudest and most revered reputation among the major Department Stores.  The Hutzlers chain was also a trendsetter, being the first chain (and for years, the only chain) that did not discriminate against African-American clientele.

Hutzlers was established in 1858 as a dry goods store at the corner of Howard and Clay Streets by brothers Abram, David, and Charles.  The business later expanded into three small storefronts consisting of the original store, and its two neighbors to the South.  In 1888, these stores were razed, and the Hutzler's Palace was constructed on the site.  This store was always revered for it's Neo-Classical architecture, and has remained to this day, an icon of the city.  In 1916, the business expanded into additional quarters on the South side of Saratoga Street, as well as the buildings from 228-232 North Howard Street, as a means to provide frontage on Howard Street for this expansion.


When opened in 1932, the tower did not tower much at all, additional floors were added later.

In September of 1929, Hutzler's Downstairs opened in the basement of the store, as a means to provide an outlet for discounted goods.  Then, in the grips of the Great Depression, the Hutzlers Chain professed its confidence for the revitilization of the Baltimore economy by opening what was initially termed as the "Greater Hutzlers" on October 1, 1932.  When originally completed, this lovely Art-Deco style expansion was only five floors, but would later extend to nine.

In 1952, Hutzler's opened its first suburban location at York and Joppa Roads in Towson, thus joining the trend already started by its competitors.  Later, the chain would stretch out to encompass locations at Westview, Eastpoint, Harundale, Security Square, Harford Mall, White Marsh, and Salisbury, as well as a mini-outlet near the Inner Harbor in 1980.  However, with the expansion came the contraction of the old Downtown operations.


In celebration of it's Centennial in 1958, Hutzler's created this mock-up on the location of the original store, complete with ladies in period clothing.

In it's heyday in the 1950's, the Downtown location used 325,000 square feet of retail space, which, by 1983, had been reduced to 95,000 square feet.  The next year, in the Fall of 1984, Hutzlers, under the lead of agressive President Angelo Arena, left it's old location and moved next door to the new Atrium building built on the site of the burned Hochschild's building.  The move lowered the retail space used to 70,000 square feet.  The new location was still termed as the "Palace" however.

In spite of the vote of confidence in the Downtown area by the skilled and experienced leader, fortunes were not on the side of the Hutzler's Chain, as the late 1980's saw closing after closing being announced.  First to go was the Harbor Store whose closing was announced in December of 1986, but it was only a matter of time before the new Hutzler's Palace would be affected by this cycle.  Initially, word came of a closure in 1987, but this would be held off for a time.  Finally, the official word came in February of 1989 that the Palace would close it's doors for good.

The New Palace would be mostly redeveloped into offices, while a small Mortons Department Store would occupy the bottom floor for a time.  Following the failure of this venture, the space is now occupied by Discount retailer Marshall Mays.  The Original Hutzlers Complex next door to the North has been redone into Office Space, and the ground floor has been remodeled into the Office of Child Support.  Thankfully, the exterior is essentially unchanged, and the overwhelming majority of the architectural flourishes survive intact.
 
 

The orignal Hutzlers Complex consists of the Palace building to the South, neighbored by the 1931 vintage Tower Building, where a light vertical brickline shows the original roofline.

Entry into the Tower was by means of two charismatic revolving doors, securable behind brass.

Above the entry way was a large torchlike detail, and a seal, whose detail can be seen below.

Letters still keep the Hutzlers name alive and well Downtown today, as seen both above and aside some doorways.

Hutzler's last "Palace" in the Atrium building is a far cry from it's impressive ancestor.

HECHT-MAY COMPANY

Since the Hecht's location was the next to last location to leave the Downtown area, it shall be listed next.  Hecht's originally opened in 1857 as a Furniture store on Broadway, and later expanded its line to clothing with an expansion in 1879.  The Downtown Store that now occupies the Southwest Corner of Howard and Lexington Streets dates to the 1920's.  A later merger in 1959 between the regional Hecht's chain and the more national May Company would find the location often called "Hecht-May" or even "The May Company."

The Hecht Company would follow the same trend as the other Department stores, beginning with the opening of the Edmondson Village store in 1955, followed by another in Northwood in 1956.  Despite the closure of some of it's Downtown competitors in the late 1970's, the store saw no need to abandon Downtown, and got caught up in the "renaissance" taking place at the time.  In 1982, the Downtown Store recieved an impressive renovation, including a makeover of it's product line to more upscale designers of the time, like Evan Piccone.  However, the high-price tag items failed to attract business, and despite a healthy business, the Downtown store tended to march to its own drum, against the tide of the rest of the Hecht's Chain.  With no desire to establish a often separate product line for a single store, the Hecht Company decided to close the Downtown flagship, calling it quits in 1988.

In 1994, Rite Aid, in the midst of an agressive expansion, opened a large store in the ground floor of the Hecht Company building, after undergoing a through renovation.  The upper floors sat mostly vacant before developers embarked on a rehab project that would see the building to be developed into Condominiums, in an effort to once again breathe life into the area.  As of October of 2001, this project is finally complete, and the results of this metamorphosis will remain to be seen.


The old Hecht Company building is in the process of becoming luxury condominiums.


STEWART'S:

If there was any store among the Grand Dame's that wanted to have the reputation as the most upscale of them all, it would most likely be the Stewart Company.  Originally coming to town as Posner's in 1881, the building on the Northeast Corner of Howard and Lexington Streets opened in 1889.  In 1901, the building was acquired by Louis Stewart, and the "Stewart's" dynasty was born.

In 1916, the chain would be acquired by the American Dry Goods Company (later the Associated Dry Good Company) but would retain the Stewart's name.  Later, in 1953, Stewart's would open it's first suburban branch at the new York Road Plaza just across the city line.  The following years would see it expanding outward, thus siphoning off traffic from the Downtown location.

Finally, following the holiday season of 1978, the Stewarts chain decided it could no longer support the old store, and it closed early in January of 1979, following a brief spurt of high volume once word of its closure spread.  The chain itself would not survive much longer itself, finally bowing out early in 1983 (often blamed to a lack of agressiveness), bought out by the New York based Caldor discount chain, which itself folded in the late 1990's.

As for the Downtown Store, the years following the closure saw the majority of its space vacant, although the immediate area fronting Howard and Lexington Streets became a number of very small specialty stores selling wares from clothing and jewelry to music.  By the late 1990's, it was decided to redevelop the property into an upscale residential building with some retail on the lower floor.  As of October, 2001, this work is midway in progress, and the building, which had long since become a home for legions of pigeons, already looks fresher than it has in a long time.  It will be interesting to wonder what of the original interior appointments will survive, if any.
 
 


The Stewart's Building presents a stately and dignified appearance as it undergoes renovation.

The exterior of the building is appointed with decorative lion emblems.>>>>>

Work continues on the renovation as this is written.

HOCHSCHILD-KOHN

Rounding out the set of the main department stores at Howard and Lexington Streets was the Hochschild-Kohn company.  This building figured prominently, occupying the Northwest corner of Howard and Lexington Streets.

Hochschild's, as it was often called, was the first of the Grand Dames to expand outward, opening it's landmark Edmondson Village store in 1947, followed by another at York and Belvedere in 1948.  The Hochschilds empire would eventually encompass stores at Towson, Perring Parkway, Harford Mall, Columbia, Security Square, Harundale, Reisterstown Plaza, Easton, and Bowie.  Despite a constant desire to expand, the chain began to contract in the midst of it's own expansion, closing the Columbia store in 1975.  Soon afterwards, it was decided to close the Downtown store, which closed its doors in June of 1977.


A scene familiar to many an aged Baltimorean is the Christmas parade in front of the old Hochschild Kohn building.  The Atrium building, as seen in the Hutzler's section above, now occupies this site.

The chain continued to push on, but would be affected by additional closures.  Finally, in the mid-1980's, the chain merged, and consolidated into a few locations known as "Hochschild's Value City."  Meanwhile, the old Neo-Classical Downtown store burnt down in February of 1983, to be replaced by the Atrium building that would be occupied for a time by the Hutzlers chain.  Despite wishes that at least a part of the front be saved, there are no traces of the original structure.

OTHER DEPARTMENT STORES:

BRAGER-GUTMAN'S

Despite the prominence of the Howard and Lexington stores, there were other players in the Downtown shopping trade.  Another impressive store was to be found one block East at the Southwest corner of Park Avenue and Lexington Streets.  Built in 1930, it was the first Downtown Department store to feature escalators.  For years, it was known as Gutman's until a merger between this store and another known as Brager's (for a time Brager-Eisenburg's) located at Eutaw and Saratoga Streets, formed the more often remembered moniker "BRAGER-GUTMAN'S"

Brager-Gutman's was the leading discount Department store in the Downtown area, the place where one always shopped, but never admitted to.  The store prospered during the times when other's found it difficult to survive.  Born in the depression, it quickly established a following which gave it a steady amount of traffic.  In the late 1970's, when some of the major department stores, experienced their worst pains, the Brager-Gutman's chain was rediscovering its long vanished glory, restoring it's elevators and escalators to original appearance.


In her last years as the Brager-Gutman's building in the late 1970's

Later, the Brager-Gutman's store would be acquired by the Epstein's chain, a neighborhood discount Department store establishment  founded in 1926.  The store did well at the location, although, by the end of the 1980's suffered from competition in the likes of K-Mart and Caldor's.  The chain's troubles would lead them to close the Park and Lexington location about 1991.

Later, the store would serve a brief stint as an international flea-market for a time, only to later be re-established into "Young World," a discount maternity and children's retailer, who has apparently found success in the location that once gave it's original tenant such rewards.  The building is still remarkable architecturally, offering an altogether respectable face for a location renowned for being a favorite of cheapskates!


Today, the old Gutman's building stands as the only true "Department" Store in Downtown.

O'NEILL'S

No discussion of the Downtown Department stores could be complete without mentioning long-departed O'Neill's, once situated on the Southwest corner of Charles and Lexington Streets.  The store, at the inner end of the 4 and 14 streetcar lines, served an devotedly loyal clientele for many years, and had a repuation of having some of the longest career salespeople of any Downtown store.  Opened in 1882, the store prospered for many years at its location, despite not having quite the level of business of it's more Westerly situated cousins.  While the other stores became chains following the second World War, O'Neills' sadly folded in early 1955.  It's building being demolished in the early 1960's to make way for the Charles Center redevelopment project.  Neither artifacts, nor marker, is on site to tell of this once proud Baltimore tradition.


OTHER RETAILERS IN DOWNTOWN

Downtown was not simply a collaboration of Department stores, specialty outlets made up a large part of the mixture of Downtown retail, as did discount outlets, commonly called "Five and Dimes"  The loveliest of these outlets would almost certainly be the 1938 vintage Kresge's store on the Southeast corner of Park and Lexington Streets, opposite Gutman's.  With a lovely and streamlined exterior, the Kresge's outlet could quite possibly rank amidst the Grand Dames in terms of beauty.


The flashy S. S. Kresge's was among the most beautiful of Downtown retailers.

The 1938 store doubled in space by the late 1950's, annexing space to the South.  However, financial trouble caused the closure of Kresge's in the late 1970's.  In its place would follow a Drug Fair, followed by a Rite Aid store, and later a "Valu-Plus" outlet.  Most recently, the location has been secured by a "Lot Stores" outlet, which relocated from the former Ann Lewis store across Lexington Street.  Thankfully, the store retains many of it's original charms, including the original clock with it's neon elements within.  Downtown redevelopment may threaten the old girl, but one can only hope that this jewel of the 1930's survives well into the new millenium.
 


Despite the lack of some elements, the Kresge's store is still very much original.

Centerpiece of the curved facade is this clock, with neon tubed numbers.

As with many towns, Downtown was also home to two staples of American Five and Dimedom, Woolworth's and McCrory's.  While the former Woolworth's buiding in the 200 block of West Lexington Street, now home to the Valu-Plus discount chain, reveals no appreciable beauty to see, the McCrory's building to the West of it is aglow with touches of splendor and beauty in the form of colorful tilework gracing the exterior.  The building, now home to Rainbow shops, carries an impressive splendor that words just can't describe.


To the astute observer, the facade of the old McCrory's building will reveal itself as just that - the McCrory building!

The upper portion of the front reveals an even more impressive array of tilework.

The remaining Downtown retail buildings are largely the same, with some apparently dating from the 19th Century.  There are a couple of more refined standouts in the crowd, including:


The old Ann Lewis store at Park and Lexington Streets preaches simplicity, it's fluted sides the only characheristic feature of the building.  Later, the store would be renamed "LANNS" (reusing the letters from the original, which were located in the lower center of the flat area facing Lexington Street) before closing in 1988.  Now, the location is home to a Dollar Store.


Just west of the old Brager-Gutmans' stands this building with it's intricate facing, and dignified engraving "Schulte-United" across the top, with golden eagles on either side.


 
 

There were once dozens of stores sporting these marble look fronts all about town.  Downtown's best survivor stands on the Southeast corner of Eutaw and Franklin Streets, current location of the "Hobo Shop."

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