With the winnowing of the store fleet at Macy's, have been seeing a lot of nostalgia for the restaurant/food service at Hudsons (which is doubtless being replicated in multiple other regions). Macy's actually retained the restaurants at most of the former Daytons/Hudsons stores specifically until COVID (so memories are that much more recent in those regions.). The Maurice Salad and popovers with frozen fruit salad, and pot pies were the dishes most remembered in and around Detroit.
Listened to a rather interesting podcast about the similar situation in St. Louis, where Famous-Barr had a similar trademark product, their french onion soup. The podcast goes into some interesting detail about how a mid-sized city, with a tastemaking local department store (granted May Department Stores were based there, but I don't think it was a "thing" elsewhere in the May universe) created something to enhance and amplify the experience for the entire city.
Department store restaurants/tea rooms and creating an environment
-
Brian Lutz
- Store Manager
- Posts: 1599
- Joined: March 1st, 2009, 5:51 pm
- Location: Piedmont Triad, NC
- Been thanked: 117 times
- Contact:
- Status: Offline
Re: Department store restaurants/tea rooms and creating an environment
Nordstrom still maintains cafes and espresso bars in a lot of their stores, and some of their higher end stores (such as the Seattle flagship store and the Bellevue Square) can have multiple restaurants and even cocktail bars inside the store.
-
buckguy
- Store Manager
- Posts: 1270
- Joined: January 31st, 2017, 10:54 am
- Has thanked: 12 times
- Been thanked: 124 times
- Status: Offline
Re: Department store restaurants/tea rooms and creating an environment
Famous-Barr would have been an anomaly. May stores were never taste makers--Famous was known for its basement and Eagle Stamps. May stores were often described as "promotional".
May stores were known more for things like frosties (soft-serve chocolate milk shakes that weren't that chocolate-y; May-Cleveland, Strouss' and others had these) in the basement snack bars and chocolate candies that were made in the store downtown (May did this in Cleveland; many chains bought from a third party). These sorts of things often didn't make it to the suburbs or weren't popular there. Marshall Field's Frango mints were probably the big exception and notable because stores like Field's didn't emphasize candy like cheaper stores---those originated at Frederick & Nelson in Seattle, which Field's later bought. Jordan Marsh in Boston was famous for its blueberry muffins---bakeries were another niche that some stores had, but, again, never as popular in the suburbs. None of this stuff was really taste making, but it was a treat that made a trip to the store memorable.
Although branch stores had restaurants, they were never as popular as in the downtown stores. This was even true for stores that were truly famous for their downtown restaurants like Higbee's and Halle's in Cleveland or Marshall Field's in Chicago. Lords & Taylor phased out restaurants in their suburban and non-NYC stores in the 80s. I don't think Macy's was ever well-known for restaurants--their non-NYC stores like Davison's in Atlanta and LaSalle's in Toledo weren't particularly famous for them either. I don't think Herald Square has any food service.
Shopping used to be a full day activity and given the size of the old downtown flagships, it wasn't difficult to fill the time. Outside of some of the 50s era branches, the stores in the suburbs were a small fraction of the downtown stores' size and most malls were smaller than many of the downtown flagships.
May stores were known more for things like frosties (soft-serve chocolate milk shakes that weren't that chocolate-y; May-Cleveland, Strouss' and others had these) in the basement snack bars and chocolate candies that were made in the store downtown (May did this in Cleveland; many chains bought from a third party). These sorts of things often didn't make it to the suburbs or weren't popular there. Marshall Field's Frango mints were probably the big exception and notable because stores like Field's didn't emphasize candy like cheaper stores---those originated at Frederick & Nelson in Seattle, which Field's later bought. Jordan Marsh in Boston was famous for its blueberry muffins---bakeries were another niche that some stores had, but, again, never as popular in the suburbs. None of this stuff was really taste making, but it was a treat that made a trip to the store memorable.
Although branch stores had restaurants, they were never as popular as in the downtown stores. This was even true for stores that were truly famous for their downtown restaurants like Higbee's and Halle's in Cleveland or Marshall Field's in Chicago. Lords & Taylor phased out restaurants in their suburban and non-NYC stores in the 80s. I don't think Macy's was ever well-known for restaurants--their non-NYC stores like Davison's in Atlanta and LaSalle's in Toledo weren't particularly famous for them either. I don't think Herald Square has any food service.
Shopping used to be a full day activity and given the size of the old downtown flagships, it wasn't difficult to fill the time. Outside of some of the 50s era branches, the stores in the suburbs were a small fraction of the downtown stores' size and most malls were smaller than many of the downtown flagships.
-
jamcool
- Store Manager
- Posts: 1212
- Joined: March 5th, 2009, 10:27 pm
- Been thanked: 85 times
- Status: Offline
Re: Department store restaurants/tea rooms and creating an environment
If you lived in Phoenix from the 60s to the 80s, Smitty’s-our version of Fred Meyer-had full service restaurants, known for Friday all you can eat Fish & Chips.