We all remember department stores. How could we not? They were a part of our lives, like food, or breathing—Macy’s, The National in New York and the rest of the United States, Hudson’s Bay and Eaton’s in Canada.
The rise of department stores was an urban phenomenon. As roads, trains, subways, and streetcars converged on downtown areas, retailers gathered there.
The end of the 1950s was an unprecedented period in our economy, when the average family had 30% more purchasing power than at the beginning of the decade. Stores, including department stores, were a part of that. As well as providing shopping for customers anxious to spend, they offered employment to droves of people, including me.
I finished high school in my small Alberta town at the age of seventeen, and since I planned to go to university, I had to earn money to pay for my tuition and living expenses.
Although I looked after neighbor’s children and wrote articles for our village newspaper during high school, my dream was to get to the nearest city, Edmonton, where the rise of the department store was evident. I’d never seen one, but every spring and fall, an Eaton’s and Sear’s catalogue would arrive in the mail, and somehow I’d learned that those stores existed in the form of department stores in our major cities.
My move to the big city
I arrived in Edmonton when the commercial sector was booming, and the rise of department stores had a major part in that. My first stop was a shoe store, where I bought a pair of black shoes with 5-inch heels, which I thought would add height to my five-foot stature.
My next stop was the personnel department in the Hudson’s Bay Company. I will never forget my first job interview. Ordering carefully from the catalogue, I’d bought a navy suit, with a white collar, and white gloves to match. Wearing the suit, the shoes the gloves and my long hair pulled back in a bun, I felt confident that I looked old enough to work, and that I presented a very professional appearance. My interviewer must have thought that too, for he hired me on the spot.
I had absolutely no experience. I wasn’t qualified to do anything. My first position was in the credit department, where I flipped pages as a large machine, an addressograph, stamped the names and addresses of customers on statements, ready for mailing.
Once I mastered that, I transferred to another job in the same department, where I interviewed customers for their eligibility to obtain credit. That position required that I stand at a counter so I could see the clients eye to eye. Since I was short, the 5-inch heels gave me the stature I needed, but the heels caused me to develop foot problems which I have to this day.
I loved the Hudson’s Bay. It was situated in the very centre of town, with all other stores like Simpson’s Sears within walking distance. I roamed those blocks each lunch hour, window shopping, and buying nothing. My pay was low, but I had staff benefits, and the store allowed me to put away some clothing on their ‘lay-away-plan’ and pay it off as I could.
Inevitably, lives change
The man I was dating, a teacher, wanted me to move to Calgary with him. He had been offered a position there. I’d never been to Calgary, but it was a city famous for its cowboy culture and the Calgary Stampede. I was intrigued and requested a transfer to the Calgary Hudson’s Bay department store. I eventually married him and started a family, now grown. The prairies lost their allure for us, and we moved to Vancouver Island, an entirely different culture.
Working in a department store was a happy experience for me. I recall many things I loved about that store—the escalators, the wide marbled staircases, the professionally designed displays, the array of merchandise. On my lunch hour, I roamed the store, I ate at the coffee shop, I refreshed my lipstick in the wide, spotless washroom, I exchanged greetings and quick visits with my co-workers. I felt it was my second home.
The demise of the department store
I recall with fondness my years working in a department store. In the early days of the pandemic, I worried that all retail stores, department stores included, would close forever in favor of online shopping, which was becoming very popular. Even now, I’m concerned that the department stores, which were place holders in the retail sector, have given way to other stores, such as Marshalls and Walmart, which appear to specialize in discount merchandise. It’s a relief to see that the iconic Hudson’s Bay is still here in my city.
Change, it is said, is inevitable. A whole new generation will have a say in shopping habits. Young people, millennials, and Generation Z, by virtue of what they buy, will have a say in what stores will be like. They will dictate rapid service, and consider current issues, including sustainability.
The companies that produce the goods for sale, the brands, must look for alternate ways to reach customers. This will most likely include direct to customer sales and wide wholesale distribution. They can no longer just serve department stores.
I’m sad to see the iconic old companies fold up and go away. What will replace them? Discount stores? Online shopping? Wholesale distribution? We can only wait and see.
Remember Woodards when the store had groceries? I use to shop there every week. Now the younger generation seem to do all there shopping on line. Delivery vans are a constant on my street.
MM
I do remember that—it was a long, long time ago! The Woodward’s my family went to was in Edmonton. I think it’s sad that young people are missing the experience of going to actual stores, interacting with other people, talking with clerical staff and other customers. I don’t think the existence of all those delivery vans is sustainable, either. Yet, some people call it progress!
We have department stores here too, though they are declining in number and some have already closed all their outlets. I remember as a little kid the excitement of being taken on a two bus ride to Bobby’s, in Folkestone, as that was where the real Father Christmas set up his grotto! Happy memories, and sad to think that few will now share something similar.
I haven’t heard of ‘Bobby’s’—I don’t believe they exist in Canada. But what a happy memory that must be! Hudson’s Bay, which I have written about, did provide a Santa Clause each Christmas, to the delight of children, whose parents would bring them especially to see him. Of course, the store anticipated that they would buy something for Christmas for their children!
I love the idea of going to a nicer store and finding something I can wear. But for everything else, it just seems so inefficient to get in your car and move it and yourself around the city(ies) looking for something specific. Even if you “let your fingers do the walking” beforehand.
Of course, shopping for clothes merits an ‘in store’ visit. Nothing else works! I live very close to a center which includes a grocery store, pharmacy, everyday things. But there are some things they don’t carry, and that necessitates a visit to a larger center. I still drive, so I can get there—but I don’t know how long I’ll be able to do that! Age brings changes, for sure.
Interesting reflections on working in a department store. Our son worked at a store in the mall, with Sears at one end and Macy’s on the other. I liked the Mall Era of the 1980s thru the early 2000s … much more than the current Amazon era where you do it all by yourself with no human contact at all. I guess the machines are taking over.
I share your feelings about Amazon shopping, Tom. The shopping scene has become dismal. However, I went to our local Hudson’s Bay store yesterday, and I am happy to report that it is well stocked, well staffed, and doing fine. That’s not to say that all department stores are thriving, but it is encouraging to find even one!
It’s interesting to think of what made shopping at department stores so enjoyable. As I think of the holidays, I realize that department stores offered a beauty and design and scale that nobody had at home so there was a certain excitement, and I also remember that the stores here in the states never started decorating for Christmas until after our Thanksgiving, which is in late November, so the season was intense and exciting and colorful. I also remember knowing the sales clerks and having relationships with them as they were in each department it was a very personal experience, and when I was younger, it was also an occasion, too I won’t say dress up in the way that I might for a party or some services but certainly, we would dress with a sense of style and a sense of having a day out because it also often included a special lunch or treat of some sort. Not only did the pandemic change how we shop and actually introducing a fear of people even those that we know, but it also changed our concept of dressing and my goodness everyone wears pretty much the same thing every day. Well I say everyone, may I just say I do. Another change is the concept of service service seems now to be something expected and demanded, and not an interaction of grace, manners, respect and style. It’s almost as though people have stopped looking at one another.
Thank you for that interesting and expansive comment, Alexandra! I love your description of the season as “intense and exciting and colorful”. It certainly was all of those things. Yes, we did dress up to go out, a practice which has changed drastically—and not for the better! I think that our customs began to change long before the pandemic, though. People have adopted a style of dress which is verging on sloppy and unkempt, sad to say.
Indeed. Silk, fine cotton, wool and styled rayon have all been replaced by stretch, sweats and sequined sneakers. It’s a look that covers all genders, ages, shapes and sizes.
I guess you could call that progress, since silk, fine cotton and rayon are time consuming to maintain. Today’s fabrics are certainly not as attractive and appealing, but they definitely more easy-care!
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