Wanamaker's: Encyclopedia II - Wanamaker's - Beginnings

Wanamaker's - Beginnings

John Wanamaker, the founder of the store that bears his name, was not able to join the Union army during the US Civil War due to a persistent cough. Instead of being involved in war duty, he and his brother in law, Nathan Brown, began in 1861 a men's clothing store in Philadelphia called Oak Hall. Desiring to find more space for his very successful business, Wanamaker (who carried on with the business after Brown's death in 1868) obtained the abandoned Pennsylvania Railroad terminal in the City of Brotherly Love for use as a retail location. The thought was to renovate the terminal into a "Grand Depot" similar to London's Royal Exchange or Paris' Les Halles - two central markets well known in Europe at that time.

The Grand Depot opened in time to service the public visiting Philly for the American Centennial Exposition of 1876. In 1877 Wanamaker's was revamped and expanded to include not only men's clothing, but women's clothing and dry goods as well, in an effort to attract customers. This was Philadelphia's - and perhaps America's - first modern day department store. A circular counter was placed at the center of the building, and concentric circles radiated around it with 129 counters of goods.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Beginnings", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki