Foley's Department Stores

[NenaE]

Downtown Foleys: http://citemag.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/IncredibleShrinkingStore_Webb_Cite23.pdf

[IronTiger]

Downtown Foleys: http://citemag.org/w...Webb_Cite23.pdf

Wow, that's pretty cool. How many square feet was the Foley's flagship at its heyday? I imagine it was at least 700k.

[dbigtex56]

(If I missed an earlier post, please forgive me.)

Isn't Foley's notable because the highly regarded industrial designer, Raymond Lowey, contributed to its interior design?

Fans of Coca-Cola bottles, Studebakers and Air Force One may recognize the name.

(An aside: no, The Niche, I'm not going to serve as your unpaid research assistant on this one.)

[IronTiger]

How many logos did Foley's have over the years? There's the red FOLEY'S (??-60s), foley*s (through the late 60s-early 80s?), FOLEY'S (with part of the E missing, early 1980s-early 1990s), FOLEY'S (sort of like 1980s one, early 1990s-2006)...am I missing anything?

Also, when did the branch restaurants close?

[hydeaway]

How many logos did Foley's have over the years? There's the red FOLEY'S (??-60s), foley*s (through the late 60s-early 80s?), FOLEY'S (with part of the E missing, early 1980s-early 1990s), FOLEY'S (sort of like 1980s one, early 1990s-2006)...am I missing anything?

Also, when did the branch restaurants close?

Foley's had several logos in their history. In the 1940s it was a all caps logo with rust being the new company color scheme. Their slogan at the opening of the new Foley's in 1947 was "Building a bigger Texas, building a bigger Houston, building a bigger Foley's". Once the store opened, the slogan went "Tops in Texas.. Foley's"

Later in the 1940's they had the Foley's..of course slogan.

In the early 1960's the lower case Foley's logo was designed and implemented after the opening of the new Sharpstown branch store. It had an azalea type of logo utilized for the apostrophe. The new logo was turqoise and was reflected on the chargecards, bags, boxes, etc. Later in the early 1970s the azalea apostrophe was dropped for an asterisk. The colors were changed to burnt orange and olive green. Some had the misconception that they changed to the asterisk logo because with the opening of each new branch store, a new "leaf" was added. However, that was not the case. In the late 1970's the avant garde foley's logo was created. It was all lower case letters but still had the asterisk (this time at the bottom,between the y and s). Bags and boxes were in a yellow with navy typeface. Then, in approximately 1981, the logo was changed again to incorporate a star in the asterisk logo. The store colors became rust as they were in the 1940s. Bags, gift boxes, fleet delivery trucks and even the backdrops of store counters (fine jewelry, for example, where jewelry would be displayed) reflected this. The slogan in the 1970s was "Foley's is magical, unpredictable, sensational, you know you want Foley's"

In 1984, the RH Macy company (the original, upscale Macy's, not the Kmart we have now) entered the Houston marketplace. Foley's and Joske's were historically the main competitors at area malls. Sometimes, (as was the case with Northline, Northwest, Almeda, The Galleria, Sharpstown, for instance) where there was a Foley's, there was not a Joske's. Foley's and Joske's would also compete with Sakowitz and Frost Brothers with some of their designer departments and fur salons. However, Macy's was new to the area and Foley's was preparing for the competition. They drew up a new slogan and logo to fight back, stressing their hometown roots. It was "At the heart of Texas...Foley's!" The new store colors became grey and white with a peach heart that was placed in the E. The asterisk/star was dropped altogether. Letters were all upper case and the E had no vertical line. Ads were on the airwaves and newspapers. I recall one ad that showed two yuppies running for a plane with luggage in hand. Behind them in black and white was a stage coach. "Texans have always knowns how to catch the next stage.. with luggage from Foley's". Macy's had their slogan "We're Macy's and we're a part of your life!". The Foley's Deerbrook was designed to go head to toe with the first Macy's at the same mall.

In 1986 Foley's introduced their "Foley's...of course!" campaign. It was a highly successful run that went on for many years. Many do not know they had the "of course" campaign many years prior in the 1930s or 1940s.

The next change came in 1987. Federated, which had owned Foley's since the 1940s, announced that Foley's would merge with her sister store, Sanger-Harris, in Dallas. Headquarters would remain in Houston and Sanger-Harris would be rebranded as Foley's. Foley's continued their "of course" campaign but added, at the bottom of the logo on bags "now including Sanger-Harris".

The merger was barely complete when corporate raider Campeau took over Allied Department Stores and dismantled, shut down and sold off many chains across the nation. Jordan Marsh and Joske's were 2 of the twenty some odd divisions that were affected. Dillard's purchased Joske's and promptly rebranded. Campeau, still not satisfied, raided Federated and took them over with junk bonds, as he had Allied. Foley's and Filene's (Boston) were promptly sold off to May Company. The Foley's we always knew would never be the same. Many departments were liquidated immediately. Those included the Fur Salons, jewelry and watch repair, junior accessories, Big and Tall, personal shopper, photo studio, beauty salons, sporting goods, books, toys, candy, carpets and floor coverings, pharmacy, records and tapes, major appliances and televisions. Federated had already shut down the Budget Store in 1985 in an attempt to move more upscale. The restaurants continued for a time. One by one, however, they started shuttering the branch store restaurants. This occured in the early 1990s. Downtown also lost The Grill (Men's Grill prior to the women's movement) on the 2nd floor, The Terrace on the 5th floor, Lunch Express across the street in the parking garage as well as the much frequented bakery.

May changed the typeface of the Foley's logo to reflect the same font as the other divisions. It was an upper case F with other letters lower case.

The Federated/Allied merger went bankrupt causing the consolidation and demise of hundreds of chains of department stores nationwide that had been the heritage of so many cities. The Federated that emerged from bankruptcy was not the old Federated. RH Macy had also gone bankrupt with the name being purchased by the new Federated. Federated bought May Company in 2006 and rebranded all May divisions to Macy's as they had with all the prior Federated chains, with the exception of Bloomingdale's.

Some may remember the sales that were specific to Foley's -- their anniversary sale in September, the "Remnant Days" sale (end of season clearances) and their annual White Sale.

[hydeaway]

Foley's had several logos in their history. In the 1940s it was a all caps logo with rust being the new company color scheme. Their slogan at the opening of the new Foley's in 1947 was "Building a bigger Texas, building a bigger Houston, building a bigger Foley's". Once the store opened, the slogan went "Tops in Texas.. Foley's"

Later in the 1940's they had the Foley's..of course slogan.

In the early 1960's the lower case Foley's logo was designed and implemented after the opening of the new Sharpstown branch store. It had an azalea type of logo utilized for the apostrophe. The new logo was turqoise and was reflected on the chargecards, bags, boxes, etc. Later in the early 1970s the azalea apostrophe was dropped for an asterisk. The colors were changed to burnt orange and olive green. Some had the misconception that they changed to the asterisk logo because with the opening of each new branch store, a new "leaf" was added. However, that was not the case. In the late 1970's the avant garde foley's logo was created. It was all lower case letters but still had the asterisk (this time at the bottom,between the y and s). Bags and boxes were in a yellow with navy typeface. Then, in approximately 1981, the logo was changed again to incorporate a star in the asterisk logo. The store colors became rust as they were in the 1940s. Bags, gift boxes, fleet delivery trucks and even the backdrops of store counters (fine jewelry, for example, where jewelry would be displayed) reflected this. The slogan in the 1970s was "Foley's is magical, unpredictable, sensational, you know you want Foley's"

In 1984, the RH Macy company (the original, upscale Macy's, not the Kmart we have now) entered the Houston marketplace. Foley's and Joske's were historically the main competitors at area malls. Sometimes, (as was the case with Northline, Northwest, Almeda, The Galleria, Sharpstown, for instance) where there was a Foley's, there was not a Joske's. Foley's and Joske's would also compete with Sakowitz and Frost Brothers with some of their designer departments and fur salons. However, Macy's was new to the area and Foley's was preparing for the competition. They drew up a new slogan and logo to fight back, stressing their hometown roots. It was "At the heart of Texas...Foley's!" The new store colors became grey and white with a peach heart that was placed in the E. The asterisk/star was dropped altogether. Letters were all upper case and the E had no vertical line. Ads were on the airwaves and newspapers. I recall one ad that showed two yuppies running for a plane with luggage in hand. Behind them in black and white was a stage coach. "Texans have always knowns how to catch the next stage.. with luggage from Foley's". Macy's had their slogan "We're Macy's and we're a part of your life!". The Foley's Deerbrook was designed to go head to toe with the first Macy's at the same mall.

In 1986 Foley's introduced their "Foley's...of course!" campaign. It was a highly successful run that went on for many years. Many do not know they had the "of course" campaign many years prior in the 1930s or 1940s.

The next change came in 1987. Federated, which had owned Foley's since the 1940s, announced that Foley's would merge with her sister store, Sanger-Harris, in Dallas. Headquarters would remain in Houston and Sanger-Harris would be rebranded as Foley's. Foley's continued their "of course" campaign but added, at the bottom of the logo on bags "now including Sanger-Harris".

The merger was barely complete when corporate raider Campeau took over Allied Department Stores and dismantled, shut down and sold off many chains across the nation. Jordan Marsh and Joske's were 2 of the twenty some odd divisions that were affected. Dillard's purchased Joske's and promptly rebranded. Campeau, still not satisfied, raided Federated and took them over with junk bonds, as he had Allied. Foley's and Filene's (Boston) were promptly sold off to May Company. The Foley's we always knew would never be the same. Many departments were liquidated immediately. Those included the Fur Salons, jewelry and watch repair, junior accessories, Big and Tall, personal shopper, photo studio, beauty salons, sporting goods, books, toys, candy, carpets and floor coverings, pharmacy, records and tapes, major appliances and televisions. Federated had already shut down the Budget Store in 1985 in an attempt to move more upscale. The restaurants continued for a time. One by one, however, they started shuttering the branch store restaurants. This occured in the early 1990s. Downtown also lost The Grill (Men's Grill prior to the women's movement) on the 2nd floor, The Terrace on the 5th floor, Lunch Express across the street in the parking garage as well as the much frequented bakery.

May changed the typeface of the Foley's logo to reflect the same font as the other divisions. It was an upper case F with other letters lower case.

The Federated/Allied merger went bankrupt causing the consolidation and demise of hundreds of chains of department stores nationwide that had been the heritage of so many cities. The Federated that emerged from bankruptcy was not the old Federated. RH Macy had also gone bankrupt with the name being purchased by the new Federated. Federated bought May Company in 2006 and rebranded all May divisions to Macy's as they had with all the prior Federated chains, with the exception of Bloomingdale's.

Some may remember the sales that were specific to Foley's -- their anniversary sale in September, the "Remnant Days" sale (end of season clearances) and their annual White Sale.

For nostalgia sake, here are some commercials for Foley's and Joske's:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7zlsr_foley-s-department-store_lifestyle

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4ajek_joske-s-department-store

[IronTiger]

@Hydeaway: Hmm...there's a "Foley's Cooking Fiesta", so obviously, this was before the major downscaling.

[H8S 4 LIFE]

Foley's had several logos in their history. In the 1940s it was a all caps logo with rust being the new company color scheme. Their slogan at the opening of the new Foley's in 1947 was "Building a bigger Texas, building a bigger Houston, building a bigger Foley's". Once the store opened, the slogan went "Tops in Texas.. Foley's"

Later in the 1940's they had the Foley's..of course slogan.

In the early 1960's the lower case Foley's logo was designed and implemented after the opening of the new Sharpstown branch store. It had an azalea type of logo utilized for the apostrophe. The new logo was turqoise and was reflected on the chargecards, bags, boxes, etc. Later in the early 1970s the azalea apostrophe was dropped for an asterisk. The colors were changed to burnt orange and olive green. Some had the misconception that they changed to the asterisk logo because with the opening of each new branch store, a new "leaf" was added. However, that was not the case. In the late 1970's the avant garde foley's logo was created. It was all lower case letters but still had the asterisk (this time at the bottom,between the y and s). Bags and boxes were in a yellow with navy typeface. Then, in approximately 1981, the logo was changed again to incorporate a star in the asterisk logo. The store colors became rust as they were in the 1940s. Bags, gift boxes, fleet delivery trucks and even the backdrops of store counters (fine jewelry, for example, where jewelry would be displayed) reflected this. The slogan in the 1970s was "Foley's is magical, unpredictable, sensational, you know you want Foley's"

In 1984, the RH Macy company (the original, upscale Macy's, not the Kmart we have now) entered the Houston marketplace. Foley's and Joske's were historically the main competitors at area malls. Sometimes, (as was the case with Northline, Northwest, Almeda, The Galleria, Sharpstown, for instance) where there was a Foley's, there was not a Joske's. Foley's and Joske's would also compete with Sakowitz and Frost Brothers with some of their designer departments and fur salons. However, Macy's was new to the area and Foley's was preparing for the competition. They drew up a new slogan and logo to fight back, stressing their hometown roots. It was "At the heart of Texas...Foley's!" The new store colors became grey and white with a peach heart that was placed in the E. The asterisk/star was dropped altogether. Letters were all upper case and the E had no vertical line. Ads were on the airwaves and newspapers. I recall one ad that showed two yuppies running for a plane with luggage in hand. Behind them in black and white was a stage coach. "Texans have always knowns how to catch the next stage.. with luggage from Foley's". Macy's had their slogan "We're Macy's and we're a part of your life!". The Foley's Deerbrook was designed to go head to toe with the first Macy's at the same mall.

In 1986 Foley's introduced their "Foley's...of course!" campaign. It was a highly successful run that went on for many years. Many do not know they had the "of course" campaign many years prior in the 1930s or 1940s.

The next change came in 1987. Federated, which had owned Foley's since the 1940s, announced that Foley's would merge with her sister store, Sanger-Harris, in Dallas. Headquarters would remain in Houston and Sanger-Harris would be rebranded as Foley's. Foley's continued their "of course" campaign but added, at the bottom of the logo on bags "now including Sanger-Harris".

The merger was barely complete when corporate raider Campeau took over Allied Department Stores and dismantled, shut down and sold off many chains across the nation. Jordan Marsh and Joske's were 2 of the twenty some odd divisions that were affected. Dillard's purchased Joske's and promptly rebranded. Campeau, still not satisfied, raided Federated and took them over with junk bonds, as he had Allied. Foley's and Filene's (Boston) were promptly sold off to May Company. The Foley's we always knew would never be the same. Many departments were liquidated immediately. Those included the Fur Salons, jewelry and watch repair, junior accessories, Big and Tall, personal shopper, photo studio, beauty salons, sporting goods, books, toys, candy, carpets and floor coverings, pharmacy, records and tapes, major appliances and televisions. Federated had already shut down the Budget Store in 1985 in an attempt to move more upscale. The restaurants continued for a time. One by one, however, they started shuttering the branch store restaurants. This occured in the early 1990s. Downtown also lost The Grill (Men's Grill prior to the women's movement) on the 2nd floor, The Terrace on the 5th floor, Lunch Express across the street in the parking garage as well as the much frequented bakery.

May changed the typeface of the Foley's logo to reflect the same font as the other divisions. It was an upper case F with other letters lower case.

The Federated/Allied merger went bankrupt causing the consolidation and demise of hundreds of chains of department stores nationwide that had been the heritage of so many cities. The Federated that emerged from bankruptcy was not the old Federated. RH Macy had also gone bankrupt with the name being purchased by the new Federated. Federated bought May Company in 2006 and rebranded all May divisions to Macy's as they had with all the prior Federated chains, with the exception of Bloomingdale's.

Some may remember the sales that were specific to Foley's -- their anniversary sale in September, the "Remnant Days" sale (end of season clearances) and their annual White Sale.

I believe Foley's was the "Red Apple Sale" wasn't it? IIRC, Penney's was the brand featuring the "White Sale". Too many years...too few brain cells remain, I may be wrong.

[hydeaway]

I believe Foley's was the "Red Apple Sale" wasn't it? IIRC, Penney's was the brand featuring the "White Sale". Too many years...too few brain cells remain, I may be wrong.

You are correct. However, The Red Apple Sale was originally a Sanger-Harris sale. When Foley's merged with Sanger-Harris they adopted it. I have an old catalogue from 1984's Foley's White Sale. I believe several department stores called their linen sales a white sale.

@Hydeaway: Hmm...there's a "Foley's Cooking Fiesta", so obviously, this was before the major downscaling.

IronTiger,

You are correct. Foley's used to have in-store cooking demonstrations. As you can see from the commercial, some were done by Ninfa Lorenzo of Ninfa's Restaurants. In 1984-85 Foley's had an exclusive line of dinnerware and cookware designed by Ninfa.

[hydeaway]

@Hydeaway: Hmm...there's a "Foley's Cooking Fiesta", so obviously, this was before the major downscaling.

By the way, the commercial was made in 1984 at the Memorial City Foley's. This was the same year RH Macy entered the Houston market. Thus, the "Foley's is Texas, we're part of these parts" in the jingle was to combat the invasion by Macy's. Little did we know back then what would become what had always been across the country. Scores of department stores, literally thousands, used to dot the landscape nationwide defining regions. There was a tradition,history and uniqueness that has been lost with the consolidations. Now we are down to less than 10: Boscovs, Nordstrom, Von Maur, The Bon Ton, Dillards and the Kmart Macy's of today. I am not counting JCPenney and Sears as they have always been nationwide and not very unique in themselves.

[hydeaway]

I have compiled some old commercials from Foley's and other regional stores that will bring back the uniqueness we used to have for each region:

Foley's

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7zlsr_foleys-department-store_lifestyle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEcCPq2m_cg&feature=related

Joske's

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4ajek_joske-s-department-store

Bamberger's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpg9fzlUqns&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ2yt7TiYio&feature=related

Field's

Gayfer's

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2e2xb_gayfers

Gimbel's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNVllkbUspI&feature=related

Jordan Marsh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz8WxiILMwY

Lazarus

Robinson's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e0Il1PbAfI&feature=related

May Company

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e0Il1PbAfI&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_ClCChFAX0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZcv3UTBkGU&feature=related

Sakowitz Houston

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOkWfOPBofs&feature=digest

Sanger-Harris

The Broadway

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8gww-mbwns

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG4G3ezOMKc

Vintage Saks Fifth Avenue Commercials

[IronTiger]

Apparently, there was yet another logo right before Foley's perished...some sort of weird triangle has been added in lieu of the apostrophe.

http://www.alconnelly.com/photos/Austin-2005/Foleys

[dbigtex56]

I have compiled some old commercials from Foley's and other regional stores that will bring back the uniqueness we used to have for each region:

"Between love and madness lies ... Obsession!" (Foley's, 1985)

Thanks for the memories.

[Subdude]

"Between love and madness lies ... Obsession!" (Foley's, 1985)

Thanks for the memories.

Save me!

One of the originals:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm11CJIZTsM&feature=related

[hydeaway]

Apparently, there was yet another logo right before Foley's perished...some sort of weird triangle has been added in lieu of the apostrophe.

http://www.alconnell...tin-2005/Foleys

This logo was used right after the merger with Sanger-Harris. It was right before Foley's was sold off to May Co. Then May revamped it with their own (the latest) logo prior to Foley's demise.

[TV2EBoogaloo]

my parents both worked at the downtown Foley's

my mom had her original Foley's card for at least 20 years after that and she would pull it out and people that had either worked there for a long time or that were pretty new would be like "wow" and then either "never see these anymore" or "I have never seen one of these"

a friend they had from working there ended up managing the store at Westheimer and 6 for a number of years after it opened

[ExTex]

Speaking of Christmas displays, I can remember when the downtown (the only one at the time!) Foley's had that huge, curved glass display window between the front doors. It turned magical for Christmas, with their annual Christmas toy display. Of course, to a young boy, the most fascinating thing of all in that window was the trains. They always had an amazing setup of Lionel and Marx electric trains, the tracks winding their way around, through, under and even over the other toys. Several trains traveled those tracks, sometimes almost magically suspended in mid-air by hair-thin wires and delicate custom-built piers that allowed the tracks to sway gently as the train passed over them. Amazing... I could watch those trains for hours on end.

[dbigtex56]

Speaking of Christmas displays, I can remember when the downtown (the only one at the time!) Foley's had that huge, curved glass display window between the front doors. It turned magical for Christmas, with their annual Christmas toy display. Of course, to a young boy, the most fascinating thing of all in that window was the trains. They always had an amazing setup of Lionel and Marx electric trains, the tracks winding their way around, through, under and even over the other toys. Several trains traveled those tracks, sometimes almost magically suspended in mid-air by hair-thin wires and delicate custom-built piers that allowed the tracks to sway gently as the train passed over them. Amazing... I could watch those trains for hours on end.

Wish I could have seen that! Thanks for your recollections, and welcome to HAIF.

[hydeaway]

Everyone,

Lasker Meyer, Foley's former chairman prior to the May Co. and subsequent Macy's takeover, is publishing a book simply called "Foley's" . It is being made available on May 19th at the dedication of the Foley's archives at the University of Houston.

[IronTiger]

Everyone,

Lasker Meyer, Foley's former chairman prior to the May Co. and subsequent Macy's takeover, is publishing a book simply called "Foley's" . It is being made available on May 19th at the dedication of the Foley's archives at the University of Houston.

Awesome! I'd love to see that sometime.

[NenaE]

Great news...a Foley's book. I'll be getting that one. Thanks for the heads up.

[Firebird65]

Foley's is definitely a Houston insititution, and in this age of mega big box stores, there aren't too many of those left.

I guess I count as a Foley's alum. I worked at the Willowbrook store for about six weeks during the 1988 Christmas season. I was in the boys department.

What I remember most of my brief time with Foley's was:

1) It was really odd how the permanent staff never seemed to want me to check out the customers I had been helping. At first I wondered if they thought I didn't know what I was doing. I had, after all, worked at Kroger as a cashier for four and a half years. So one day I asked why they kept pushing me off the register. To my surprise, one of the permanent workers revealed that's how they were evaluated at performance review time - by the the number of people they had rang up and the amount of sales they had. So the more time they spent checking out people, the better they looked. As a Christmas temp, I didn't care one way or another, and i didn't particularly like standing at the register anyway, so I was glad to give them my customers if it helped them out.

2) As a temp, I always got the worst hours. I had to work late on Sunday nights when they extended hours. NO ONE came shopping at those times. I remember it being literally hours between seeing customers. So one time I just hung out watching the football games on TV (the TVs were next to the boys department there). I never, ever saw a supervisor (I never even knew the supervisor's name when I worked there or what she looked like).

3) Finally, I remember getting two letters on December 31, 1988. One was from the University of Houston telling me I had passed my final class at UH, and thus was eligible to graduate (hooray), and another from Foley's telling me that now that the Christmas season was over, my services were no longer required (boo). Talk about a weird day that was. LOL!

[Fringe]

I worked at downtown Foleys during high school and then Sharpstown a few years later off and on. Once they fired me because they said my hair was to long. They then hired me back a year later even though never got it cut. I enjoyed the unemployment salary I received from Foleys that year. It allowed me to do a lot of traveling.

[hydeaway]

Remember this commercial? I wish I could find one from the "Foley's...of course!" campaign. They also had one in the 1970's "Foley's is magical! unpredictable! sensational! You know you want Foley's!"

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7zlsr_foley-s-department-store_lifestyle

[hydeaway]

Remember this commercial? I wish I could find one from the "Foley's...of course!" campaign. They also had one in the 1970's "Foley's is magical! unpredictable! sensational! You know you want Foley's!"

http://www.dailymoti...store_lifestyle

The producer of Foley's commercials from 1984 to 1987 has posted several that I thought we would never see again. Take a look:

[IronTiger]

It's too bad none of those commercials are dated (as in, with years, they ARE dated in the other sense). The "White sale" one definitely looks like from the 1980s.

[TikiOwl]

Great news...a Foley's book. I'll be getting that one. Thanks for the heads up.

finished reading the book this weekend. very well done and as someone who grew up in the 50's and 60's in Houston, Foley's holds a special place in my memories.

[NenaE]

finished reading the book this weekend. very well done and as someone who grew up in the 50's and 60's in Houston, Foley's holds a special place in my memories.

Where did you get your hands on a copy? thru UH? I would like one.

[Pasadena47]

My mother worked at the downtown Foley's in the early to mid-1940s. She was a floor supervisor. The day that the "new" Main Street Store downtown was opened (Oct. 20, 1947), my mother made my Dad drive her by the store from our house in Pasadena on the way to the old Houston Osteopathic Hospital to give birth to me. It is hard to believe that Foley's is no more. My mother shopped there until she passed away. I still have her old metal "charge plate" which was the original credit card. I can still remember her dressing up and putting on her hat and gloves and packing us kids in the car to go downtown to Foley's and shop. We would always go eat lunch at the old L&C Cafeteria. I can still remember riding the escalator from the sidewalk street level down to the cafeteria for lunch. We would always go across Main to Battlesteins and Sackowitz, and maybe down the street to Lane Bryant (my grandmother was a large woman). Great memories from the 40s & 50s.

[NenaE]

My mother worked at the downtown Foley's in the early to mid-1940s. She was a floor supervisor. The day that the "new" Main Street Store downtown was opened (Oct. 20, 1947), my mother made my Dad drive her by the store from our house in Pasadena on the way to the old Houston Osteopathic Hospital to give birth to me. It is hard to believe that Foley's is no more. My mother shopped there until she passed away. I still have her old metal "charge plate" which was the original credit card. I can still remember her dressing up and putting on her hat and gloves and packing us kids in the car to go downtown to Foley's and shop. We would always go eat lunch at the old L&C Cafeteria. I can still remember riding the escalator from the sidewalk street level down to the cafeteria for lunch. We would always go across Main to Battlesteins and Sackowitz, and maybe down the street to Lane Bryant (my grandmother was a large woman). Great memories from the 40s & 50s.

Always nice to hear a personal story, welcome to HAIF. I didn't get to experience the large downtown Foleys, so I love to hear about it. Hopefully some of the remnants are still visible to a keen eye.

My father or grandmother always made a point to drive us downtown to see the Foley's Chrismas display windows, though, in the late '60's.