Sakowitz Department Store At 1111 Main St.

[Earlydays]

This could not be true. Battelsteins pre dated Sakowitz and there was at least one elevator in the Battelstein's store on Main Street, Houston in 1939.

Are you sure Battelsteins pre-dated Sakowitz.....the Sakowitz brothers opened their first store in 1902 in Galveston, or were you just referring to specific down town stores?

[WillowBend56]

Another set of photographs by industrial photographer Robert Yarnall Richie taken inside a Houston store in 1951:

http://digitalcollections.smu.edu/cdm/search/collection/ryr/searchterm/Sakowitz/order/upload

 

 

[txn4art]

It looks like these were taken at the "new" Sakowitz store in the 1100 block of Main before it opened. It replaced an older Sakowitz store that was located further north on Main.

 

 

[Avossos]

Pony up!

[WillowBend56]

Sakowitz was one of my mother's favorite stores in downtown.  She says Sakowitz had a restaurant or tea room that was a frequent haunt of hers on shopping trips. Even my father who worked downtown ate there on occasion.  She recalls a dessert composed of a ball of caramelized ice cream sprinkled with pecans.  Yum!  Of course she was pregnant most of the years that she shopped downtown in the 1950s.

 

Another thing she remembers was a Nieman-Marcus store in downtown Houston.  This store was a few blocks from Sakowitz on the same side of the street, my mother recalls. She said she went to a bridal show there and won a $100 drawing.    She thought Niemans in Houston was bought out by another store way back when.  

[Bob Fretz]

WillowBend56, your Mom enjoyed Pecan Balls.  Still served at The Austin Club. 

[txn4art]

Sakowitz was one of my mother's favorite stores in downtown.  She says Sakowitz had a restaurant or tea room that was a frequent haunt of hers on shopping trips. Even my father who worked downtown ate there on occasion.  She recalls a dessert composed of a ball of caramelized ice cream sprinkled with pecans.  Yum!  Of course she was pregnant most of the years that she shopped downtown in the 1950s.

 

Another thing she remembers was a Nieman-Marcus store in downtown Houston.  This store was a few blocks from Sakowitz on the same side of the street, my mother recalls. She said she went to a bridal show there and won a $100 drawing.    She thought Niemans in Houston was bought out by another store way back when.  

 

The restaurant at the Sakowitz Main Street store was called the Sky Terrace. Each day during lunch, models wearing the latest styles would circulate among the tables. I was maid of honor in a cousin's wedding and hosted a luncheon for her there.

 

Neiman Marcus opened its first Houston store in the mid-1950's. It was located in the 900 block of Main Street in a space formerly occupied by The Fashion, an upscale apparel store.The Kirby Theatre (since demolished) was in the same block. Neiman's moved into its Galleria store in 1970.

 

After graduating from college, I briefly worked in the Sakowitz advertising department. That store's owners desperately wanted for it to be regarded as a fashion leader equal to -- or better than --  Neiman Marcus. It never quite happened.

[Earlydays]

My wife used to model teenage fashions at the downtown Neiman Marcus store when she was in high school in the 60's......

[GEM]

 

[IronTiger]

I wish that there were "before and after" pictures of old Sakowitz and the current garage (which you can see traces of, such as tile) but I'm sure that would end up angering and depressing people.

[ArchFan]

Sakowitz was one of my mother's favorite stores in downtown.  She says Sakowitz had a restaurant or tea room that was a frequent haunt of hers on shopping trips. Even my father who worked downtown ate there on occasion.  She recalls a dessert composed of a ball of caramelized ice cream sprinkled with pecans.  Yum!  Of course she was pregnant most of the years that she shopped downtown in the 1950s.

 

Another thing she remembers was a Nieman-Marcus store in downtown Houston.  This store was a few blocks from Sakowitz on the same side of the street, my mother recalls. She said she went to a bridal show there and won a $100 drawing.    She thought Niemans in Houston was bought out by another store way back when.  

 

I remember visiting that store with my mom when i was a kid.  The Sky Terrace Restaurant sounds familiar, but I can't remember any details.  I do remember the Young Men's Shop and I think they had a salon for women to have their hair done ... I think I waited endlessly for my mom to get out of that.

 

I also have a brief memory of visiting the Nieman Marcus store on Main St. and being impressed.  When I visited the flagship store in downtown Dallas in about 1970, I was even more impressed.  Perhaps today it would seem tacky and pretentious, but it was fun for a kid to get that feel, kinda like being transported into the movie "Giant".

 

The Battelsteins on Shepherd was pretty nice, too.  I'm sure they had a downtown store as well, perhaps next door to Nieman's.

[ArchFan]

The downtown Foley's was a lot more fun, even though not as upscale.  So many departments with such a variety of things that one could not find available in a single store elsewhere.  At Christmas, the moving mechanical displays in the street-facing windows were fascinating for kids. 

[txn4art]

The downtown Foley's was a lot more fun, even though not as upscale.  So many departments with such a variety of things that one could not find available in a single store elsewhere.  At Christmas, the moving mechanical displays in the street-facing windows were fascinating for kids. 

 

Yes, they were wonderful! What a shame that show windows have virtually disappeared, as well as the art of creating fantastic displays. They still exist in upscale stores in NYC where there's foot traffic-- Tiffany and lLord & Taylor come to mind. And no -- a glass wall overlooking the mall or street is NOT a show window!

 

Another Houston store that had amazing mechanical window displays on a very small scale was Allan and Caspersen Jewelers. I think they were located on Milam Street. I've heard that these mechanical displays were periodically exchanged between jewelry stores in different U.S. cities and today are sought after by collectors.

[Shamrock1949]

While this may be a little late, in answer to why Sakowitz closed in 1990.  The original Sakowitz feel victim to over expansion when oil collapsed  and then the real estate market in the southwest followed suit, in the ensuing credit crunch, most of the regional savings and loans as well as many of the banks failed.  In 1985 Sakowitz Inc filed for bankruptcy.  The company emerged from bankruptcy a smaller company, but the majority ownership was held now by an Australian Real Estate Developer, L.J. Hooker.  By 1990 Sakowitz was profitable, but L.J. Hooker fell into bankruptcy.  The bankruptcy court tried to find a buyer for Sakowitz so it was liquidated.  https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/06/06/Finding-no-buyers-Sakowitz-stores-to-be-liquidated/4891644644800/