Wikipedia

Sakowitz

Sakowitz was a men's clothing store which grew into a small chain of family-owned high-end department stores based in Houston, Texas. It operated from 1902 until 1990. Sakowitz was responsible for launching many of the now-famous European fashion designers in America - among them Andre' Courreges, Yves St. Laurent Rive Gauche, Zandra Rhoades, Givenchy, and Erminegildo Zegna. The Sakowitz catalogues were mailed to all fifty states and abroad.

Sakowitz
Company typedepartment store (former)
Industryretail
Founded1902; 122 years ago (1902)
FounderTobias & Simon Sakowitz
Defunct1990; 34 years ago (1990)
Headquarters
Houston, Texas
,
United States
Area served
Primarily Texas, some presence in Arizona, Oklahoma, Ohio
Productsclothing, footwear, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, furs

History

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Origins

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Leebe Shaikovich, was an Ashkenazi Jewish man from Korostyshiv, Volhynia, today part of Ukraine, but at that time part of the Russian Empire. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1886, where his name was changed upon arrival to Louis Sakowitz. In Galveston, Texas, Louis began a peddler business, taking orders and delivering clothes on a bicycle to the many merchant seamen. Then, he and his son Samuel opened a small store near the wharves, while brothers Simon and Tobias worked elsewhere around town, for the time being. But in 1902 they opened the Sakowitz Brothers gentlemen's haberdashery in Galveston at 2113 Market Street, then expanded into booming Houston in 1911 at 308 Main Street, which Simon ran while Tobias ran the then-larger Galveston operation.[1][2][3] The location in Galveston was closed in 1917 and consolidated into the Houston store.[citation needed]

Downtown Houston flagship

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By 1929, the original Houston store on 308 Main Street had relocated to the Gulf Building at 720 Main Street by noted Houston architect Alfred C. Finn.

In 1951, Sakowitz moved again to a five story, modernist store at 1111 Main Street (Dallas and Main) also designed by Finn. This was the first time that Sakowitz truly "ran a department store", as it now directly managed the women's (and several other) departments, which prior to then had been franchised to other operators.[1]

The store, whose exterior has been kept but whose interior has been turned into a parking garage, contained:[4]

  • 8,073 feet of polished and antique mirrors
  • 10,872 incandescent and fluorescent lamps
  • 32 public telephones
  • 205 store telephones
  • 254,000 sq ft (23,597 m2) of space
  • The landmark Sky Terrace restaurant
  • 2 “Red Reminder” phones. Phones at the store’s entrances that can be used to call any department in case a patron overlooked an item while shopping.

Expansion

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In 1956, Sakowitz opened its first suburban location at Gulfgate Mall.[1]

In 1959, a large, 187,000 sq ft (17,373 m2), freestanding store was opened on Westheimer Road at Post Oak near The Galleria.[5]

Eventually, the chain expanded to 16 locations, of which 14 were in Texas, one in Scottsdale, Arizona and another in Tulsa, Oklahoma.[6]

Sakowitz II format

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Some of the new sububrban stores were designated as the "Sakowitz II" format, essentially junior department stores, smaller in scale and targeting markets within a 3-to-5-mile (5-to-8 km) radius of each store, rather than 5-to-20-mile (8-to-32 km) like full-line stores did. The Champions Village store was the first in 1978; another in Clear Lake City (a.k.a. Ports O'Call or NASA), followed in 1979.[7]Such locations included Champions Village in Northwest Houston, and near NASA.[5][3][8]

There were purposefully no floor-to-ceiling walls in the Sakowitz II stores, and salespeople could wait on customers in different parts of the stores – men's, women's and children's; apparel, accessories and shoes. The smaller stores followed what Sakowitz's "I.D.A."merchandising strategy: innovational, directional and acceptational. Innovational fashion at the store's center, directional areas radiate from there, and acceptational merchandise lined the edges.[7]

1985 bankruptcy

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By 1985, Sakowitz stores all together totalled 1,100,000 sq ft (102,193 m2) in area. That year, an overextended Sakowitz filed for bankruptcy, and as part of the plan, they closed or sold off all the stores outside Greater Houston, as well as the 225,000 sq ft (20,903 m2) downtown Houston store and the Gulfgate Mall location. Four profitable stores remained, all in suburban Houston:[9] Post Oak, Town & Country, and two smaller stores at Clear View (NASA Road) and Champions.

Hooker ownership

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In the late 1980s, Australian developer L. J. Hooker proposed an upscale mall in suburban Cincinnati, Ohio, Forest Fair Mall, now Forest Fair Village. Hooker's plans called for Sakowitz to be one of the mall's anchor stores, along with B. Altman and Bonwit Teller, two upscale chains based in New York City.

In 1988, Hooker purchased controlling interest in all three chains so that they could open locations at the new mall and a number of other malls that it had already planned or envisioned, including the proposed Lake Fair Mall in Tampa, Florida,[10] as well as two New York State malls, Carousel Plaza (now Destiny USA) in Syracuse,[11][12] and Walden Galleria in suburban Buffalo. Sakowitz opened its store there on March 31, 1989.[13]

Liquidation

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Only a few months after opening the Cincinnati mall with three of its department store, on August 9, 1989, Hooker filed for bankruptcy, due to debt accrued from its U.S. expansion.[14] sold B. Altman back to its former owner, but proceeded to liquidate both Bonwit Teller and Sakowitz.[15]

Over the course of 1990, all Sakowitz locations were closed, along with the Bonwit Teller and B. Altman chains.[16]

Sakowitz Furs remains

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Starting in 1976 originally Evans Fur Company leased Sakowitz' fur salons with Jerry Gronauer as manager. In 1986, Gronauer left Evans and started leasing the salon space from Sakowitz himself, and with his son, and the Gronauers continue to operate in a store near the old Post Oak Sakowitz store.[17]

Table of stores

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Table of Sakowitz stores
Store Name Store type Opened[18] Closed Metro area Suburb or Neighborhood Shopping Center Size
sq
ft[18] 		Size
sq
m
Galveston Men's & Boys 1902[1] 1917[1] Galveston, Texas 2113 Market Street[1]
Downtown Houston
1st location 		Men's 1911[1] 1917[1] Houston Downtown 308 Main Street[1]
Downtown Houston
2nd location 		Men's & Boys' 1917[1] 1929[1] Houston Downtown Main and Preston,
Kiam Building[1]
Downtown Houston
3rd location 		Full-line Apr 15, 1929[1] 1951[1] Houston Downtown Gulf Building,
Main and Rusk[1] 		60,000[1] 5,574
The store launched with a grand celebration, with 25,000 expected to attend. No sales were permitted, the party was only to show off the elegant new large store. Decorated with art deco chandeliers, tall columns, and glass showcases. Featured a grand staircase leading up to the mezzanine and higher floors.[1]
Downtown Houston
4th location 		Full-line* 1951[1] 1990[1] Houston Downtown 1111 Main Street 254,000[4] 23,600
Alfred C. Finn. architect. 5 stories. Sky Terrace restaurant. The exterior remains, but inside has been converted to a parking garage.
Shamrock Hotel Men's Shop 1952[7] closed Houston Downtown Shamrock Hotel[7]
Gulfgate Mall Full-line 1956[7] 1985 Houston East End Gulfgate Mall 128,900 11,980
Post Oak Full-line Mar 1959[7] 1990 Houston Galleria area Westheimer and Post Oak 187,000 17,400
5000 Westheimer Road, on the northwest corner of Post Oak Boulevard. Colonial style architecture. Expanded in 1970. Old Colony Restaurant and Crazy Calorie fast casual restaurants. Demolished, now the site of The Centre at Post Oak retail and dining complex.[19]
Town & Country Village Full-line 1967[7] 1990[20] Houston Memorial City Town & Country Village[7]
At its center, the store had a prominent fountain with small green hued mosaic tiles and a metal sculpture from which water sprayed.
Amarillo Full-line 1969[7] 1985[21] Amarillo, Texas[7] Western Crossing mall
Sakowitz merged with White & Kirk, a local Amarillo store founded in 1897 as White's Cash Store at 6th and Polk. In 1903 it became White & Kirk. In 1910 it ceased selling groceries and soon most other general merchandise, becoming an apparel store mostly for women. It moved into a new downtown store opened in 1938, which later expanded, adding a men's department, and again after merging with and expanding into the Trolinger-Smith store. It opened a store in the Western Crossing shopping center in 1968.[22] Sold to and rebranded as Dunlaps in 1985.[21][23]
Yves St. Laurent Boutique Dallas Boutique 1973[7] closed Dallas North Dallas 4400 Lovers Lane[24]
Scottsdale AZ[6] Full-line 1974[7] Mar 9, 1986[25] Phoenix Scottsdale[7] Camelview Plaza
Champions Sakowitz II 1978[7] 1990 Houston 1960/Cypress (NW Houston) Champions Village[7]
Valentino Boutique Dallas Boutique 1978[7] closed Dallas North Dallas 4400 Lovers Lane[24]
Clear Lake Sakowitz II Aug 1979[7] 1990 Houston Clear Lake City
NASA area,
Nassau Bay 		Ports O'Call Fashion Mall[7] 31,500 2,930
1400 NASA Boulevard, now site of Mid Towne Plaza strip mall. Opened by Bernard and Robert Sakowitz with a "fog-cutting" ceremony. The Galveston Daily News wrote: "…jewel of a store…the interior……utilizes angular and curving walls, varying ceiling height and floor levels, a dramatic marble center well with clerestoried skylight which all belnd to create an unusual spatial experience resembling a vertical diamond. Counter fixtures are made of early American Appalachian white oak and glass, and others are angular plexiglass and chrome. The floor covering are in gradations of gray blend with the textural wall surfaces in navy lacquer, salmon suede and natural hemp creating a complementary effect to the spatial experience."[7]
Dallas Full-line 1980[7] 1985[26] Dallas North Dallas Sakowitz Village (now Village on the Parkway)[27][7]
Tulsa OK Full-line 1980 1985[26] Tulsa Southern Hills Kensington Galleria[6]
(now Kensington Business Center) 		70,000[6] 6,503
Midland TX Full-line 1980[28] 1985[26] Midland, Texas[6] West Loop 250 North Midland Park Mall
Cincinnati OH[14] Full-line Mar 31, 1989[13] closed Cincinnati[6] Forest Park and Fairfield, Ohio Forest Fair Mall

*full-line department store

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Zapata, Johnny. "Sakowitz: a Legend in Houston Retail" (PDF). Houston History. 16 (2). Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  2. ^ "Simon Sakowitz". Handbook of Texas. Retrieved 2007-12-13.
  3. ^ a b "Bernard Sakowitz". Handbook of Texas. Retrieved 2007-12-13.
  4. ^ a b December 18, J. R. Gonzales on (18 December 2009). "Ever shopped at Sakowitz?". Bayou City History. Retrieved 13 November 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ a b Fraser, Bruce (31 October 1978). "Sakowitz 'capsulizing'". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. 17. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Blosser, J. B. (7 March 1984). "Sakowitz in Tulsa market". The Kilgore News Herald. p. 8. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u "New Sakowitz store opens with 'fog-cutting'". The Galveston Daily News. Nassau Bay. 12 August 1979. p. 42. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  8. ^ "Buck horns in on yuletide shopping at ritzy store". The Deseret News. May 1980. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
  9. ^ Reinhold, Robert; Times, Special To the New York (2 August 1985). "THE DOWNFALL OF SAKOWITZ". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  10. ^ "Bankruptcies maul projects // LJ Hooker abandons mall plans". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  11. ^ "Pyramid may be facing competition for Bonwit". The Buffalo News. 13 March 1990. p. 18. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  12. ^ Mador, James T. (8 December 1989). "Sale of Bonwit seen not affecting Galleria unit". The Buffalo News. p. 6. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  13. ^ a b "Sakowitz a long way from Texas". The Cincinnati Enquirer. 31 March 1989. p. 43. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  14. ^ a b Josten, Margaret (August 4, 1990). "Hooker wants OK to close 3 Forest Fair Mall stores". The Cincinnati Enquirer. pp. A1, A4. Archived from the original on February 19, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  15. ^ Mitchell, Donna (January 2003). "Forest Fair finds a savior in Mills Corp". ICSC.org. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-12-13.
  16. ^ "Sakowitz Stores To Be Auctioned". The New York Times. 1990-05-25. Retrieved 2007-12-13.
  17. ^ "Jerry Gronauer Owner of Sakowitz Furs". YouTube. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  18. ^ a b "NMG | Store Footprint". www.neimanmarcusgroup.com. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  19. ^ "Sakowitz". Carbon-izer.com (blog). Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  20. ^ Hassell, Greg. "Sakowitz ends an era, closing shop/420 employees to lose jobs after liquidation." Houston Chronicle. Thursday June 7, 1990. A1. Retrieved on October 25, 2012.
  21. ^ a b "Sakowitz, the exclusive department store chain that last week..." UPI. 9 August 1985. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  22. ^ Lawrence, Larry (12 June 1969). "Sakowitz to merge with Amarillo retailer". The Amarillo Globe-Times. p. 53. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  23. ^ Fuquay, Jim (9 August 1985). "Fort Worth firm buys Amarillo Sakowitz store". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. 77. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  24. ^ a b Schiro, Anne-Marie (4 August 1984). "IN DALLAS, A FEAST FOR THE CAREFUL SHOPPER". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  25. ^ "Sakowitz store closes Sunday". Arizona Republic. 8 March 1986. p. 19. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  26. ^ a b c "Sakowitz to close five stores, reorganize". The Galveston Daily News. 29 August 1985. p. 14. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  27. ^ Anspon, Catherine D. (28 December 2018). "The Real Story of the Sakowitz Department Store Empire: A Look Back at a Houston Institution That's Gone". PaperCity Magazine. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  28. ^ "Search the Midland Reporter-Telegram Archive". nl.newsbank.com. Retrieved 2015-07-12.
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