J. C. Penney Store (Anchorage, Alaska)

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J. C. Penney building in Anchorage JCPenny building in Anchorage (46820539225).jpg
J. C. Penney building in Anchorage

The J. C. Penney Store in Anchorage, Alaska is a department store and part of the United States retail chain J. C. Penney. The store was established in 1962 on Fifth Avenue in downtown Anchorage, making J. C. Penney one of the first national retailers to establish a presence in the state following Alaska's admission to the union as the 49th state in 1959. The store has been housed in two buildings on the same Fifth Avenue site since it opened.

Anchorage, Alaska Consolidated city-borough in Alaska, United States

Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the U.S. state of Alaska, on the West Coast of the United States. With an estimated 291,538 residents in 2018, it is Alaska's most populous city and contains more than 40% of the state's population; among the 50 states, only New York has a higher percentage of residents who live in its most populous city. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Matanuska-Susitna Borough, had a population of 399,148 in 2018, accounting for more than half the state's population. At 1,706 square miles (4,420 km2) of land area, the city is the fourth-largest by area in the United States and larger than the smallest state, Rhode Island, which has 1,212 square miles (3,140 km2).

Department store Retail establishment; building which offers a wide range of consumer goods

A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different product categories known as "departments". In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic appearance in the middle of the 19th century, and permanently reshaped shopping habits, and the definition of service and luxury. Similar developments were under way in London, in Paris and in New York.

United States Federal republic in North America

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country comprising 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the most populous city is New York City. Most of the country is located contiguously in North America between Canada and Mexico.

Contents

The store's original site, known locally as The Penney Building, was effectively destroyed during the 1964 Alaska earthquake. It was one of the larger buildings in Anchorage to fall due to the shaking, rather than to ensuing landslides. A larger store was rebuilt on the same location, which later included a parking garage on an adjacent block connected by a skywalk. These structures and the later Northern Commercial Company department store (which was purchased by Nordstrom several years after it was built), formed the foundation of the 5th Avenue Mall. The building currently features a Whaling Wall mural along its west wall.

1964 Alaska earthquake First-largest earthquake in history

The 1964 Alaskan earthquake, also known as the Great Alaskan earthquake and Good Friday earthquake, occurred at 5:36 PM AKST on Good Friday, March 27. Across south-central Alaska, ground fissures, collapsing structures, and tsunamis resulting from the earthquake caused about 131 deaths.

Nordstrom Inc. is an American chain of luxury department stores, also operating in Canada and headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1901 by Swedish American John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin, the company began as a shoe retailer and expanded its inventory to include clothing, accessories, handbags, jewelry, cosmetics, and fragrances. Select Nordstrom stores also include wedding and home furnishings departments. The company also has in-house cafes, restaurants and espresso bars. Nordstrom, Inc.'s common stock is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol JWN.

History

The original Penney Building in Anchorage in 1964, following the earthquake. 1964 Alaska Quake Penney Bldg.jpg
The original Penney Building in Anchorage in 1964, following the earthquake.
The J. C. Penney parking garage as it appeared from the corner of Sixth Avenue and E Street in August 2015. 6th Avenue in downtown Anchorage, Alaska.jpg
The J. C. Penney parking garage as it appeared from the corner of Sixth Avenue and E Street in August 2015.

J. C. Penney built its first Alaska store in 1962, located on the southwest corner of Fifth Avenue and D Street in downtown Anchorage. The company acquired the site by executing a 55-year lease with Hoyt Motors, one of Anchorage's earliest automobile dealerships. [1] Hoyt Motors folded upon vacating the site, part of a trend in early 1960s Anchorage of dealerships changing ownership and moving out of downtown and to the Glenn Highway and Seward Highway corridors.

Downtown Anchorage human settlement in Anchorage, Alaska, United States of America

Downtown Anchorage is a neighborhood in the U.S. city of Anchorage, Alaska. Considered the central business district of Anchorage, Downtown has many office buildings, cultural points of interest, shopping areas, as well as dining and nightlife attractions. Today's Downtown was the original site of the Anchorage Land Auction in 1915, which gave rise to today's present-day grid street pattern. The actual original townsite was a tent city located off the banks of Ship Creek, at present-day Government Hill.

The Glenn Highway is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska, extending 179 miles (288 km) from Anchorage near Merrill Field to Glennallen on the Richardson Highway. The Tok Cut-Off is often considered part of the Glenn Highway, for a total length of 328 miles (528 km).

The Seward Highway is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska that extends 125 miles (201 km) from Seward to Anchorage. It was completed in 1951 and runs through the scenic Kenai Peninsula, Chugach National Forest, Turnagain Arm, and Kenai Mountains. The Seward Highway is numbered Alaska Route 9 (AK-9) for the first 37 miles (60 km) from Seward to the Sterling Highway and AK-1 for the remaining distance to Anchorage. At the junction with the Sterling Highway, AK-1 turns west towards Sterling and Homer. About eight miles (13 km) of the Seward Highway leading into Anchorage is built to freeway standards. In Anchorage, the Seward Highway terminates at an intersection with 5th Avenue, which AK-1 is routed to, and which then leads to the Glenn Highway freeway.

The Penney Building in Anchorage was five stories tall and almost 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2) in size. It partially collapsed and was damaged beyond repair during the 1964 Alaska earthquake. Precast concrete wall panels (one story tall and about as wide apiece) fell to the streets below during the shaking, which resulted in deaths as well as near-misses. [2] [3] The company continued to sell its wares, operating out of rented storefront space and its warehouse on East Fifth Avenue. The Penney Building was torn down to its foundation and was rebuilt as a three-story building, [2] with the footprint slightly more than doubled to extend south to Sixth Avenue.

Precast concrete construction product produced by casting concrete in a reusable mold

Precast concrete is a construction product produced by casting concrete in a reusable mold or "form" which is then cured in a controlled environment, transported to the construction site and lifted into place. In contrast, standard concrete is poured into site-specific forms and cured on site. Precast stone is distinguished from precast concrete using a fine aggregate in the mixture, so the final product approaches the appearance of naturally occurring rock or stone. More recently expanded polystyrene is being used as the cores to precast wall panels. This is lightweight and has better thermal insulation.

The loss of parking which resulted, led the company to construct Anchorage's first public parking garage, which opened in 1968. [4] The garage is connected to the store by a second-level skywalk spanning Sixth Avenue. Over the decades, the garage's ground level, known mostly as the Penney Mall, housed a variety of retail businesses, both operated by the company and by other merchants. A People Mover "mini transit center" was located underneath the entrance ramp for many years. It was torn down when the bus stops for the Penney Mall and the federal building on Seventh Avenue were moved elsewhere. Another structure currently occupies that space.

People Mover (Anchorage)

The People Mover is the public transportation agency that serves metropolitan Anchorage, Alaska. It is owned and operated by the Municipality of Anchorage, with service primarily within city limits as well as Eagle River.

The store, along with the front portion of the Reeve Building directly across D Street, was integrated with the design of the 5th Avenue Mall when it was built in 1987. The construction of the mall led to the vacation of that block of D Street. As a result, the store's eastern entrance was reconstructed to let out directly into the mall on multiple floors.

Robert Campbell Reeve Pioneering aviator, founder of Reeve Aleutian Airways

Robert Campbell "Bob" Reeve was the founder of Reeve Aleutian Airways.

Other J.C. Penney locations in Alaska

J. C. Penney also constructed a store in Fairbanks, which opened in 1966. It was located in Alaska's first urban renewal district. Several blocks of downtown Fairbanks, which previously consisted mostly of log cabins, including a former red-light district, were cleared, and a block of Sixth Avenue was vacated. In its place were constructed large office and commercial buildings, with the Penney store and a state office and courthouse building (the latter building currently home to the UAF Community and Technical College) the largest. Safeway and Woolworth's also built stores in this area at around the same time. The Fairbanks store, particularly its second floor, served as a refuge during another natural disaster, the 1967 flood.

The company closed this store in 1998 during a nationwide round of store closings. The building is currently owned by a local furniture retailer, Sadler's Home Furnishings. [ citation needed ]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Book Committee (1996). "Jordet, Willard and Irene". Fond Memories of Anchorage Pioneers (First ed.). Anchorage: Igloo 15 and Auxiliary 4, Pioneers of Alaska. p. 115. LCCN   95-083083.
  2. 1 2 Cohen, Stan B. (1995). 8.6: The Great Alaska Earthquake, March 27, 1964. Missoula: Pictorial Histories Publishing. pp. 6–7. ISBN   0-929521-96-X.
  3. ↑ Cole, Dermot (2008). "The 1964 Good Friday earthquake". North To The Future. Kenmore: Epicenter Press. p. 93. ISBN   978-0-9800825-3-1.
  4. ↑ Cole, North To The Future, p. 225

Coordinates: 61°13′03″N149°53′22″W / 61.21745°N 149.88943°W / 61.21745; -149.88943

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