Sage-Allen

Last updated

Sage-Allen was a mid-market department store chain based in Hartford, Connecticut. The store was a fixture in southern New England and anchored a number of smaller local and regional shopping centers in Connecticut, Massachusetts and, later, New Hampshire, until it ceased operation in 1994.

Contents

History

Known for its apparel, home goods, accessories and children's wear, the downtown Hartford flagship store was considered a smaller but respected rival to the larger and dominant G. Fox & Co. store a block away. Sage-Allen participated in the wave of post-World War II suburban expansion much earlier than G. Fox and first opened in a number of smaller village center locales prior to the more modern shopping centers and mall locations it would later occupy.

The company began a slow decline in the mid to late 1980s which was accelerated by the severe economic recession that hit the region in the early 1990s. In a move to bolster the retailer's profitability, a merger was formed with another small regional department store chain, Addis & Dey's, located in Syracuse, New York. In spite of efforts by Sage-Dey, as the merged company was called, to strengthen its economic base, it filed for Chapter 11 in 1992 and ceased operations in 1994.

Sage-Allen Building

The Sage-Allen flagship store building in downtown Hartford, built in 1898, has been restored and now contains both retail space and luxury apartments. [1] The store was known for the free-standing 'Sage-Allen' clock, a local landmark, that was located on the Main Street sidewalk in front of the store until the clock was damaged in a windstorm in 1992. The clock was later repaired and erected on another sidewalk in the city. Its importance as a Main Street landmark was known to the re-developers of the Sage-Allen building, and a deal was struck to return the clock to its traditional place. A clock specialist was called upon to restart the clock after its return to Main Street in the summer of 2007.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gimbels</span> Defunct American department store

Gimbel Brothers was an American department store corporation that operated for over a century, from 1842 until 1987. Gimbel patriarch Adam Gimbel opened his first store in Vincennes, Indiana, in 1842. In 1887, the company moved its operations to the Gimbel Brothers Department Store in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It became a chain when it opened a second, larger store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1894, moving its headquarters there. At the urging of future company president Bernard Gimbel, grandson of the founder, the company expanded to New York City in 1910.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaufmann's</span> Department store that originated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Kaufmann's was a department store that originated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Bon Marché</span> Defunct department store chain based in Seattle

The Bon Marché, whose French name translates to "the good market" or "the good deal", was a department store chain launched in Seattle, Washington, United States, in 1890 by Edward Nordhoff. The name was influenced by Le Bon Marché, the noted Parisian retailer.

The Civic Center Mall, located in downtown Hartford, was a three level, enclosed shopping mall and office complex built in 1974 as part of a large downtown urban redevelopment project. It was previously the commercial portion of a four block square megastructure-type development, The Hartford Civic Center complex, which also contains a multi-purpose coliseum, an exhibition and trade show center, structured parking and a 330-room Sheraton hotel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Filene's</span> Defunct department store chain in the northeastern US

Filene's was an American department store chain; it was founded by William Filene in 1881. The success of the original full-line store in Boston, Massachusetts, was supplemented by the foundation of its off-price sister store Filene's Basement in 1908. Filene's, in partnership with Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, and Shillito's, was an original member of the holding company Federated Department Stores upon its establishment in 1929.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Columbia Building</span> Building in Los Angeles, USA

The Eastern Columbia Building, also known as the Eastern Columbia Lofts, is a thirteen-story Art Deco building designed by Claud Beelman located at 849 S. Broadway in the Broadway Theater District of Downtown Los Angeles. It opened on September 12, 1930, after just nine months of construction. It was built at a cost of $1.25 million as the new headquarters and 39th store for the Eastern-Columbia Department Store, whose component Eastern and Columbia stores were founded by Adolph Sieroty and family. At the time of construction, the City of Los Angeles enforced a height limit of 150 feet (46 m), however the decorative clock tower was granted an exemption, allowing the clock a total height of 264 feet (80 m). J. V. McNeil Company was the general contractor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forbes & Wallace</span> American department store chain

Forbes and Wallace was an American department store chain based in Springfield, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constitution Plaza</span>

Constitution Plaza is a large commercial mixed-use development in Downtown Hartford, Connecticut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Read's Department Stores</span> Now-defunt department store chain

Read's Department Stores was a Bridgeport, Connecticut-based retail chain founded in 1857 by D. M. Read. Known for its classy, upscale merchandise, it was once hailed as New England's largest department store.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">G. Fox & Co.</span>

G. Fox & Co. was a large department store that originated in Hartford, Connecticut. It was the largest privately held department store in the nation when it was sold in 1965 to the May Department Stores Company. In 1993, May Department stores phased-out the G. Fox & Co. brand, converting them into the Boston-based department store Filene's. In 2005, the May Company merged with Federated Department Stores which converted the store and several other regional chains to Macy's.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westfarms</span> Shopping mall

Westfarms is a shopping mall on the West Hartford–Farmington town line in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was opened in 1974, expanded in 1982 and 1995–1997, and remodeled in 2008–2009. With 1,267,000 square feet (117,700 m2) of gross leasable area, Westfarms is the third-largest mall in Connecticut. It is located on Route 71, off the I-84 and Route 9 junction and near several open-air shopping plazas. The mall is owned and managed by Taubman Centers, a subsidiary of Simon Property Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">S. Klein</span> Defunct department store franchise in New York City

S. Klein On The Square, or simply S. Klein, was a popular priced department store chain based in New York City. The flagship stores were located along Union Square East in Manhattan; this location would combine with the 1920s idiomatic catch phrase "on the square" to provide the subtitle. S. Klein positioned itself as a step above regional discount stores of its time, more fashion aware than E. J. Korvette, and a more affordable option compared to traditional department stores like Macy's, or Abraham & Straus. S. Klein stores were full-line department stores, including furniture departments, fur salons, and full service pet departments.

Porteous, Mitchell & Braun Co., or simply Porteous, was a mid-market department store based in Portland, Maine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marshall Field and Company Building</span> United States historic place

The Marshall Field and Company Building, which now houses Macy's State Street in Chicago, Illinois, was built in two stages—north end in 1901–02 and south end in 1905–06, and was the flagship location of the Marshall Field and Company and Marshall Field's chain of department stores. Since 2006, it is the main Chicago mid-western location of the Macy's department stores. The building is located in the Chicago "Loop" area of the downtown central business district in Cook County, Illinois, U.S.A., and it takes up the entire city block bounded clockwise from the west by North State Street, East Randolph Street, North Wabash Avenue, and East Washington Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bond Clothing Stores</span>

Bond Clothing Stores, Bond Clothes, Bond Clothiers, or Bond Stores, was a men's clothing manufacturing company and retailer. The company catered to the middle-class consumer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downtown Hartford</span> City in Connecticut, United States

Downtown Hartford, Connecticut is the primary business district and the center of Connecticut's state government. Due to the large number of insurance companies headquartered downtown, Hartford is known as the "Insurance Capital of the World".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Department Store Historic District</span> Historic district in Connecticut, United States

The Department Store Historic District is a historic district in the Downtown Hartford neighborhood of the city of Hartford, Connecticut, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steiger's</span> Former American department store

Steiger's was a department store company of New England in the 19th and 20th centuries. Founded in Holyoke, Massachusetts in 1896, its flagship store for much of the company's history was in Springfield, Massachusetts. At the time of its purchase by May Department Stores, Steiger's was described as the last family-owned chain of department stores in New England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amos Bull House</span> Historic house in Connecticut, United States

The Amos Bull House is a historic house at 59 South Prospect Street in Hartford, Connecticut. Built about 1788, it is one of only a few surviving 18th-century buildings in the city. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1968. It presently houses the main offices of Connecticut Landmarks, a historic preservation organization.

Milliron's Westchester, later The Broadway-Westchester, was a department store at 8739 S. Sepulveda Blvd., in Westchester, Los Angeles, designed by architect Victor Gruen. Its original design was considered a landmark in exterior architecture of retail stores, although much of the original design is no longer present. The building now houses a Kohl's.

References

  1. Connecticut Preservation Awards 2008, Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation