The John Shillito Co. began as a dry-goods store in 1830. Shillito’s outgrew their building on Fourth Street, and in 1878 moved to a spacious emporium, “the dry goods palace of the world,” at Seventh and Race streets. The enormous store, designed by James W. McLaughlin, featured an atrium with a large octagonal skylight and a grand wrought-iron staircase. The building was renovated in an art deco style in 1937.
Shillito’s was purchased by the F. & R. Lazarus Co. in 1928, briefly merged with Dayton-based Rike’s in 1982, and then became Lazarus in 1986. The landmark Shillito’s building closed in 1997 when Lazarus moved to Fountain Place, and is now used as the Shillito Lofts.
The George W. McAlpin Co. dated back to 1852, as a wholesale firm. In 1880, McAlpin’s moved from their store on Pearl Street into the former Shillito’s store at 13 W. Fourth St., which would be their downtown home for more than a century. In 1892, the company switched from a wholesaler to a retailer.
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McAlpin’s was the first Cincinnati department store to open a suburban store, their Western Hills location in 1954. Parent company Mercantile Stores was bought by Dillard’s in 1998, and all the McAlpin’s stores became Dillard’s. The historic downtown store had closed in 1996, and was converted into the McAlpin luxury condominiums in 2006.
For generations, the clock in front of McAlpin’s served as a rendezvous point for shoppers and young couples. The timepiece made by the Verdin Co. is now in the Heritage Village Museum in Sharon Woods.
Pogue’s
The H. & S. Pogue Co., or simply Pogue’s, was founded in 1863 when brothers Henry and Samuel Pogue took over their uncle’s dry-goods store. Pogue’s was a fixture at Fourth and Race streets starting in 1878, while the landmark store designed by Henry Hake opened in 1916. Pogue’s eventually extended into Carew Tower as well.
The name was changed to L.S. Ayres shortly before the old Pogue’s building was demolished in 1988 to make way for Tower Place Mall attached to Carew Tower. The Pogue’s garage one block over was torn down in 2016.
Alms & Doepke
The Alms & Doepke department store filled an entire block along Central Parkway from Main to Sycamore. The massive store was built in stages, with buildings designed by Samuel Hannaford and Daniel Burnham.
The company was a three-way partnership between brothers William and Frederick Alms, and their cousin William Doepke, started in 1865. By 1900 it was the second largest dry-goods store west of New York. To attract customers to the edge of Over-the-Rhine, Alms & Doepke offered their own buses in a loop around the shopping district.
Alms & Doepke closed in 1955. The building currently houses Hamilton County Department of Jobs and Family Services.
Mabley & Carew
Mabley & Carew, founded in 1877 by C.R. Mabley and J.T. Carew, occupied three different corners at Fifth and Vine streets. The building, designed by McLaughlin in 1889, was at the current location of Fountain Square and helped to transform the area into the heart of the city.
Carew had vowed to clean up the southwest corner, and built the Carew Building in 1891, which was replaced by Carew Tower. Mabley & Carew moved into Carew Tower in 1930, and moved again into the old Rollman’s department store building on the northwest corner in 1962 after a complete makeover of the building that encased it in a modern brick façade.
Mabley & Carew was purchased by Elder-Beerman in 1978 and the Downtown store closed in 1985. The building was torn down in 1991 to build Fountain Place in 1997, which included Tiffany’s & Co. and Lazarus (later Macy’s). The original Mabley & Carew building was razed in 1965 for the remodeled Fountain Square.
Rollman & Sons
The Rollman & Sons Co. began as a mercantile company in 1867 by Isaac Rollman and his sons. Billed as “Cincinnati’s most progressive store,” they constantly expanded their space on Fifth Street, west of Vine.
The 12-story Rollman’s building on the corner opened in 1923, and expanded into the Havlin Hotel next door in 1947. Allied Stores Corp. purchased both Rollman’s and Mabley & Carew, and in 1962 moved Mabley & Carew into the Rollman’s space.
Tea rooms
Many of the Downtown department stores were noted for their elegant tea rooms, lunchrooms where ladies could take a break from shopping and enjoy tasty dishes and desserts.
Among the memorable tea rooms were Shillito’s Tea Room, McAlpin’s Tea Room, the Camargo Room at Pogue’s and the Fountain Room at Mabley & Carew.
