The Crescent, Spokane, Washington


View of The Crescent from a 1974 Ad after the store was enlarged and remodeled for Expo '74

Earlier view of The Crescent from the Wall Street side

The Crescent  (Spokane Dry Goods Co.)
Riverside, Main & Wall
Spokane, Washington


DOWNTOWN STORE DIRECTORY (426,000 sq.ft.)
Street Floor
Accessories • Notions • Fine Jewelry • Fashion Jewelry • Handbags • Wonderful World of Cosmetics • Hat Bar • Cosmetic Accessories Scarves • Blouses • Hosiery • Gloves • Lingerie • Fashion Footwear • Miss Spokane Sportswear • Candy • Gourmet Shop • Flower Stall • Cameras • Shavers • Stationary • Adult Games • The Answer Shop • Books
Store for Men Men’s Clothing • Men’s Shoes • Men’s Sportswear • Men’s Accessories • Men’s Furnishings • Boy’s Shop

Second Floor
Sportswear • Active Sportswear • Midway Shop • 7/15 Shop • Dress Salon • Young Moderns Sportswear • Young Moderns Shoes • Millinery • New Dimensions • House & Town Shop • Fur Salon • Better Coats • Shoe Salon • Leisure Square •Intimate Fashions •  Infants’ Wear • Toddlers’ Wear • Children’s & Teens’ Shoes • Little Sister Shop • Little Brother Shop • Children’s Accessories • Children’s Furniture

Third Floor
Third Floor Dresses • Third Floor Sportswear • Trendsetter Shop • Town & Travel Shop • Career & Casual Shop • The Women’s Shop • Designer Collection • Pacesetter • Young Spokane Sportswear • Young Spokane Dresses • Young Spokane Coats • JR. Dimensions • Junior High Shop • Fabrics •  Luggage • Fabrics • Woolens • White-Elna Sewing Center • Needlework • Bedding & Linens • Table Linens • Bath Shop •  Closet Shop • Floor Coverings • Sporting Goods • Ski Shop

Fourth Floor
China • Glassware • Fine Glassware • Silverware •  Fine Silver • Gift Shop • The Pewter Shop • Housewares • Small Appliances • Hoover Center • Records • Lamps • Clocks • Hardware • Sound Equipment • Garden Shop

Fifth Floor
Furniture • Mattresses • Draperies • Pictures • Toys

Sixth Floor
Auditorium • The Tea Room • Men’s Grill • The Bakery


BRANCH STORES

Northtown (1961)
91,000 sq.ft.





University City (1969)
104,000 sq.ft.

37 comments:

  1. We used to vacation in Spokane when I was a kid in the 70's travelling down from Edmonton, Alberta. I remember the downtown Crescent store from a holiday in 1972. Very "All American" at the time so unlike the dowdy Canuck stores of the day. It used to have a suspended four sided clock on the main floor that Spokanites would always rendevous at "Meet me at the Clock in the Crescent" Always will remember that store.

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  2. I collect vintage clothes and accessories (and I currently live in Spokane) so I have a number of hats and purses from the Crescent stores. It's neat to see what they looked like back in the day!

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    1. I have a brown fur coat from crescent would you be interested in purchasing or do you know where I could sell it at and the value of it

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    2. I have recently come across a beautiful hat with the Cresent, sewn inside it is a vintage hat I'm planning on selling, maybe you'd like first opportunity to buy it? Jerisrule@hotmail.com

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    3. I have many vintage Crescent Items in my shop. Along with Davenport Sports shop. Its all from a house that has not been lived in for over 30yrs. The grandparents lived in it and after they passed, the son did very little with it for 30 yrs. He recently passed. His son sold the house with everything in it! What a find! So the gal who bought it has several items in my shop. Spokane history in a time capsule. The Rusty Diamond. 5215 N. Market. Come take a look!

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  3. A friend of mine owns the old telephone switchboard. Does anyone want to buy it?

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    1. Wow--my mom used to work there as a switchboard operator when I was a kid! :-D

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  4. As a child form the 70's i remember the Christmas toy displays and the mini monorail over the fifth floor toy area.

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  5. I worked at the Crescent back in the '60's. I started out in the Drapery and Curtain Dept and then moved to the Display Department--we won national display awards! Our Christmas and Spring displays transformed the whole first floor into wonderlands! We had an unlimited budget, full-time carpenters and painters and our boss (Hib Bender)kept us in line and striving for perfection. Russell Bishop was my best friend and worked on the 2nd floor.

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    1. Wow., my mom used to work there in the second floor shoes. Did you know Vivian Felix. ? A neighbor John Cobb worked in display for years also...ring any bells?

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    2. That is so cool. My mother & grandmother worked there. I remember the Christmas display so much. Was the best!!!

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    3. I have many childhood memories of our family going to the Crescent store in downtown Spokane to walk around it during the Christmas season to see the Christmas windows. These were my most favorite times and I had an awesome childhood!! I wish I could get ahold of some of those vintage decorations to make my small town a Christmas Wonderland!!

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    4. I have many childhood memories of our family going to the Crescent store in downtown Spokane to walk around it during the Christmas season to see the Christmas windows. These were my most favorite times and I had an awesome childhood!! I wish I could get ahold of some of those vintage decorations to make my small town a Christmas Wonderland!!

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  6. Gary N Mellstrom19 February, 2014 23:24

    My Grandfather started the tailor shop in the crescent some time around 1900 and retired in the 1950's. My father told me it was a tent when he started it. I remember visiting him as a child in the 40's & 50's with my mother. His name Charles O. Mellstrom

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  7. I was researching this store because I am selling a vintage overcoat that has a label inside the collar that says "The Crescent, Spokane" as well as a smaller label inside the front lower part of the coat that says David Smith, Massachusetts. It is a sort of navy blue with big silver buttons and great pocket. Very 60's looking, sharp and Mary Tyler Moore or Patty Duke in excellent condition. Size 8. I am putting it up on Ebay and Craigslist this week. If you're interested you can email me and I'll send you the link. "sukaprima" on Ebay and at gmail.

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  8. I grew up in Spokane. My father sold appliance up on the 5th floor and at some time my mother worked in the beauty shop. I remember the beautiful Christmas window on the corner of Main and Wall. Everyone waited to see that window during the holidays. I remember catching the bus to go home out in front of the store. I still have some coveted boxes with Crescent embossed on the top. There use to be a lunch room under the clock, too.

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  9. My grandmother, Birdseye Becker, worker at The Crescent as under cover security. She even carried handcuffs! I have great memories of the Christmas window displays we visited on many occasions. I also remember her buying my sister and I our first pair of Nike's there.

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  10. Well I have a set of Hansel and Gretal pictures they were purchased from the Crescent maybe in the 50's or earlier, they were a gift from a dr.s wife I babysat for I am sure she had them for along time before I got them,which was probably around 1960 Any infor would be amazing the price tag is still on the back the Artist is Kaulback

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  11. The Crescent was my first job when I moved from NY. I was an elf with Santa in the apple tree restaurant later I work in accessions and the shoe department .Doing inventory I found a black & white picture from the victory garden world war 2. only the gardening gloves was color from isotone.

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  12. I have a wooden chair from The Spokane Dry Goods Company. I'm trying to get more information about it. Anyone know anything or know who I could ask?

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    1. Spokane Dry Goods was prior to The Crescent.

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  13. I just bought part of an estate in Denver and it included a vintage mink coat with The Crescent Spokane label. Don't typically buy mink coats but this was kept in cold storage and seldom worn.

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  14. Playboy Playmate #4, Dolores Del Monte, worked here from 1969 until 1974. She started as a scarf and scarf clip demonstrator before being promoted to a traveling supervisory position throughout Western Canada.

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  15. I have wonderful memories of working in several departments in my late teens and early 20's: The Fountain, The Apple Tree Room, The Men's Grill & Custom Gift Wrapping. My grandmother worked in Bedding & Linen and retired from The Crescent. Many years later, I worked as a "temp" for the USPS District Office that took over the entire 6th floor. ;)

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  16. I remember the breakfasts with Santa as a kid, and also with the Easter Bunny. My mom also worked there in the late 70s, in the needlework department. Was such an impressive store.

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  17. my mom was a model in some ads. I was wondering how I could find them?

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  18. my mom was a model in some ads. I was wondering how I could find them?

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  19. my mom was a model in some ads. I was wondering how I could find them?

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  20. I loved the Crescent department store. It was all about great customer service and quality merchandise. Christmas was magical here.

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  21. In 1974, my late husband and I were stationed at Fairchild AFB. When he took me downtown Spokane, one of the first places he took me was the Crescent. Being from a town of less than 800 people on the Delmarva Peninsula, I was impressed beyond belief.

    This was the first time I ever had a Chef Salad. I thought it was created right there. That was the only thing I would ever get if we ate there. I still have many fond memories of it.

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  22. I own two 9 foot x 4 foot stain glass cresent windows cresent spelled out in the middle of each .from the store that was in republic washington. Late 1800 to early 1900 era. would you be interested in pursuing them,Malo trading post Malo wash.

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  23. I grew up in small town Enumclaw (in Western Washington), so as a child I remember going to Sears and People's in downtown Tacoma, and then later the smaller department stores at Southcenter, Tacoma, and SeaTac Malls, so when I moved to Spokane in the early 1980s to attend EWU, I was so impressed with the Crescent downtown. As a young bride I especially loved the china department. They carried so many beautiful dishes. Of course, these days, formal china is going the same way as the full serve department store. So sad!

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  24. Beginning in 1956 through 1970 we made an annual trip to Spokane from Libby, Montana shortly after Thanksgiving. We rode the Great Northern Empire Builder and stayed at the Davenport most of the time. Mom and dad had dental work done there, we would do Christmas shopping and my dad would get two new business suits from Huppins (who remembers them). The CRESCENT's window display was fantastic I also remember the Madonna on the "new" Bon Marche. We would occasionally make U.S. 2 drive over during summer. So very many good memories of that wonderful city.

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  25. I have an old picture frame for an 8x10 or little bit bigger. Found it in a thrift store in ephrata wa for free, painted it black and gold and have a sign that says please remain seated for the entire performance. Love old junk and making them useful again :)

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  26. My Grandmother won a school contest back in the 70's to be a model for Crescent. I was told they took photos and filmed her in a few commercials. Do you know where I could find these?

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  27. Can someone please list all the locations that the Crescent had?

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  28. My sterling silver place settings came from the Crescent. My grandmother bought them for me when I was 12 years old. A place setting for 12 people. All wrapped in their own little plastic bags. I thought then I would rather have a doll!

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