An early view of Stewart's 1907 Building, which was expanded in 1947 and 1959
Fourth Street in Louisville, showing Stewart's, with a modernized Street Floor and Marquee.
Stewart Dry Goods (Stewart's) (1846)
501 South Fourth Street (at Walnut)
Louisville, Kentucky
DOWNTOWN STORE DIRECTORY
Downstairs
Housewares • Small Appliances • Hardware • Garden Shop • Appliances • TVs and Stereos • Radios • Records • Books • Toys • Sporting Goods • Luncheonette
Street Floor
Fine Jewelry • Jewelry • Handbags • Leather Goods • Gloves • Neckwear • Umbrellas • Wigs • Millinery • Cosmetics • Street Floor Blouses • Street Floor Sweaters • Street Floor Sportswear • Street Floor Lingerie • Robes • Notions • Stationery • Derby Shop • Luggage • Candy • Epicure • Cameras
The Men's Shop Men's Toiletries • Men's Accessories • Men's Furnishings • Men's Sportswear • Men's Clothing • Men's Shoes • Men's Hats
Second Floor
Coffeetrees Gallery • Fashion Fabrics • Needlework • Sewing Machines • Linens • Bath Shop • Infants' Shop • Toddlers' Shop • Children's Boutique • Girls' Shop • Girls' Accessories • Girls' Sleepwear • Girls' Boutique • Boys' Shop • Varsity Shop • NFL Shop
Third Floor
Miss Stewart Shop • Miss Stewart Sportswear • Miss Stewart Coats • Better Sportswear • Better Traditional Sportswear • Better Dresses • Coats • Suits • Designer Dresses • Designer Sportswear • Coach House • Fur Salon • Bridal Salon • Shoes • Shoe Salon • Aigner Shop • Millinery • Wigs
Fourth Floor
Career Dresses • Career Sportswear • Career Casuals • Career Coats • Suburbia Sportswear • Active Sportswear • Contemporary Sportswear • Junior Dresses • Junior Sportswear • Junior Coats • Junior Lingerie
Fifth Floor
Furniture • Decorating • Designer Gallery • Bedding • Summer Furniture • Floor Coverings • Rugs • Curtains • Draperies • Art Gallery
Sixth Floor
Gifts • China • Crystal • Waterford Gallery • Glassware • Fine Silver • Lamps • Mirrors • Table Top Linens • Trim-the-Tree • The Orchid Room Restaurant
BRANCH STORES
Lexington (1951/1961)
130 East Main Street
(160,000 sq. ft.)
Evansville (1969)
Washington Square Mall
(135,000 sq. ft.)
Oxmoor Center (1971)
7900 Shelbyville Road
(156,000 sq. ft.)
Fayette Mall (1971)
3401 Nicholson Road
Lexington, Kentucky
Jefferson Mall (1978)
The Orchid Room was on the sixth floor, not the fifth floor.
ReplyDeleteCan you substantiate your location at all? I have three sources that say "Fifth-Floor Orchid Room." As I am interested in accuracy, I'd like to find out just what the correct location was.
ReplyDeleteBAK
Here's a link to an ad in the Louisville Courier-Journal that indicates that the Orchid Room was on the 6th floor. https://www.newspapers.com/image/107956359/?terms=Stewart%27s%20%22Orchid%20Room%22&match=1
DeleteI believe I can substantiate that the Orchid Room was on the same floor as the fine china. I ate there many times during the last 10 yrs that it was in business and often looked at the china while waiting to get a table.
ReplyDeleteThe Orchid Room was always on the sixth floor. I ate there at least twice a week from childhood until it closed. It was one of the finest department store restaurants in the country.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this site - I just bought an amazingly minty boomerang shaped mosaic tiled coffee table at a flea mall here in Louisville, on closer inspection it still has a label (handwritten) saying the style is Comet and it was purchased from Stewart's Dry Goods - one google search and here is all this amazing info on the place!!
ReplyDeleteIn an antique store I just purchased a Condensed Milk Jar in the pattern used in Stewart Dry Goods Orchid Room. Would love to find more>
ReplyDeleteI am from Delaware
As a little boy, my mother took me to Stewarts a lot. There was only the downtown store at that time. I remember the elevators that were woodgrained and operated by ladies. At Christmas time the corner window (4th and Walnut) was decorated to the hilt and was just fascinating to look at. We usually ate in the luncheonette downstairs, but in later years we ate in the Orchid Room on the 6th floor. Stewarts was a "real" department store and first class all the way. The building still stands, but it has been converted to an office building now. Stewarts was truely a great place to shop!
ReplyDeleteI worked at Stewart's in the early sixties, starting in the basement "Marking Room", as a stock boy. I rose my way up from advertising, window display, sales and lastly an assistant buyer of ladies shoes on the fourth floor. It was an amazing place to work and I looked forward to going there almost every day. I was drafted in 64 and I was working in the luggage department on the second floor. The buyer and his assistant had a huge surprise going away party for me. I was in shock! They actually made me angry, asking me to work an extra day before leaving for the Army, but it was only because of the party! They gave me a trunk as a going away gift!
DeleteDo you recall a female floor mgr., Jane Pfieffer? ( Tall and gray hair )
DeleteI sure did
DeleteI sure do
DeleteI remember her, I worked for n the lunchette for 14 years, from 1972 till they closed in 1986, great place to work
DeleteStewarts was such a wonderful department store. I remember a different and beautiful girl in the swing on the first floor every year. I had lunch downstairs in the luncheonette many times. They made the most delicious potato salad. I modeled in many fashion shows for Stewarts; remember the beautiful Christmas decorations and windows and for Christmas shopping they would wrap your packages and deliver them for FREE. I miss it.
ReplyDeleteThey had the best Benedictine too! Back then it was all made in house. They had a shop on the 1st floor on the right side where you could buy food items!
DeleteIn the 1960's I took my children there. We ate lunch in the Orchid Room, and then there was a department at Christmas time where the children were allowed in to shop for their parents and I had to wait outside so their gifts would be a surprise for myself and my husband on Christmas morning. Of course, the gifts were charged on my charge account, but it is still a wonderful memory for all of us, and I still have some of the gifts I received! We also loved the beautifully decorated windows at Christmas. I wish Sterart's was still there.
ReplyDeleteI was one of the last employees to walk out the front door when the downtown store was closed forever. I worked there for 13 years. That was the end of a beautiful and graceful era!
ReplyDeleteI am very curious when the last store in Kentucky closed? does anyone know the date?
ReplyDeleteStewarts Dry Goods was part of Associated Dry Goods (ADG),and as was usually the case with ADG stores, it was the carriage trade store in that area.
ReplyDeleteYou can see a picture of this grand store at the start of the movie, Stripes, when the cab driver (played by Bill Murray) picks up a fare for a ride to the airport.
Thank you for this site and this write-up about Stewart's. My late mother had fond teenage memories of taking the bus in the 1950s from the east end of Louisville to Stewart's downtown to have lunch at the luncheonette and do some shopping. She would take me there, too, in the 1970s. Two good sources about Stewart's: http://pastperfectvintage.com/louisvillestores.htm (which includes info about other Louisville department stores, too) and the book "Stewart's: A Louisville Landmark" (1991) by Kenneth L. Miller.
ReplyDeleteThe entire Stewart's Dry Goods store is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. All pertinent information regarding the history can be found by searching on line for the National Register Nomination at the National Park Service Website. NPS.focus You search under the state and county. The 1907 section of the store was listed in first, in the 1980s; an addendum to that nomination was listed about 2008.
ReplyDeleteI was a young girl in the late 70's when my Aunt and I would ride the bus into downtown and shop at Stewart's. I remember walking in on the ground floor and seeing hosiery and cosmetics and large hanging lamps and mint green walls. Then we went up to the orchid room, and I am forever grateful for the experience of beef tips and noodles for lunch! Architecture and food make quite an impression together. I
ReplyDeleteNo connection to Stewart's of Baltimore, except that they were both owned by Associated Dry Goods.
ReplyDeleteMy great aunt worked at the downtown Louisville Stewarts for many years, I found a very interesting 100 year in business store anniversary booklet called "Down the Century with Stewart's 1846-1946". by Isabel McLennan McMeekin. It is a 12 plus page booklet of the illustrated history of of Stewarts from early 1800's to when it was printed in 1946. Let me know if you are interested in adding it to your museum collection? I don't need it, it has no worth to me. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteDear Tim:
ReplyDeleteThanks for your generous offer. I would love to have the booklet; eventually I would scan it and include it in this exhibit for all to enjoy.
Please send me an email at bakgraphics@comcast.net and I will send my home address to you. I would be more than happy to pick up the shipping costs for the item.
Thanks again for your generosity in considering your little piece of history for wider distribution.
Bruce
Hi
DeleteI have a down the century 1746 to 1846 book that I ended up with in an estate sale box. If anyone is interested in it. I just want to forward it to someone who is interested.
Thanks!
According to the book I have "Stewart's A Louisville Landmark" the Orchid room was on the 6th floor.
ReplyDeleteIn 1968, after one year of colloge I worked at Stewart's in a restaurant on the lower level. I don't remember the name of the restaurant, but I see on your websit there was one call the Luncheonette, so that most of been it. Many business professional and mature adults eat there for lunch. I made 65 cent a hour. I did last long because I was young, inexperienced, and just didn't seem to fit in. The uniform that I had to wear reminded me of the ones wore on the show Mel's Diner.
ReplyDeleteI worked at the Stewart's in Oxmoor Mall 1980-1981. . .a classy company, and a great place to work. Got to know a lot of regular customers and made a lot of friends there. I remember that there were many employees who had worked for Stewart's for 20 years or more. . .you won't that too much today at a department store. You could actually make a career there and not just a job.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this info. I was born in Louisville and, like many others, loved any chance to go shopping downtown with my grandmother or my aunt and eat lunch at Stewart's lunchonette or on special occasions, in the Orchid room. Although we moved away when I was young, every time we came home for a visit, I found a way to do two or three things; shop at Stewart's, see a movie at the spectacular Lowest Palace theater and go to White Castles. I am writing a book based on my grandmother's life story and your website has helped with some details. But, I always thought the Orchid Room was on the 6th floor. Which is it?
ReplyDeleteI think that the matter is settled - it was on the Sixth Floor, and hopefully, some day, I will have newspaper ads to support that fact.
ReplyDeleteBruce
My mother, Margaret Ruth Smoots, was from Corydon, Indiana and graduated high school in 1940. She was class valedictorian and the May Queen. She grew up on a farm, without indoor plumbing or electricity and Stewarts was her beacon as to what constituted a more "refined lifestyle." Her parents were hard working and provided a very nice home, but somehow, we are all compelled to seak something we believe to be better in life. Stewarts was a great place to find it, always understated elegance, never nouveau riche. Margaret worked as a career girl in Louisville during the 1940's, married well, and used to take me to lunch at the fabulous Orchid Room with its soft yellow tuffted walls and silver plated dining ware. I think that Stewarts was the model she used to define what was good taste.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this insight; it is true, as much as my experience with department store history can tell me. Hudson's in my once-home-town of Detroit was THE style-setter there. I am sure that it was more possible to "seek something better" when the example is nearer to home, visible, and somehow attainable . . . today's stores don't have that effect on people and I doubt it is even possible given the state of affairs.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, your description of The Orchid Room allows readers like myself to conjure up what constituted "a more "refined lifestyle"" to which you refer.
Thanks again!
Bruce
I worked for Stewarts in the warehouse in Jeffersontown from December 1977 to April 1987. I tranfered to Indianapolis when Stewarts mergered with L. S. Ayres.
ReplyDeleteStewarts had great people to work with and the best customers in the Louisville area.
I was Vice President and Divisional Merchandise Manager of Sportswear from 1977 to 1982. John Seiler was Chairman and President and Jack Masterson was Treasurer.
DeleteI was then promoted and transferred to another ADG store.
Stewarts was the beginning of my
Corporate career with ADG.
Wow so many memories and wonderful people.
I worked in the delivery department at the 4th street store during the Christmas time in 1975. It was located in the rear of the store. The dock came off the alley on 3rd street.
ReplyDeleteLster I worked in the warehouse in Jeffersontown from December 1977 to April 1987.i transfer to L. S. Ayres at that time.
Stewarts was a great place to work.
I loved all of these stores in our cities.
ReplyDeleteI worked at Stewart's downtown in 1974 and after. I was in the toy dept. Which was shared with books on the fourth floor. I loved my job and the customers. Around Christmas I'd take calls from grandparents wanting to purchase something special for a grandchild. They would tell me the age and sex of the child and I'd make suggestions. They'd choose one or ask me to pick one, give me their c.c. # and mailing address and I would gift wrap it and mail it. Customers would come in hand me their pink Stewarts credit card and have me pick out gifts and gift wrap them and they would be back after having lunch in the Orchid Room. The popular toys were the Madame Alexander dolls. One afternoon a gentleman walked up to me, I was 20 and he asked me a few questions about the store. He then told me I had a friendly smile and a rosey complexion. Then handed me a silver dollar and said to continue smiling. I showed one of the older ladies working with me, and she said no one knew who the man was but he would come around Christmas and he was known for giving a sales clerk a silver dollar for doing a good job. She said I should be honored. I did feel good. The 7th. Floor was employees break room and gift wrapping. When watching Miracle on 34th. Street Macy's reminds me of Stewarts. Great memories there.
ReplyDeleteI from Taiwan and I have a silver coin of stewart's, it has "since 1846" on the front and "FIFTY DOLLARS, REDEEMABLE IN MERCHANDISE" on the back. Does anyone interested? moonofautumn@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteI remember going to Stewart's eating in the Orchid Room and the Luncheonette! I loved that place! Does anyone else remember in the Sring when they had the girl who sat on a swing high above everyone and would swing back and forth in that beautiful dress? I would always ask to go to Stewart's to see that and the Christmas window displays!
ReplyDeleteHello to all. I have a great deal of information on Stewarts and the building. I completed the second nomination to the National Register in 2007; this addendum made all four sections of the building listed in the National Register. The store is presently undergoing a restoration. An Embassy Suites hotel will be on the top floors and retail and restaurants on the first. I'm doing research for them and am trying to find out how old the escalator is that is in the building now. Thanks to anyone that can help me with that information
ReplyDeleteHello, I am researching a novel set in Louisville in 1942. Although the family is not well off, Stewart's is where they get their few special garments. I would like to show the daughters having coffee in the luncheonette after church on a Sunday. Can anyone tell me if the luncheonette was in business in 1942, and if so, was it open on Sundays. If not, what was open Sunday after church in downtown Louisville where ladies could meet? Thank you.
DeleteProbably the Blue Boar Cafeteria
DeleteI have a 24k gold e.p.g coin from stewarts. It says it is redeemable for 100 dollars in merchandise, I received it from a former employee of stewarts. I am interested if it has any monetary value?
ReplyDeleteJhawkins82@aol.com
I have a stewarts 24k gold plated coin if interested.
ReplyDeleteJhawkins82@aol.com
My husband just found this link for me. It is one that very efficiently outlines just what wonderful sales items were on which floor, bringing back so many memories. I moved out of Louisville when I married and have yet to find any department store of its quality, service, friendliness, and class, and we have lived near or visited much larger cities.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was small my mother and I would shop and then stop at the luncheonette for a break and have a soda. Other times my girlhood friend and I would catch the bus from the Audubon Park area so we could stop at the luncheonette to have that delicious potato salad that someone else here mentioned. I remember the enchanting Christmas windows and, after having the car parked for us, entering on the floor with a small room to the right where I took knitting lessons where also were the wonderful fabrics...esp. that moygashel linen in delightful colors. This is when seamstresses lined their clothes. All of the sales ladies were most informed about their areas of sales and most helpful. Yes, you could charge your item, have it sent home so as not to carry around or on the bus home. Then if you chose to return said items all that was needed was a phone call and you then placed the item between storm door and front door for pick up with return statement left for your records. And somehow they can call today's culture a "service economy"?
My cousin was a designer in the decorating dept. and another cousin worked in the china dept. Although my husband only lived in Louisville a few years he too loved that place...esp. the men's ties.
From the time you entered that front door you entered a wonderful world, only willing to leave because you planned to return very soon!
Thanks for the memories.
I worked at the Oxmoor Mall Stewart's for a few years in the early 1980's. Loved it. Always thought it was a great place, and a great place to work. It's 30 years later, and I still have fond memories of my co-workers and customers.
ReplyDeleteHey did you know a Jim can't remember his last name, He worked with me at the 4th st store then transferred to oxmoor! He ran marathons! Also did you know Gary Wortham, He was a big UofL fan!
DeleteMy mother worked in different departments in her years at Stewarts. She started working there somewhere around 1960 and I'm not sure when she quit, though I know she was there at least a few years and maybe more. She always told me about the grandeur of Stewarts and how exciting it was to work there. She also told me about the luncheonette, and she describes it as being in the " basement " of the building. She told me of the beautiful Christmas displays. Eventually, Mom worked her way to being a buyer of Millinery and she traveled to New York City to purchase for Stewarts Millinery Dept. To this day, when I wrap presents I actually know how to make a beautiful bow from ribbon thanks to the gift wrapping ladies at Stewarts. Mom was good friends with them and learned all sorts of "tricks of the trade" from them. Of course mom taught me too. Mom was so sad to hear of Stewarts closing. For Christmas one year, my dad bought mom a book that was all about Stewarts Dept Store. Mom cried as she looked though it.
ReplyDeleteI worked for Stewarts from late 1970's to 1986, I started out in the Lexington store but moved to Louisville and worked at the downtown store. . I really enjoyed my time there, such a wonderful experience. I had lunch many times in the basement as well as special occasion lunches in the Orchid Room. I still have my 5 year service pin from Stewarts.
ReplyDeleteI worked at the Downtown Store, I worked in the linen department, I did the stock! What is your name and what dept did you work in
DeleteI was VP from 1977 to 1982 !!!
DeleteMy Grandfather Tony Ohnimus was Head of the Advertising Art Department for the Courier Journal & Times back in 1936. He was attributed for creating the Stylized script logo for Stewart's. My Grandmother Lucille his Wife worked for Stewart's for many years as an artist drawing the images for the ads. I even remember modeling some of the children's clothes so she could sketch them. I have an old Christmas catalog printed with 60 pages of images. My uncle said my grandmother exclusively did the drawings for that catalog it also contains some photos of items. He said as photos took over the ads she lost more and more of the illustration jobs. I have scans of a few select pages I can send you if you are interested.
ReplyDeleteWorked in the Design Department in the 70's. Wonderful store and great memories. Don Glaser was the Head Designer and made Stewart's a special place.
ReplyDeleteI remember Don he was the buyer on the fifth floor!
DeleteMy mother took me to Stewart's many times when we went "in town" to shop. It was a special treat when we had lunch at the lunch room in the basement. This was not every time since Stewart's lunch counter was more expensive than Woolworth's.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was growing up, my Mother and I would go downtown on a Saturday and go shopping and have lunch. I remember we did most of our shopping at Stewart's, Selman's and Bycks. Mostly we would have lunch in "the basement" at Stewart's and when Mom wanted to treat me, we ate in the Orchid Room. I remember how fancy I thought the room was and the food was like nothing I had before. At Christmas time, the store went all out with beautiful decorations and the times were very happy then. I am a thrift store shopper and have one of the silver mint julep cups with Stewart's stamped on the bottom. I can't bring myself to part with it. I guess I'll always keep it for the great memories and the times I shared with my Mom. I really miss Downtown the way it was.
ReplyDeletewhat was on the 7th floor - i do remember being up there or at least seeing the number on the elevator panels....
ReplyDeleteThe seventh floor had an employee lunchroom and lounge. Also, it was where all of the company offices were.
DeleteWhat O4 Jan says plus a stock room. I believe it was for the stationery department. I worked there around 1969-70 starting in that stockroom. When I was there there were ladies still cooking in the cafeteria. They made a great tetrazzini. It eventually succumbed to budget constrictions and vending machines.
DeleteI remember going to Stewart's when I was in business college in downtown Louisville In the early sixties. I can remember going to a Post Office in Stewart's at that time. Am I accurate with that information? I also enjoyed eating lunch at the Luncheonette.
ReplyDeleteI worked in Accounts Payable from 1972-1986. There were 8 stores. You do not have The Mall and Dixie Manor, which had been LS Ayres stones that we took over. I believe they were a budget stores. The 7Th floor was storage, work rooms, Personnel, accounting offices, the Art department, where the ads were designed and display had offices and the employee lunch room.. The basement was the marking room, the luncheonette, the Rebel Room, for men, appliances.
ReplyDeleteThe Orchid room was decorated in yellow leather. I have a few old photos, but I'm not sure where the are.
Thank you, Martha for the authoritative information. If you do find the pictures of the Orchid Room, and would like to scan them for this site, you can contact me at bakgraphics@comcast.net. I am sure many people would love to see them!
ReplyDelete46 years ago my two brothers and I had our picture taken at Stewart's. I was told that Stewart's liked the picture so much, they made an oil painting of it. Would anyone know if the oil painting would have been stored somewhere?
ReplyDeleteI have my baby picture, my Senior class picture and also my engagement picture all from the Stewart's Photography Studio.
DeleteI have one of those counter top store clear rounds glass jars with a lid and on the side in blue it says "Fresh Stewart's" with a half circle filled in above and below the "Stewart's". Below that in white it says "Sandwiches Nuts Candy". I was told this jar is from the 1950s. I see that Stewart's Department Store did sell food in a couple of areas within the store. Came upon this site as I am trying to date the jar and find out about what "Stewart's" company this jar is from. Does anyone remember this Stewart's Dept. Store having this type of counter jar? Any info would be greatly appreciated. You can reply here or email me at csdbeach@comcast.net
ReplyDeleteI was born in 1958 and clearly remember my mother taking me downtown to Stewart's on the bus. We always went at Christmas time and I just loved the window decorations, Santa's on the street, Broadway decorations. I remember Santa being in the basement, I think, and the kids got to go sit on his lap. I remember eating in the downstairs but I don't remember the one on the 6th floor. We would go there frequently on Saturday's too and spend the day. Shop, see a movie, and eat at Blue Boar or Frish's or Stewart's. It was one of the greatest times of my life and I have so many memories of it. I am so glad I got the chance to enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteStewart's was my mom's favorite store. Once, in 1962, while waiting on my mom to shop at a cosmetics counter,, (and BORED, as usual), I saw Paul Hornung, the Green Bay Packer's great halfback, also standing at the cosmetics counter, and also, waiting for his mom to select a purchase. I rushed to my mom and asked her for a pen and a piece of paper. All she had was a pencil and an old Stewart's receipt. I rushed over to Mr. Hornung and pulled together enough "guts" to ask him for his autograph. He seemed very tall to an 11-year old. He was very friendly, gracious, and and a little amused. He signed the stewart's receipt for me. I was awestruck and grateful. My mom thanked him, too, although I'm sure she did not know who he was until I told her. THAT was my best time at Stewart's, ever!
ReplyDeleteStewart's was an important of my life from the 1940s on. It was always home base when we went to Louisville to shop. I so wish these great old department stores still existed. One year, on Christmas Eve, they took a Madame Alexander Doll to the bus station. She made the trip to my small home town just in time to be picked up by my parents. I had suddenly changed my mind about which doll I wanted. I had no idea until I was much older what a major crisis this had caused. But, Stewart's came to the rescue and Elise was under the tree on Christmas morning.
ReplyDeleteThe Orchid Room was definitely on the Sixth Floor. I can remember holding my toddler's arm securely as we made our way through all the breakable items--all to arrive at the restuarant. Her favorite was the Little Boy Blue special from the children's menu. She called it "Little Bllue Boy Horn." It became a multi-generational family alllusion.
ReplyDeleteMy wife from Frankfort got her size 6 wedding dress from the Bridal Dept at Stewart's branch in Lexington in 1962. We have it listed for sale on ebay this week and maybe next. There is no Stewart's label in the gown, just one from "Madeline" that we assume was the gown maker. If anyone has any background info on the Bridal Salon, Gimmer would appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, another site gave the Lexington address as 100-120 Main St. This site says 130 Main.
I have a set of 6 silver mint julep cups with Stewart's engraved on the bottom. Anyone have any idea how much they are worth? And is anyone interested in purchasing them? I will probably have them listed on EBay very soon. Or comment back, and we can connect up.
ReplyDeleteHenryetta Heyburn 92, passed away November 18, 2015. I worked with her in the Bridal Department when I was a teenager.
ReplyDeleteI worked with her as well. She was the department manager in the designer room when the Oxmoor store opened. She was a wonderful lady snd a great boss.
DeleteIt wasn't Christmas until I shopped at the downtown Stewart's with my Father for his gifts for my Mother. This was after a breakfast at the Colonade. *sigh* I miss those days and that part of Louisville
ReplyDeleteI grew up on Walnut Street, long before it was changed to Muhammad Ali Blved. We were about as poor as you can get. But, I have wonderful memories of my dad taking me downtown at Christmas to see the decorated windows at Stewart's. The variation of blinking lights and the mannegans wearing the best of clothes, along with stuffed animals that moved. My dad died in 1972 when I was 11 and Stewart's was to close down a few years later, I cherish the memories of the 'old' downtown Louisville, before they ruined it with more modern buildings and closing off the streets to call it the River City Mall.
ReplyDeleteNow the building has been refashioned as an Embassy Suites hotel. I believe the hotel restaurant is called the Orchid Room.
ReplyDeleteThe Oxmoor store had a beautiful restaurant overlooking Beargrass Creek called simply The Oxmoor Room. It was very popular for both lunch and dinner, with lines to get in not unusual. The Evansville store also had a cafeteria that I think may have been named The Crescent Room, but most just referred to it as the cafeteria.
ReplyDeleteGoing downtown was alway an adventure and you always had to look your best. This was where real 'windown shopping' was. The animated dolls etc were so cool because we never saw anything like this. The Stewart's window had so much going on that you just stared to catch it all in. We would eat at the restaurant there too. I loved the excitement of downtown.
ReplyDeleteCame across this site today looking for the potato salad recipe to make this Memorial Day weekend. I have enjoyed the trip down memory lane. Since a lot of this is about the Orchid Room, would just like to mention that Ida Lucille Loebig (Lucy) passed away 6/5/2014 (she was 87). For the regulars of the Orchid Room, you would have known Lucy. She worked there most of her adult life and retired when Stewart's closed in 1986. For me, Stewart's was "IT" as a child. Each Christmas they had a room in the basement where children got to pick out their toys without their parents (naturally, the sales ladies wrote down what you wanted). I will always remember picking out my teddy bear which I still have to this day. They also had a show for men each Christmas to purchase for their wives and my mom was a lingerie model for it back in the late 1950's and 1960's. I worked there in 1972 in the marking room, the summer I graduated from high school. And, I did the company's insurance in the 1980's. I shopped at Stewart's until it closed and miss it dearly. I still have my last Stewart's credit card (beige and brown) and the star for my Christmas tree is still in it's Stewart's box. Still using the same star for over 40 years. As an adult I would stop in just to buy raspberry cremes and spent many a lunch hour shopping there. When it closed, I bought a roll (huge since they used in their wrapping department) of the their red Christmas paper and I cried when I finally ran out several years later. Can't find Stewart's red anymore. It does seem like life was a lot simpler and more enjoyable for the children of the 50's when Stewart's, Levy's, Kaufman's, Selman's, Byck's, and Bacon's existed. Last I checked Rode's was still hanging on.
ReplyDeleteStewarts potato salad, 5 large potatoes cooked and diced, 1 small chopped onion, 1/2 cup chopped celery, 1 sm. Green pepper diced, 1 sm. Jar pimentos diced, 3 hard boiled eggs, chopped, 1/2 cup of pickle relish juice, 1 cup homemade mayonnaise, salt and pepper to taste
DeleteThank you so much for the recipe. My Mom worked in the linen department on the 2nd floor as a sales clerk then worked in the office for the buyer Mr Terrell, tall British gentleman. Oh what memories I have from my many visits to Stewart's. I have a small paper Stewart's bag which to me is a treasure. (My mom kept everything)
DeleteI also have a Stewart's shot glass with Louisville KY on it and the logo stating Founded 1946. Another treasure.
My first job at Stewart's was a stock boy in linens for Mr. Terrell...
DeleteFor a book, I'm trying to find out if my subject worked at Stewart's in 1920-1921. Does an employee list for those dates exist? Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThe last five years of the Downtown,Oxmoor,and Jefferson stores were about as sad a demise as a department store could have. First,as mentioned before, Stewart's was merged into L.S. Ayres in 1985, with the name change coming in February 1987. Just four months later, new Ayres parent company May Department Stores sells the stores to Louisville-based Snyder's, who unfortunately overextended themselves with the purchase. In October of 1987, Snyder's was purchased by Hess's Department Stores of Allentown,Pa. Like Snyder's, Hess's over-expanded in the late 1980's, and in 1993, the former Stewart's stores closed. Jefferson is now Dillard's,Oxmoor is now a Von Maur,and Downtown is part of the Fourth Street Live complex.
ReplyDeleteI spent many, many happy times in the downtown store. We would dress up and drive over 80 miles to get there. Our school clothes, party dresses, Christmas gifts (those we gave and those from Santa - and we had our photo taken with Santa.). I remember parking in a garage and riding up an escalator to the entry level. There was also a Stewart's in Lexington, Ky. My mother worked there while Daddy went to UK. I shopped in that one while at UK myself. I would walk downtown from UK on Saturday just to be in a Stewart's. I got my first credit card from them and it was my pride and joy. I felt so grown up to have that Stewart's card. I miss Stewart's.
ReplyDeleteAs a small boy in the 1950s my great aunt would take me on the Blue Motor Coach from Hikes Point to downtown Louisville to do her banking. Then we would go to Stewarts for lunch downstairs and I would always get a Benedictine cheese sandwich. I thought the restaurant was called the Colonade. If I was real good I would get a toy, usually a truck or farm implement. My parents would also take me there to see the wonderful Christmas window displays. My uncle worked there and later became the head decorator for the Bycks stores in the Louisville area.
ReplyDeleteThe Colonade was in the basement of the Starks building across the street at 4th & Walnut.
DeleteMy recollection of Stewart's were the Christmas displays. They were usually animated. Myself, along with many other kids, looked forward to these windows in the late 40's and 50's. My wife's aunt was a buyer, for Stewart's, of womans dresses and accessories from the late 40's thru the early 60's. She lived in New York near the garment district and later near Park avenue.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this page; loved reading all the comments!
ReplyDeleteI remember shopping at Stewart's for school dresses every August, starting in first grade (1962). It was a special trip downtown alone with my mother and we always ate downstairs in the Luncheonette. I ordered a chicken salad sandwich and chocolate milkshake every time, and recently found this author reminiscing about eating the same: http://wfpl.org/recalling-stewarts-department-store-amidst-fourth-street-revival/
Also, thank you to "Anonymous, 10 September, 2011 17:24" for mentioning the Christmas store where children shopped for their parents. Parents were not allowed inside; in fact, I think it was too small for an adult to stand in. It was maybe the height of a child's playhouse and I remember needing to crawl or crouching in there.
ReplyDeleteIn 1948 or so, my mother worked at Stewart's in the "Piece Goods" (now would be called Fabric] department. I was about 3 or 4 years old and I remember going in there with her on her days off. She loved working there and reminisced about her experiences there the rest of her life. When she died, we discovered hundreds of "remnants", small amounts material that she had purchased,in her closet. I think she saw them as "keepsakes". Eventually,we turned them over to quilters and ,today, a little bit of Stewart's still exists in various California locations.
ReplyDeleteIn about 1964 or 1965 I worked in Stewart's in the toy department located in the basement near the luncheonette. I received my orientation on the 7th floor by a trainer named "Sallie Pinto" who had some very strange speech mannerisms.
Working at Stewart's was to be part of the retail elite and all staff seemed to be proud to be there dressing well and somewhat reserved but friendly in demeanor.
My wife worked there in 1970 eventually becoming department head of children's when Oxmoor was opened. Oxmoor was very nice but didn't have the cachet of downtown. Downtown remindded me of Bloomingdales in Manhatttan. Old school and sophisticated.
Diane Sawyer worked there briefly after she was crowned "America's Junior Miss" She was a "fashion consultant" to young girls in their high school years.
I,too,remember the "Girl on the Swing",the potato salad, and the Orchid Room. A bygone era that I miss.
I believe her name was Kathy Pinto
DeleteCorrect..Kathy Pinto
DeleteI have a photograph of what I believe to be one of the Stewart's stores in Indiana. I would like to find out which one it is. Please let me know if you can help.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I know, the only Stewart Dry Goods Co. store in Indiana was in Evansville, and it opened in 1969. I have an ad from the store's grand opening, and I will be publishing images of the store's brnaches before too long as I update this site.
ReplyDeleteIf you would like to send me a scan of the picture, I could identify it quite readily. Send to: bakgraqphics@comcast.net.
My Dad, Mel Johnson, was manager of the downtown Stewarts Dry Good Store in the 70's and early 80's. I feel blessed to have known that wonderful store in an era where sales clerks helped you, measured you, suggested accessories....Where beautiful displays were everywhere, and you could get a real chocolate soda in a glass. My mother adored shopping there, and many were the Saturdays we spent meandering through each and every floor.
ReplyDeleteAnd oh, those wonderful Christmas windows! I, too, remember the lovely spring swing bedecked with flowers, greenery, and a gorgeous girl on it as someone mentioned in an earlier post.
In an earlier post, someone asked if anyone knew a Jane Pfeiffer. I know my Dad worked with her.
I'm sorry that in today's modern times, no stores like the old Stewarts exist.
I worked under Mr Johnson doing stock in the linen department! I remember Mr Johnson used to run the 2nd street bridge! He lived in Clarksville, Indiana! Good Times!
DeleteI worked under Mr Johnson doing stock in the linen department! I remember Mr Johnson used to run the 2nd street bridge! He lived in Clarksville, Indiana! Good Times!
DeleteI worked under Mr Johnson doing stock in the linen department! I remember Mr Johnson used to run the 2nd street bridge! He lived in Clarksville, Indiana! Good Times!
DeleteI worked under Mr Johnson doing stock in the linen department! I remember Mr Johnson used to run the 2nd street bridge! He lived in Clarksville, Indiana! Good Times!
DeleteI remember Mel Johnson! Very nice man!
DeleteI remember your Dad, very nice man
DeleteI worked across the street in the Meidinger Tower in the early 80's and Stewart's was my favorite lunchtime destination. Entering that wonderful place was like walking into 1950....so elegant and beautiful and very different from the value department stores I was used to being raised in the suburbs. I have fond memories of wandering the floors and dreaming of the day I could afford to buy something there....and of the wonderful egg salad sandwiches I enjoyed in the basement luncheonette. Thank you for tending this site and providing a lovely trip down memory lane for so many folks.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the kind comments and input. I should be upgrading the exhibit soon.
ReplyDeletei have an old frame with a small sticker on the back that says "Stewart's Inc. Louisville".
ReplyDeleteWas the store referred to as Inc.?
Hello, I am just finding this. I worked at the Oxmoor store in the mid 80's loved it!! I was fresh off the farm and right in the middle of themost intesting people. I love the "Derby" time of year. I also remember the "Dream Game" while working there. we didn't need internet. The electronics department just came and set up tvs in most department. Awe I was so young! Thanks for a trip down memeory lane. Waneta Hardin Goller
ReplyDeleteI worked at Stewart's in the Mall and Jefferson Mall during high school and college breaks in the late 70's/early 80's. It was a wonderful place to work! We dressed nicely and everyone was so polite. Even though I worked at the suburban stores, going downtown was the best. When I was little we went to a dentist in the Starks Building. If I had to get a filling Mom took me to the luncheonette for a milk shake. I remember the FAO Schwarz toy department at Christmas - what a special treat! Actually the entire store at Christmas was a sight to behold. I loved shopping the designer clearance which I believe may have been on the third floor. My cousin was a buyer based at the downtown location. My dad, a teacher, also worked security for them.
ReplyDeleteI worked at Stewart's while attending U of L from 1974-77. I worked in the Marking Room where I marked merchandise and then took it to the various departments using the freight elevators. My parents often ate lunch at the Luncheonette, also called The Tea Room, in the basement. They also had dinner on Monday nights in the Orchid Room on the 6th Floor. In the 1970's, Stewart's was open until either 7 or 8 PM on Monday's. They closed at 5 PM Tuesday-Saturday and of course was closed all day on Sunday. The buyers and employees, in general, were a great group of people. It was by far the best department store in Louisville. No other store, Bacon's, Penney's, etc., was comparable.
ReplyDeleteI used to go downtown on some Saturdays with my mother and grandmother.Stewart's was a must visit.I used to go to basement where the hard candies were spread out.I swiped a few of the cinnamon candies from time to time.I hope that did not lead to their demise.It was a special treat to go downtown in the 60's.It had a special ambiance that is hard to describe.Does anyone know if any romances started at Stewart's downtown?I also went to the Oxmoor store in the 70's.It was nice but could never match downtown in its heyday.My youth and Stewart's were inextricably entwined.I daresay many of us not only miss Stewart's but also our youth.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there are any pictures of Christmas displays from the 40's. I bought some display items and I was told they came from Stewarts.
ReplyDeleteW.R.Person August 23, 2021
ReplyDeleteIn the neighborhood of ten years ago I came across article on Stewart's; since I worked at Stewart's as a stock boy in 1964 in the Drapery Department I was surprised to see it wasn't located on the sixth floor. It was beside the Orchid Room going away from the elevators. Returning from the service in 1969 I became the assistant buyer for Charles Vaught Drapery Department and it was still on the sixth floor.
It's history with little meaning but it was on the sixth floor and the drapery workroom was on the seventh floor with the advertising and display department, employees lunch room, upper management offices as well as personnel. Also the billing, merchandise invoicing went to the seventh floor, actual merchandise to the basement, invoices were checked for problems and the buyer call if a problem appeared.
wrperson@bellsouth.net
Photos from Stewarts in days gone by....
ReplyDeletehttps://digital.library.louisville.edu/cdm/search/field/descri/searchterm/Stewart's