The M. O'Neil Co. (1877/1927)
226 S. Main St.
Akron, Ohio
BL-1 1311
BL-1 1311
Lower Level Parking Deck
Garden Shop (D.20A)
State Street Lower Level
Health and Beauty Aids (D.107) • Shoe Clinic
O'Neil's Budget Store • Budget Grille
Street Floor FIne Jewelry (D.870) • Diamonds • Fashion Jewelry • Fashion Handbags (D.38, 169) • Leather Goods (D.139) • Belts (D.13) • Gloves (D.12) • Fashion Hosiery (D.14) • Miss O'Nil Blouses (D.9) • Miss O'Neil Lingerie (D.72, 39) • Millinery (D.74) • Wigs (D.154) • Cosmetics (D.3) • Notions (D.45) • Stationery (D.17)
State Street Level
Books (D.19) • Coin and Stamp Center • Major Appliances (D.21) • Women's Shoes • Forecast Shoe Salon • Miss O'Neil Sportswear (D.144) • Miss O'Neil Dresses (D.84) • Miss O'Neil Coats (D.151) • Miss O'Neil Shoes (D.27) • Miss O'Neil Junior (D.127) • Flower Shop • The Oak Grille • The Pronto • Sweet Things
Men's Store Men's Accessories (D.126) • Men's Furnishings (D.7) • Men's Sportswear (D.118) • Students' Shop (D.58) • Men's Clothing (D.8) • Men's Shoes (D.57) • Men's Hats (D.56) •
North Balcony
Commercial Stationery (D.121)
South Balcony
Optical Center (D.842)
Second Floor
Fashion Fabrics (D.2) • Patterns • Art Needlework (D.11) • Domestics (D.18) • Linens • Gifts (D.62) • Home Entertainment Center (D.119,131) • Records • Camera Center (D.32) • Luggage (D.34) • Sporting Goods (D.65) • The Georgian Room • Auditorium
Children's World Cradle Shop • Children's Shoes (D.66) • Children's Accessories D.126) • Toys • Boys' Furnishings (D.46) • Boys' Clothing (D.15) • Little Boys' Clothing (D.26) • Girls' Clothing (D.50) • Pigtail Shop • The Groove (D.78) •
Third Floor
Fashion Intimates Loungewear (D.61) • Intimate Apparel (D.39) • Sleepwear (D.72)
Junior World Junior Sportswear • Junior Dresses • Junior Coats •
Daytime Dresses (D.80) • Sportswear (D.63) • Plus-Size Sportswear • Cosmopolitan Shop (D.158) • Coats (D.77, 85) • Young Signature Shop • The Collections (D.152) • Forecast Salon • Forecast Coat and Suit Salon • Forecast Boutique •Suburbia Casuals (D.68) • Fur Salon (D.81) • Bridal Salon • Millinery (D.154) • Shoe Gallery (D.67) • Beauty Salon • Canned Ego • Photographic Studio
Fourth Floor
Curtains and Draperies (D.54) • Housewares (D.20) • Paints (D.20) • Small Appliances (D.43) • Bath Boutique • Fashion Floor Covering (D.23) • Pictures and Mirrors (D.830) • Silverware (D.47) • China (D.35) • Rental Service • Trim-A-Tree Shop
Fifth Floor
Fashion Furniture (D.181) • Bedding (D.179) • Lamps (D.55) • Pianos and Organs • Showplace on Five
Sixth Floor
Employment Office
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Cuyahoga Falls
2104 Front Street
1944/September 10, 1948
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Coshocton
425-427 Main Street
July 19, 1946
25,000 s.f.
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Mansfield
51-57 North Main Street
December 6, 1946
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Barberton
514 N. Tuscarawa Street
November 19, 1948
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Lorain
O'Neil - Sheffield Shopping Center
May 1, 1954
150,000 s.f.
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Alliance
408 East Main Street
1952/February 1, 1957
35.000 s.f.
(acquired Stark Dry Goods Co.)
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Canton, Ohio
201 East Tuscarawa Street
February 1, 1957
100,000 s.f.
(acquired Stark Dry Goods Co.)
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Canton - 30th Street
30th Street Plaza
February 1, 1957
50,000 s.f.
(acquired Stark Dry Goods Co.)
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Fairlawn Plaza
August 10. 1962
35,000 s.f
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Stow-Kent
Route 5 East of Stow
August 20, 1965
83,000 s.f.
Pronto Grille |
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Summit Mall
October 28,1965
131,000 s.f.
Georgian Room West
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Chapel Hill
Brittain Road North of Rte 18
February 16, 1967
135,000 s.f.
The Hilltop Room
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Mellett Mall
February 15,1968
116,000 s.f.
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Richland Mall
Mansfield
October 16, 1969
135,000 s.f.
The Terrace
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Belden Village
October 1, 1970
131,000 s.f.
The Terrace
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Rolling Acres
1978
90,000 s.f.
The Terrace
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I worked for O'Neils at their Stow-Kent store. It was a nice store and customer service was expected to be good! There were stores at Summit Mall, Chapel Hill Mall, Mellett Mall, Belden Village, Richland Mall, Coshocton, and Rolling Acres, as well as the flagship store downtown.
ReplyDelete20 December 2015 - 0123 hrs
ReplyDeleteAnother defunct store in Akron was Yeager's Department Store on Main Street a block or two north of O'Neill's on the same side of Main.
I remember this from my freshman year at Saint Mary's High School during the 1954 - 1955 school year. Yeager's went through the closing, reopening and final closing during that period. My buddy and I rode the ATC Bailey Road trolley bus from Hudson Drive in the Falls to South Main and Thornton Street every week day morning and then returned on the reverse of the same route around 4:00 PM; passed by Yeager's twice each day.
In my opinion, the M. O'Neil's store in downtown Akron was the best department store I have ever been in, and I have been all over the US and the world. It had something for everyone: Toyland, Hobby Shop, Sporting goods, Tools, Clothing, Home furnishings, Jewelry, Beauty shop and a very fine restaurant. I think the store had five floors and a mezzanine for shopping, a sixth for offices and a parking deck at the rear of the store.
During Christmas season the displays in the front and side windows were magic; every year they outshined the previous years displays. Polsky's displays were nice but could not compete with O'Neil's.
The other thing I liked was the architecture of the building, inside and out, but especially the inside; marble everywhere; it was a classy edifice. Sadly, O'Neil's is history and nothing today compares.
Also Catholic, American, a Texan, Navy Vet, Akron born, CFO reared, and have some dribbles of Polish blood flowing through my old pipes. Shouldn't be too difficult to figure out who I am.
Yeager's Dept. Store Akron Ohio - 23 December 2015 - 0250 hrs
ReplyDeleteHave to eat a bit of crow, maybe even some buzzard; my time line for the demise of Yeager's was far off from what I discovered searching the net. Guess my brain is too filled with minutia; so here goes with what I extracted from a Beacon Journal article written by Mark J. Price, Copy Editor for the Beacon Journal originally published 10 December 2007; here is a link to the article:
http://www.ohio.com/news/local-history-the-other-department-store-in-akron-1.73208
The Yeager company first declared bankruptcy in December 1957 and closed the store 20 Dec 57. After the store went into receivership Norman Siegel of Kansas City, Kansas bought the store. Five months after it closed Mr. Siegel reopened it and rehired many of the former employees.
There was a grand opening in May 1958, customers packed the store. Mr. Siegel was pleased and made plans to open branch stores. In 1959 branches were opened in Cuyahoga Falls, Alliance and Massillon.
It didn't take too long for things to go south; Yeager's was forced into its second bankruptcy in 1961 and was closed in April of that same year.
The Cuyahoga Falls store opened on the corner of Front and Stow Streets. I don't recall the name of the store that originally operated there. Eventually it became a fancy Billiard Parlor and then the "Studios of Jack Richard," an internationally renowned artist.
Thanks to the wonderful Federal Government program called Urban Renewal and Akron officials, the Yeager building and the entire block was demolished in 1967 for the "SuperBlock Project."
Haven't got a clue as to how that turned out; my guess is it didn't because I only found scant mention of its existence and nothing about the eventual outcome.
I grew up shopping with my mom at O'Neil's. Then as an adult I worked there. Loved that store. It was a city all on its own. Remember the canaries on the main floor in the spring? And the International festivals they had? I was working in the credit office on the 4th floor when the "town crier" snuck in and clanged his bell yelling out "All is well." What fun memories.
ReplyDeleteI worked across Main Street for the competition, Polsky's. We would regularly take our name tags off and go into Oneil's to "shop" them...seeing what price point they were selling the same or similar merchandise at, so we could match or beat their prices. Back in the day (1976), returns or markdowns had to be approved by an executive with their signature; a few of us from Polsky's were in O'Neils shopping prices so often that some of their employees just assumed we worked there, and would regularly approach us to approve markdowns, which, of course, we gladly did. I have no doubt their spies did the same to us, but it was great fun.
ReplyDeleteI have a bedroom set that was from O'Neal's Department store from the 1930's. does anyone know how I could find out what it is worth today?
ReplyDeleteI worked the holiday season at Belden Village O'Neil's in 1986, just after college and before moving to Columbus. Worked the electronics and luggage depts mostly (which were next to each other). Christmas Story had just come out of VHS, and so I saw that movie A LOT while waiting on customers.
ReplyDeleteIn the spring of 1957 our Spicer sixth grade class had a math lesson in the O'Neill's window at the south end of the building. This was during National Education week. How fun!
ReplyDeleteGoing through boxes of items from my parents home in Ohio and my family's moves from Ohio, I have found an O'Neils Associate Handbook (somehow! as I never worked there) circa 1980s - if anyone would like the Handbook, I'm happy to send it to you. Just e-mail me, Linda W.
ReplyDeleteHi Linda. If you still have that I would love to get it from you. Michael O’Neil was my great grandfather. William O’Neil was my mom’s dad. I was trying to locate an O’Neils hat box and found my way to this site. My email is aregan900@optonline.net. Hope to hear from you. Thank you.
DeleteThe Sheffield Center O'Neils had The Talking Christmas Tree, one of my first memories.
ReplyDeleteDuring the 1970s, I often ate at the Georgian Room in downtown Akron and at the Summit Mall and Belden Village restaurants. I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 1963, so usually ordered low-carb meals. The Georgian Room offered the best entree salad, a sculpture of assorted greens with tomatoes, carrot curls, chick peas, black olives, Swiss cheese and a choice of ham off the bone or albacore tuna pieces. I always had the tuna, but most people chose ham. The salad was crowned with a green-pepper ring that had a large radish rose in the center. Most salad dressings were homemade and the salad came with a basket of warm rolls and muffins. Over the years, I probably had hundreds of Georgian Room salads and still miss them.
ReplyDeleteI will always remember the lovely times that my mom took me and my sister for a lunch at the Georgian Room when we were shopping in downtown Akron. It was so elegant and the food was wonderful. Such a great memory!
ReplyDeleteI remember both the downtown Akron O’Neils Store and Belden Village. The downtown Akron store was wonderful- multiple floors, lots of different departments. Lunch there was especially nice. At Christmas it was incredible with window displays and a giant Santaland inside. They had special events all the time. I met an antiquarian bookseller there once, selling books in a special display. I went on to study bookbinding later on. I remember meeting a Dutch puzzle maker there as well. Think it was International week(s). Really special. Thank you O’Neil family for such a wonderful store that created so many memories…
ReplyDelete