The Union Co.
130 S. High Street
Columbus, Ohio
Full exhibit coming in due course
The on-line museum of North America's independent department stores. The museum holds all sorts of information about classic department stores which either no longer exist, or are changed beyond recognition. A few of them are still with us, and provide an interesting connection to North America's retail past. The others are presented so that they may be properly remembered as a tangible part of the lives of their customers, shopping destinations where memories were often made.
I lived in columbus in the lat e 50's,we lived on binns blvd, and mom and I would go to a road by us(don't remember the name now)which went right downtown to Lazarus(by bus)I loved that store!!!!My dad was a salesman, at that time,I think he worked for Hummingbird Hosiery, and went to the Union occasionally to talk to the buyers, and I would go with him. I thought it was a very"fancy,expensive"store, and I always felt out of place there, as a 10 year old, unlike Lazarus, where mom would shop a lot in the Bargain basement, especially. I felt right at home there!!!!Will never forget the place, and the christmas windows,as well as the surrounding area, including The Union!!!wonderful times, for sure
ReplyDeleteI live a few streets over from Binns Blvd. This area is called Westgate and is still a wonderful neighborhood (even though it is in the city) The road you are referring to is called West Broad Street. As a child, I rode the bus with my Mother to go shop at Lazarus downtown too. The Union was expensive. Some of my fondest memories took place in downtown Columbus. Especially at Christmas time. All the beautiful window displays, they were amazing. Woolworths store was great for kids. And I loved the Planter's Peanut shop nearby. Lazarus bargain basement was wonderful. And the food at the Chintz Room restaurant inside Lazarus was great. Have a nice day.
DeleteI worked for The Union on High Street in the late 70's. It was an awesome place..Very up-scale catering to a select clientele.
ReplyDeleteThe trunk shows were the best. It was so sad when they went out of business. I worked till the very last day we were open to the public.
They had a Beauty shop on the top floor I believe. A neighbor of mine had the shop. She asked me if I wanted to work there so they can try Hair styles on me. (I learned to take a scarf, for some of the hair styles) One was called the Prom! My hair had Hoops on the top with an orchid in the center. They used it to put in one of their 'hair style' magazines. Sure wish I could find it. LOL...memories.
DeleteI worked for The Union at the Kingsdale Mall location, which I was told at the time (late 1970's) was it's most successful with no less than three storefronts: Ladies, Men's, and Juniors/Childrens. The downtown store at 130 S. High was actually a re-use of the former Morehouse Fashions, which was itself the amalgamation of Morehouse's and The Fashion resulting in the large facade that actually had an alley running right through the middle of the building! This our downtown store had two distinct entrances, one into the Ladies' department with immense crystal chandliers that had more mdoern versions in the Kingsdale and Town & Country locations, the other into a richly panelled Men's store. On the second floor was a series of designer salons, including Yves St Laurent, Chanel, and St. John. The fifth floor included the Terrace Room restaurant, a proper barber shop, anda beauty salon operated by the same franchisee that ran Lazarus' salon across High Street. The Union was an excellent employer and I worked there three years 1977-80. Our parent company was Manhatten Industries out of New York City, which marketed their Manhattan shirts, Swank leather goods, Vera linens, and probably many other lines I am unaware of in their various upscale stores. I think Frost Brothers in San Antonio was one of our sister stores. A lovely place with the best boxes I've ever seen - 30 years later I still use them for storage.
ReplyDeleteAfter graduating Nationwide Beauty Academy in the late 60's my first job EVER was working at the hair salon in all the Union stores, downtown, kingsdale, northland. I remember buying clothes at the kingsdale store which back in the day cost me my entire week's pay but I thought I was ever so sheek! Growing up in a very small town with no shopping at all this was a huge highlight for me.
ReplyDeleteI also shopped Morehouse Fashion but it could not compare to Lazarus. This was in the l950;s. Miss those 2 stores
ReplyDeleteDid the Fashion become the Union sometime in the 1960's
DeleteI remember in the early 80's getting a Snoopy dog dish (for kids) to eat out of, my first Prom dress , I would say my mother spent her 2nd amount of long hours, shopping there after shed spent undocumented ( can't begin to even estimate) her hours shopping in Lazarus. Those were some really awesome times, wishing corporations could take note of such honorable companies that really had the public incorporated into it's mission!
ReplyDeleteI worked at the Union downtown store in the early 70's just before Manhattan took it over. Great place and really NYC atmosphere. There were 5 area stores at that time. I remember the downstairs "soda fountain"......really a great place for lunch.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Columbus in the 60's and we shopped at the Union store in Graceland Shopping Center. Does anyone have information about or remember the murals that were painted around the ceiling in the clothing departments? I have remembered them my whole life and would love to know if anyone else remembers any details. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteYes, I remember the murals at the Graceland location that were in the children's department. They were of an outer space motif. My grandmother took me shopping there when I was a little girl and I remember being fascinated by them. I also had the pleasure of working there in the 1970's while I was in college. I also worked at the Northland store after that.
ReplyDeleteIn the 1990's I was visiting Columbus from out of state and just so happened to drive by there when they were tearing down the store. I actually stopped, took pictures and had a few tears. Good memories.
Yes, I remember the murals at the Graceland location that were in the children's department. They were of an outer space motif. My grandmother took me shopping there when I was a little girl and I remember being fascinated by them. I also had the pleasure of working there in the 1970's while I was in college. I also worked at the Northland store after that.
ReplyDeleteIn the 1990's I was visiting Columbus from out of state and just so happened to drive by there when they were tearing down the store. I actually stopped, took pictures and had a few tears. Good memories.
A trivia point about the Graceland store, in the 1970's it was due to be shuttered and replaced by a new store in Worthington Square, where The Union would be the anchor tenant. The owners of Graceland gave the store the ultimate sweetheart deal to get them to stay, and the space in Worthington Square instead became cinemas. The Union also had a small store in Chillicothe, not certain where, the only non-Columbus location. I worked at Kingsdale in the 70's, what a time and place that was - Woody Hayes and (Governor) Jim Rhodes were both regulars in the men's department. A fine store.
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth, I remember seeing The Union on the town square in Mt. Gilead, just north of Columbus. When we visited family in the area, we drove through town on OH-95, and drove by every time. Mt. Gilead is the county seat of Morrow County and was a small town even by 1970's standards.
DeleteMy mother took me to the Union at Kingsdale to purchase a sport coat for a junior high dance. What a great store.
ReplyDeleteI have very fond memories of working at the Union at Graceland while attending college. I felt honored to assist the then governor Rhodes wife as she often shopped there and would ask for me personally. To this day I still remember the outfits I purchased as being upscale and very stylish. As a teenager I worked as an "Elf" at Christmas time at Lazarus helping children pick out small gifts while their parents shopped. And, I often modeled at Morehouse Fashion in their downtown style shows. Wonderful times and memories growing up in the Columbus area...
ReplyDeleteI worked at the downtown store from 1973 to 1976. My boss was Robert Shue and we cleaned the store.
ReplyDeleteRemember driving one of the Levy's around. Have so many fond memories of that store and the people who worked there.
As I remember it, the Union took over the space directly across the street from Lazarus on High St. Before that, the store was originally Morehouse Martin - then Morehouse Fashion - the The Fashion. I don't think the Union was actually connected with any of those incarnations of the earlier store - it may have been elsewhere (somewhere farther north down High St.?) before moving there. Morehouse Martin/Fashion was actually a pretty good store - just not as good as Lazarus. A trip downtown usually involved stopping in there as well as Lazarus - they had somewhat different things. The Union was always a bit more upscale than either. In later years, I remembered shopping at The Union at mall locations. Like most people growing up in Columbus, I will never forget Lazarus and the 6th floor toy department at Christmas - and virtually everything else about those stores until they disappeared. Happy memories!
ReplyDeleteThe original Union location was at the northwest corner of Long & High Streets in a white glazed brick building. This is the first illustration that Bruce has shown above. The shorter side fronted on High Street and the long side fronted on Long Street. The building was restored several years ago as offices and is well kept. The windows have been restored and not whited out as shown above.
DeleteI do not know if you remember it, but on the east side of High street up towards Spring Street was The Boston Store, owned by the Kobacker Family. It closed in 1963.
The Union moved to the old Morehouse Martens/ Fashion Store location in 1968 to be closer the downtown shopping action which increasingly focused around Lazarus.
The Morehouse Martens company was owned by Allied Stores and closed sometime in the mid 1960's.
Thanks for sharing your memories- Dave
Those of you that mentioned the Northland store will be happy to know that it was not torn down with the rest of the mall. It is now a beautiful office building occupied by the Franklin County ODJFS. Very nicely reinvented. The east end of the building and the automotive part are now home to the Northland Performance Art Co. It is a wonderful performance and meeting venue. A very old Columbus tradition, Vaud-Villities puts on their annual shows along several other performance groups.
ReplyDeleteThe store that you are speaking of was the jcpenney store. The taxation dept is in the old Lazarus store.
DeleteI have no memory or familiarity with The Union, but it's wonderful reading the comments and how people remember what must have been a beautiful, impressive place. It's great they're preserving what they could of these old department stores in the department store museum
ReplyDeleteIn the 50s there was a dept. store on the east side of high street just south of Long St. I remember waiting for the bus in front of the store. The store was Bradford something...Bradford Hush or something like that. Does anyone have info about this store?
ReplyDeleteJust bought a piece of furniture marked Morehouse Martens Co.Where to search for more info on this piece??
ReplyDeleteClassy place for clothes, especially after-Christmas sales. Worked at Northland store during Christmas break, late 60s-early '70s while in college.
ReplyDeleteUnion & Lazarus Christmas displays were great; peanut butter fudge at Lazarus candy dept was the best; anyone remember the electric buses ? Classic.
I do remember the electric busses. As a youngster, I would be very mischievous and when the bus stopped at West North Broadway and High St., We would grab the cables and dislodge them from the electric wires above. Thus the bus was rendered immovable. We of course, would then run into the tunnel that went under High Street allowing children to cross High street to go to Clinton Elementary safely.
DeleteI remember my mother taking me here to shop as a child. I loved going to the union. I felt we were very special when shopping there. It was elegant and had beautiful clothing. Days long gone, but not forgotten.
ReplyDeleteI worked for the Union store in the 1970s. My place was the jewelry counter. I remember one night Vincent Price and his wife came through one evening.I loved my job. I worked with Shirley and a little gal named Beth. I used to walk to work from German Village. What great memories. My name is Vanessa. ⚘
ReplyDeleteANY ONE REMEMBER FRIES AND SCHUELE, CLEVELAND OHIOS 2ND OLDEST DEPT. STORE? CLOSED IN 1979.
ReplyDeleteI remember my parents taking me to The Union when I was a boy. A fantastic building that I'll forever remember for it's classic interior.
ReplyDeleteLived in Columbus during the '70s. Worked for Attorney General's Office, temp located in Neil House Hotel, til State Office Building was completed, right up the street from Lazarus. What great memories! Lunch in Chintz Room on paydays (best chicken salad ever)!!! Floor 4 had gorgeous furniture and floor 5 beautiful linens. Great memories!!! Oh, Cappy's fruit stand and Ho Toy Chinese Rest next to Ohio Theater. Great experience...😎
ReplyDeleteI found this blog because I just found a (somewhat damaged) fur coat from The Union. It's the cursive font label.
ReplyDelete