Photo Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Exterior view of empty lot |
Object Name |
Print, Photographic |
Collection |
S.H. Kress & Company |
Catalog Number |
1989.13.1.6144 |
Description |
Print, photographic; exterior B&W snapshot taken at street level; picture shows a view looking at a at an empty lot with a tree; pencilled on back "San Angelo" |
Context |
The S.H. Kress & Company, founded by Samuel H. Kress, opened over 300 5-10-25 cent stores in thirty states from New Jersey to Florida and across to California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii. The first Kress store opened in Memphis, Tennessee in 1896. Many of the early Kress stores started out in rented spaces. By 1909, the Company began to open its stores in new structures created by S.H. Kress & Company architects like Edward F. Sibbert and Seymour Burrell, or built for it by contractors and held under lease. The Kress stores particularly thrived during the Great Depression, as they sold inexpensive products in luxurious spaces. Kress stores ranged in architectural styles, from Neoclassical to Art Deco to Modern and International. Towards the end of the S.H. Kress & Company life, shopping centers and malls overtook free-standing commercial buildings as the preferred retail locations, and new Kress stores were placed in large multistore structure. In 1964, the S.H. Kress & Company was purchased by Genesco, Incorporated, and the company was liquidated in 1980 and 1981. Some of the buildings have been demolished, while others have been renovated and adapted. The documents, plans, photographs, and objects that were gifted to the National Building Museum by numerous donors provide a rich array of information relevant to business, social, architectural, land use, race relations, and commercial history in the United States. |
Credit Line |
Courtesy of National Building Museum, gift of Genesco, Inc. |
Place |
San Angelo, Texas |
Additional Notes |
Genesco Store Number: 657 Address: 109 South Chadbourne Street Facade Material: Brick Style: Unknown Primary Building Architect: Unknown Contractors: |
Date |
c. 1940s |
Photographer |
Unknown |
Orig/Copy |
Original |
Medium |
Photographic paper |
Object Category |
8: Communication Artifact |
Donor |
Genesco Inc. |
Notes on Related Objects |
Related Units: 46 photographs, 6 plans, 0.5 inch of documents Book Description: "Constructed in 1949, this two-story brick building represents a transition from the plush interiors and carefully detailed exteriors of most pre-World War II stores to the simple, unadorned self-service stores of the postwar era. The building retains a high ceiling in the sales area, terrazzo floors, wooden trim and display cases, and the basic arrangement of sales counters and shelves, but the interior was plainer and lacked moldings and other details. Flat plate-glass show-windows, flush with the entrance doors were installed, instead of the once typical curved plate-glass show-windows on marble bases, set on either side of recessed entrances. This store closed in 1972." |
Related Publications |
Wilkerson, Susan, and Hank Griffith. A Guide to the Building Records of S.H. Kress & Co. 5-10-25 Cent Stores at the National Building Museum. Edited by Joyce Eliiot. Washington, DC: National Building Museum Publication Office, 1993. |
Caption |
Black and white photograph of a tree and the corner of a building |
Search Terms |
two-story brick plush unadorned self-service terrazzo wood trim plate-glass marble base Store 657 San Angelo Texas 109 South Chadbourne Street S.H. Kress & Co photograph |