Photo Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Café |
Object Name |
Print, Photographic |
Collection |
S.H. Kress & Company |
Catalog Number |
1989.13.1.2313 |
Description |
Print, Photographic; B&W , interior snapshot taken at ground level; the picture shows an overall view of the store cafeteria; tables for four are in foreground; uniformed waitresses are seen behind counter at back; stamp on back "MIAMI, FLA\VENETIAN ARCADE" |
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 |
Miami, Florida |
Additional Notes |
Genesco Store Number: 63 Address: 54 East Flagler Street Facade Material: Steel, granite Style: Art Deco Primary Building Architect: Edward F. Sibbert Contractors: |
Date |
c. 1930s |
Photographer |
Unknown |
Orig/Copy |
Original Print |
Medium |
Photographic paper |
Object Category |
8: Communication Artifact |
Donor |
Genesco Inc. |
Notes on Related Objects |
Related Units: 146 photographs, 140 plans Book Description: "In 1916 a Miami Kress store opened. By 1924 it was on Flagler Street, in a five-story building with an elaborate white terracotta façade featuring rosettes, festoons, and cartouches bearing the letter K. In 1937 Kress acquired the Venetian Building at 54 Flafler Street, and Edward F. Sibbert designed a new structue utilizing its steel skeleton. This streamlined Art Deco building had a sleek granite facade with rounded corners on Flagler and a plainer granite and stucco facade on First Street. The store was one of the company's Class A stores, with especially fine decor and a spacious main sales area, enhanced with marblewood and satinwood trim under a ceiling nineteen feet tall. A large cafeteria on the mezzanine was decorated with photomurals of famous beaches. The store closed in 1981." |
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 the in-store café |
Search Terms |
five-story rosettes festoons cartouches Venetian Building Edward F. Sibbert steel structure streamlined Art Deco sleek granite rounded plainer Class A fin décor spacious main sales enhance marblewood satinwood trim cafeteria photomurals beach Store 63 Miami Florida 54 East Flagler Street S.H. Kress & Co photograph |