Tag: Travel Here

Things to do in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex

DESTINATIONS, DFW Metroplex, International, Road Trips, Shopping, TRAVEL

Shopping in the Good Old Days

Jane Sadek

TRAVEL HERE/TRAVEL THERE: SHOPPING IN DALLAS IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS

I hate to say it, but today’s mall rats don’t know from shopping. Drop me in any mall from sea to shining sea and what do you have? The same hundred-odd stores and fast food outlets they have in every other mall in America.  (YAWN!)

My Memories of Shopping in Dallas

I live in Dallas where shopping centers were invented. (Well, not really, but kinda.)  Forget Mall of the Americas, I shop at NorthPark!  In days of yore, NorthPark only had three anchor stores:  Neiman’s, Titches and J.C.Penney’s.  and the other stores? Margo’s La Mode, Chandler’s Shoes, Continental Coiffures, The Carriage Shop…those were the days.  We didn’t have a food court.  We had El Fenix.  Things have changed since then, but I’m still loving me some Northpark.

Back in the good old days, department stores had departments.  I don’t mean you went to the men’s floor and then wandered from designer department to designer department to find a pair of navy slacks for your dad’s birthday.  I mean you went to the men’s pants department and wandered through islands, seas and oceans of men’s pants.  In fact, the pants department would be divided up into types of pants, so by looking on only two or three fixtures, you’d be able to tell whether they had any dressy navy blue pants in your dad’s size or not.

Shopping in Paris

I foresaw the disappearance of departments, as I knew them, before it actually happened.  In the eighties I visited Paris.  My trip was in December and the city was aglow with twinkling lights and snow.  Galeries Lafayette, all decked out for the Christmas season, was astounding.  I wandered around the store to my hearts content.  As I made my way around the upper floors for my second or third time, I began to realize what was bugging me.  I couldn’t find the blouse department.

See, as a twenty something career girl I didn’t have a lot of money, but I envisioned shrugging off my blazer at work one day and hearing someone say, “What a gorgeous blouse!”  At that point I could have answered, “Oh, I picked it up in Paris.”

But Galleries Lafayette didn’t have a blouse department.  They had blouses from many, many designers, but they were all spread out.  I couldn’t just go to the blouse department, check out the markdowns in my size and see if I could afford any.  To find out if there was a blouse in the store I could afford, I would have had to wander around all the different designer’s boutiques and handle the merchandise.  The perfectly coiffed French-speaking clerks were entirely too intimidating.  I went downstairs and bought a Christmas ornament instead.

Designer Departments Take Over

Back in Dallas I was only able to enjoy the blouse department for a little while longer – the designer departments were on their way.  Now, if I want to go to the men’s department and see all the navy dress pants in one fail swoop, then I’m headed to either Walmart or Target.  (BTW, I love Target, but that’s beside the point.)

I miss the old style department store.  To begin with they had a sort of local flavor and were targeted more specifically to local needs.  I also think that you were more likely to come up with an individualized look in a store where things were not pre-coordinated for you.  I mean you don’t have to go all matchy-matchy to look pulled together.

Nowadays, things are entirely too homogenized.  Sure Nordstrom’s has great service and a great selection of merchandise.  I love Bistro N.  But I still miss Titche-Goettinger.  And I miss the blouse department, too.  How about you?

ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, DFW Metroplex, Museums, Shopping, TRAVEL

Remembering Dallas Department Stores

Jane Sadek

TRAVEL HERE: REMEMBERING DALLAS DEPARTMENT STORES

Frequent visitors to my blog know I’m crazy for Neiman Marcus.  It’s a touchstone for my beloved Dallas.  I might be shopping in Atlanta’s NM, but I still feel right at home.  I’m devoted to Neiman’s because it’s the only thing left from my childhood shopping experiences.  Titche-Goettinger, Colbert-Volk and Sanger Harris all bit the dust.

My, How Things Have Changed

The transformation of the crisp turquoise-and-white-striped Titche-Goettinger bag into Dillard’s boring beige plastic thing was a disappointing retail slide for me.  My mom went to work for Titches back in the 60’s.  Along the way they merged with a San Antonio department store called Joske’s.  I didn’t think Joske’s had near the eclat of Titche’s.  For a few years, though they belonged to the same team, they each kept their own identity.  Finally, the Joske’s name won out, but at least it was still a Texas name.

Then along came Dillard’s, an Arkansas company, and bought out Joske’s.  I’d like to be able to say that I haven’t walked into the store since, but my mom retired with a 25% lifetime discount, so I’d be lying.  However, I would be telling the truth if I told you I missed that department store with the turquoise-and-white-striped shopping bags.

For all those decades my mom worked at Titches/Joske’s/Dillard’s her main competition was Sanger-Harris, but it was a friendly competition.  If we could buy it a mom’s store we would, but I had plenty of Sanger’s labels in my closet – especially stuff I’d bought at Red Apple days.  The prices were so low you felt like they were paying you to carry merchandise home.  Joske’s had EOM (end of month) markdowns that were often as drastic, but Red Apple Days just sounded like a lot more fun.

I had a grudging admiration for Sanger-Harris after Titche’s became Joske’s.  I wouldn’t have mentioned it to mother, but I thought they were winning the retail war.  Their stores seemed more upscale and their shopping bags were prettier.  I especially liked the exterior of the stores.  When you went to a mall Sanger’s always stood out, because they had gorgeous mosaic murals on the exterior.  You didn’t have to be able to read to know you’d arrived.

Sadly, Sanger Harris eventually went the same route as Titches.  First, they merged with a Houston retailer named Foley’s and ended up changing their name.  Then Macy’s bought them out, and not too many years ago, at that.  I remember visiting the Macy’s in Temple with my Aunt Edie shortly after the change-over.  We agreed we liked Sanger Harris better.

DMA to Remember, Too

With all these pleasant Sanger-Harris memories it is no wonder that I’m excited about a new exhibit on it’s way to the Dallas Museum of Art.  According to the latest issue of the museum’s member’s magazine, back in the 50’s a young VP of A. Harris & Company (which later merged with Sanger Brothers) commissioned an artist to create a series of paintings of Dallas.  The paintings were exhibited at the DMA a couple of times in the fifties, but they haven’t been in Dallas since.  Now they are coming back and will be presented with photos of my city taken at the time of the paintings.

Art, shopping and Dallas!  That’s like three of my favorite things in the world!  Why do you think I enjoyed the Jean Paul Gautier exhibit so much?  Anyway, mark your calender for May 20th, because George Groz’s Impressions of Dallas is coming to the DMA.  The name of the exhibit is “Flower of the Prairie” and you’ll be able to see it until August 19.  And  Macy’s, since you’ve gone to the trouble to sponsor this exhibition, all is forgiven.  I’ll come spend some money there soon.