Loveman's
Loveman's was a Birmingham-based chain of department stores with locations across Alabama. (There was also a Loveman's chain based in Tennessee started by a different branch of the Loveman family. The local chain was known as Loveman's of Alabama to distinguish the two.)
History
A. B. Loveman, a Jewish immigrant from Hungary, opened his first general merchandise store in Greensboro in the late 1860s. In 1887 he relocated to Birmingham and opened A. B. Loveman's Dry Goods Emporium at 1915 2nd Avenue North. He was soon joined by Moses Joseph of Selma and the store became Loveman & Joseph. In 1889, with the addition of Emil Loeb, the company became Loveman, Joseph, & Loeb
Loveman, Joseph, & Loeb constructed a large new department store in 1890 facing 19th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenue North. The store was expanded in 1899. By 1911, Loveman's was known as the largest, most magnificant department store south of the Ohio River. It advertised over 60 individual departments and served as a state textbook depository. In 1917, an add-on known as the Loveman's Annex was built between the main building and the the site later occupied by the Alabama Theatre.
In 1923 a majority ownership stake in the company was acquired by the newly-formed City Stores Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (now CSS, Inc.). The holding company also took control of New Orleans, Louisiana's Maison Blanche Co. and Memphis, Tennessee's B. Lowenstein, Inc. It serviced all of its stores through a central buyer, but operations were kept under the local control of the individual chains.
The downtown store was destroyed in a massive fire on March 10, 1934, sparing only the exterior of the Annex. The store reopened within a few weeks at a temporary location while a new Loveman's building was built on the site of the fire. The new store, completed in 1935, featured a bold, clean art-deco style. A clock on the corner of 19th Street and 3rd Avenue became a popular landmark and meeting place. The new store was one of the first in the United States to be fully air conditioned and the first in Alabama to have an escalator.
During the Civil Rights Movement, Loveman's was one of the many downtown stores picketed to promote the hiring of more African American clerks.
Under president John Breyer the retailer expanded in the late 1960s, and completed a major remodeling of its downtown store in 1969 and added a 400-space parking deck in 1970. Loveman's opened additional locations across Birmingham and the state. The first branch opened at West Lake Mall in 1969. The chain also opened anchor stores at both Western Hills Mall and Century Plaza when they opened. Other stores were located in Huntsville and Montgomery.
Loveman's parent, the City Stores Company, declared bankruptcy in 1979. The chain went out of business the following April. The 1935 Loveman's building downtown was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 14, 1983. It was renovated in 1998 as the home of the McWane Science Center.
Locations
- A. B. Loveman's Dry Goods Emporium / Loveman and Joseph (1887-1890), 1915 2nd Avenue North
- Loveman, Joseph & Loeb (1890-1934), 200 block of 19th Street North
- Loveman's Annex (1917-), 1819 3rd Avenue North
- Loveman, Joseph & Loeb / Loveman's (1934-1980), 200 block of 19th Street North
- Loveman's at West Lake Mall (1969-), later converted to Pizitz
- Loveman's at Western Hills Mall (1970-), later converted to Pizitz
- Loveman's at Century Plaza (1976), later converted to Pizitz
- Loveman's in Huntsville
- Loveman's in Montgomery
References
- Loveman's. (October 1, 2006). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 03:54, October 31, 2006, from [1].
- Kuhl, Earl D., editor (1934) "Illustrated Souvenir: Birmingham's $3,000,000 Fire, March 10, 1934." Birmingham: Birmingham Firemen's Relief Association. - accessed at Birmingham Public Library Archives Digital Collections, February 22, 2007
- Loveman, Joseph and Loeb Department Store (Birmingham, Ala.). (1936). In Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections. Retrieved October 31, 2006 from [2].
- White, Marjorie Longenecker, ed. (1980) Downtown Birmingham: Architectural and Historical Walking Tour Guide, second edition. Birmingham: Birmingham Historical Society.
External links
- Birmingham Rewound - Loveman's
- Loveman Merchants - Birmingham at liebman-loveman.com