The M. O'Neil Co. was a regional

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

chain based in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. O'Neil's dominated the Akron and Canton retail markets. Founded in 1877, the store grew to several locations in northeastern Ohio. By the late 1980's, it was owned by May Department Stores, and in 1989 May merged it with its Cleveland division to form

May Company Ohio The May Company Ohio was a chain of department stores that was based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. History In 1899, David May, the founder of May Department Stores, acquired E. R. Hull & Dutton Co. of Cleveland on Ontario Street, renaming ...

, which was subsequently merged into its Pittsburgh division,

Kaufmann's Kaufmann's was a department store that originated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Summary The store was owned in the early 20th century by Edgar J. Kaufmann, patron of the famous Fallingwater house. In the post-war years, the store became a regi ...

, in 1993. May Department Stores was purchased by

Federated Department Stores Macy's, Inc. (originally Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American conglomerate holding company. Upon its establishment, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shillito ...

in 2005, who merged all of its regional chains into

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

in 2006.

History

O'Neil's began in 1877, when Irishmen Michael O'Neil and Isaac Dyas opened a dry goods store at 114 East Market Street. On the death of Dyas in 1892, the store became the M. O'Neil Co. Acquired by

May Department Stores The May Department Stores Company was an American department store holding company, formerly headquartered in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. It was founded in Leadville, Colorado, by David May in 1877, moving to St. Louis in 1905. After many ch ...

for $1 million in 1912, it opened a new store in downtown Akron in 1927 that remained through the late 1980s. Fernandez, Robert. "O'Neil's Got Its Start As a Young Man's Fancy; Love of Lace Led Irishman to Open Store." Akron Beacon Journal. 14 December, 1988: A10. It eventually came to operate stores throughout the Akron and Canton areas. In 1989 the main store in downtown Akron was closed, and its remaining locations merged with

. With the merger, the O'Neil's name was retired. Branch stores in later years were at

Summit Mall Summit Mall is a one-story, "East Side Malls" ''The Plain Dealer'' February 22, 2004. Retrieved July 31, 2006. enclosed shopping mall located at 3265 W. Market Street in the Akron, Ohio, Akron suburb of Fairlawn, Ohio, Fairlawn. , and with the cl ...

in Fairlawn,

Chapel Hill Chapel Hill or Chapelhill may refer to: Places Antarctica * Chapel Hill (Antarctica) Australia *Chapel Hill, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane *Chapel Hill, South Australia, in the Mount Barker council area Canada * Chapel Hill, Ottawa, a neighbo ...

and

Rolling Acres Rolling Acres is a former shopping district in Akron, Ohio, surrounding the now-demolished Rolling Acres Mall. Planning for the area began in 1960s with Forest City Enterprises, a Cleveland real estate company and the powerful Buchholzer family, ...

malls in Akron, Belden Village and Mellett (now Canton Centre) malls in Canton, 30th Street Plaza in Canton, Stow-Kent Plaza in

Stow Stow may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Stow, Lincolnshire or Stow-in-Lindsey, a village * Stow of Wedale or Stow, Scottish Borders, a village * Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire, a small town * Stow, Shropshire or Stowe, a village * Stow ...

, Richland Mall in Ontario, and in Coshocton. Earlier branches included stores in downtown Canton, Lorain, Alliance, Massillon and Mansfield and in the Akron suburbs of

Cuyahoga Falls Cuyahoga Falls ( or ) is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 51,114. The second-largest city in Summit County, it is located directly north of Akron and is a suburb of the Akron metropol ...

, Barberton and Fairlawn (at Fairlawn Plaza). The downtown Akron O'Neil's department store featured large display windows along the front and sides of the massive store where seasonal displays were set up for viewing by the public. During the holiday season, large elaborate animated displays of elves in Santa's workshop, nutcrackers, teddy bears, trains and various toys played under Christmas trees. These displays were a main feature of downtown Akron during the holiday season, along with the displays in the windows of O'Neil's rival store, Polsky's, directly across South Main Street.

References

External links

Old postcard of O'Neil's store in downtown Akron
''(hosted by the Center for Policy Studies at the

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public research university in Akron, Ohio. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advanced materials, and engineering. It is classified ...

)'' Companies based in Akron, Ohio Defunct department stores based in Ohio Retail companies disestablished in 1989 Defunct companies based in Ohio 1877 establishments in Ohio 1989 disestablishments in Ohio {{US-retail-company-stub