Pizitz was a major 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 in

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, with its flagship store in downtown

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. At its peak it operated 12 other stores, mostly in the Birmingham area with several locations in

Huntsville Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...

and other Alabama cities. The chain was founded as the Louis Pizitz Dry Goods Co. in 1899 on the site of its flagship building in downtown Birmingham. It was sold to

McRae's McRae's was a mid-range regional department store chain founded and based in Jackson, Mississippi, with locations in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Florida. The nameplate was in existence for more than a century. History Samuel P. McRae fo ...

in December 1986, and all former Pizitz stores became McRae's. Many of the former Pizitz locations are now closed, but the Pizitz family (via Pizitz Management Group) still owns the buildings of most of its former stores. This became an issue when the

chain was sold to

Belk Belk, Inc. is an American department store chain founded in 1888 by William Henry Belk in Monroe, North Carolina, with nearly 300 locations in 16 states. Belk stores and Belk.com offer apparel, shoes, accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings, ...

Department Stores of

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

in 2005.

Louis Pizitz Middle School The Vestavia Hills City School System is the school system of the Birmingham, Alabama, suburb of Vestavia Hills. Vestavia Hills City Schools serve 6,762 students and employ 765 faculty and staff. The district includes five elementary schools, two ...

is built on land donated by the Pizitz family.

References

* White, Marjorie Longenecker, ed (1977) "Downtown Birmingham: Architectural and Historical Walking Tour Guide''. Birmingham: Birmingham Historical Society. * Hollis, Tim (2005) ''Birmingham's Theater and Retail District''. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. * Hollis, Tim (2010) ''Pizitz: Your Store''. Charleston, SC: The History Press.

External links

Pizitz memories
at "Birmingham Rewound".
View of Pizitz interior
at the Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections Defunct department stores based in Alabama Companies based in Birmingham, Alabama Retail companies disestablished in 1986 Retail companies established in 1899 Defunct companies based in Alabama 1899 establishments in Alabama {{US-retail-company-stub