R. H. White was a department store company of the 19th and 20th centuries, based in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. The company existed from 1853 to c. 1980; the flagship downtown Boston store was open from 1876 to 1957. R. H. White was founded in 1853. Originally on Winter Street, it moved in 1876 to a large ornate six-floor building (designed by

Peabody and Stearns Peabody & Stearns was a premier architectural firm in the Eastern United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the firm consisted of Robert Swain Peabody (1845–1917) and John Goddard Stearns J ...

and built by McNeil Brothers) at 518–536 Washington Street, in the downtown shopping area. In 1928 the company was bought by

Filene's Filene's (formally William Filene & Sons Co.) was an American department store chain; it was founded by William Filene in 1881. The success of the original full-line store in Boston, Massachusetts, was supplemented by the foundation of its off-p ...

and in 1944 ownership passed to City Stores, Inc. Both these companies continued the independent existence of the R. H. White brand and store. In 1953 the store celebrated its centennial with a makeover and refurbishment of the flagship store, and various events. But urban decay had crept up to the lower edge of the downtown shopping area where R. H. White was located (the so-called Combat Zone would soon spring up a few blocks away). By 1956 sales were down and the store was no longer profitable; City Stores closed the flagship downtown store in 1957. The building stood empty for a while, then – with tax incentives from the City of Boston – City Stores refurbished it and opened a new store called Citymart, which opened in August 1962. Citymart included a full grocery store and a babysitting service for shoppers. The store was not successful as the neighborhood continued to deteriorate. In 1966 the

Boston Redevelopment Authority The Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA), formerly the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), is a Massachusetts public agency that serves as the municipal planning and development agency for Boston, working on both housing and commercial de ...

seized the building by

eminent domain Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...

and moved Raymond's department store there as part of a larger

urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...

project. Raymond's ceased operation in 1972. The building was later torn down to make way for the Lafayette Place Mall urban shopping center. The R. H. White brand continued to exist for a while, and City Stores operated R. H. White branch stores in suburban malls (such as Worcester's Lincoln Plaza shopping center and Leominster, Massachusetts' Searstown Mail). But by 1980 City Stores was bankrupt and all R. H. White outlets were closed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, R. H. Defunct department stores based in Massachusetts 1853 establishments in Massachusetts

See also

References