Popular_Building,_El_Paso,_TX_2022-05-29

The Popular Dry Goods Company (known as The Popular and by its large Spanish-speaking clientele as La Popular) was a local chain of department stores in El Paso, Texas. It carried national brands of clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, electronics, and housewares. At the time of its closing in 1995, there were four locations in El Paso at

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

, Bassett Center, Northpark Mall and

Sunland Park Mall Sunland Park Mall is a shopping mall in El Paso, Texas, owned and operated by Washington Prime Group. It is located on El Paso's west side, at Interstate 10 and Sunland Park Drive. It features five anchor stores operating under four brand names, a ...

. For much of its existence, The Popular was El Paso's largest locally owned department store.

History

The Popular Dry Goods Company was founded in 1902 by Adolf Schwartz, a Hungarian immigrant who had previously opened two other retail stores in the area, Tres B (Buena, Bonita, Barata/Good, Pretty, Cheap) and The Fair which he had founded in 1900. Schwartz closed The Fair in 1902 and it was succeeded by The Popular, which he opened with his nephew Maurice Schwartz and other relatives. In 1907, the Popular moved from the northeast corner of El Paso and Overland Streets to Mesa and San Antonio and consisted of three floors by 1914. In 1917 Schwartz transformed The Popular from a general store to a modern department store with a six-story building on Mesa and San Antonio Streets. Schwartz’s granddaughter Ann Goodman Schaechner, tells a story about Pancho Villa and

Francisco Madero Francisco Ignacio Madero González (; 30 October 1873 – 22 February 1913) was a Mexican businessman, revolutionary, writer and statesman, who became the 37th president of Mexico from 1911 until he was deposed in a coup d'etat in February 1 ...

, opposing military leaders in the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...

, visiting The Popular at the same time, "One was on the basement and the first floor and the other was on the second or third floor. A clerk recognized the foes and ran back and forth between floors attending the two men so that they would not bump into each other. Thanks to the observant employee, the two men never saw each other, and the store kept both good customers." Adolph Schwartz died from a heart attack at the age of 74 on March 3, 1941. After the retirement of Schwartz' nephew Maurice, Maurice's sons Herbert M. Schwartz and Albert J. Schwartz, continued to run the company. The Popular's expansion began in 1962 with the opening of a second location at Bassett Center. This was followed by a third location at Northgate (later Northpark Mall) in 1966, and then a location at Sunland Park Mall in 1988. In 1995, the devalued peso and Mexico’s recession along with the newly enacted

North American Free Trade Agreement The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...

posed an economic strain to the region. All Popular stores were closed on November 6, 1995.

Dillard's Dillard's, Inc. is an upscale American department store chain with approximately 282 stores in 29 states and headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Currently, the largest number of stores are located in Texas with 57 and Florida with 42. The ...

purchased The Popular's credit accounts and Bassett Center store. Sears purchased the Sunland Park location. The remaining two locations were dissolved."El Paso's The Popular closes after 93 years"
''The Victoria Advocate'', Victoria, Texas, Aug 27, 1995.

External links

Archive photos: The Popular Dry Goods Co., El Paso Times

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Popular (Department Store) Defunct department stores based in Texas Companies based in El Paso, Texas Privately held companies based in Texas Clothing retailers of the United States American companies established in 1902 Retail companies established in 1902 Retail companies disestablished in 1995 Defunct companies based in Texas