Higbee's was a

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 ...

founded in 1860 in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

. In 1987, Higbee's was sold to the joint partnership of

Dillard's department stores 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. ...

and

Youngstown Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, whi ...

-based developer, Edward J. DeBartolo. The stores continued to operate under the Higbee name until 1992, when DeBartolo sold his shares to his partners and the chain was re-branded as Dillard's.

History

Higbee's was founded by Edwin Converse Higbee and John G. Hower on September 10, 1860, as Higbee & Hower Dry Goods. The first day of business saw $100 in sales. It was reorganized as The Higbee Co. in 1902 after the death of Mr. Hower and relocated from its original

Public Square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

location to a new five-story

Playhouse Square Center Playhouse Square is a theater district in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is the largest performing arts center in the US outside of New York City (only Lincoln Center is larger). Constructed in a span of 19 months in the early 1920s, ...

store, directly across from its sworn arch-rival Halle Brothers Co. In 1929 it was acquired by the

Van Sweringen brothers Oris Paxton Van Sweringen (April 24, 1879 – November 22, 1936) and Mantis James Van Sweringen (July 8, 1881 – December 12, 1935) were American brothers who became railroad barons in order to develop Shaker Heights, Ohio. They are better kno ...

, who moved the store to their new $179 million

Terminal Tower Terminal Tower is a 52-story, , landmark skyscraper located on Public Square in Downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Built during the skyscraper boom of the 1920s and 1930s, it was the second-tallest building in the world when it was comp ...

complex on Public Square, partly in response to pleas from women who wished to occupy homes in their new suburb of

Shaker Heights Shaker or Shakers may refer to: Religious groups * Shakers, a historically significant Christian sect * Indian Shakers, a smaller Christian denomination Objects and instruments * Shaker (musical instrument), an indirect struck idiophone * Coc ...

and ride the Vans' new railroads into the city for quality shopping. The store subsequently went bankrupt in 1935 as the Van Sweringen empire collapsed in the Great Depression, but thanks to store executives Charles P. Bradley and John Murphy, the company was reorganized and flourished under their guidance for many years. The 1960s and 1970s saw the addition of several stores in suburbs as well as expansion to

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

and Canton, all under the watch of president

Herbert Strawbridge Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert ...

, who also saw the value of giving new life to

The Flats The Flats is a mixed-use industrial, recreational, entertainment, and residential area of the Cuyahoga Valley neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The name reflects its low-lying topography on the banks of the Cuyahoga River. History In 17 ...

district in

Downtown Cleveland Downtown Cleveland is the central business district of Cleveland, Ohio. The economic and symbolic center of the city and the Cleveland-Akron-Canton, OH Combined Statistical Area, it is Cleveland's oldest district, with its Public Square laid out ...

. In 1984,

Industrial Equity The Adelaide Steamship Company was an Australian shipping company and later a diversified industrial and logistics conglomerate. It was formed by a group of South Australian businessmen in 1875. Their aim was to control the transport of goods b ...

, a subsidiary of Brierly Investments, acquired Higbee's, selling it three years later to a joint venture of

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 ...

and Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. who planned to combine Higbee's with an intended acquisition of

Horne's The Joseph Horne Company, often referred to simply as Joseph Horne's or Horne's, was an iconic, regional department store chain based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The store was one of the oldest in the country being founded on February 22, 1849, ...

. The deal was cancelled abruptly, resulting in several years of litigation. In 1992 Dillard's bought out DeBartolo's shares and rebadged Higbee's and five of the Northern Ohio Horne's stores with its name. During the 1990s, several inner-ring stores were closed while new far-flung locations opened or expanded. The 192-foot-tall, 11-story Public Square flagship store was famous for its tenth-floor Silver Grille restaurant. It closed in January 2002. The Main Floor, second and third floors were restored in 2007 to house the new offices of the Convention & Visitors Bureau of Greater Cleveland and the Greater Cleveland Partnership, while the Silver Grille was restored for special events. The building was again completely remodeled in 2011 and opened on May 14, 2012 as the Horseshoe Casino Cleveland. The building was again renamed, becoming the Jack Cleveland Casino and reopening on May 11, 2016 after Rock Gaming LLC took over management.

In popular culture

* The store on Public Square was prominently featured in the 1983 movie ''

A Christmas Story ''A Christmas Story'' is a 1983 Christmas comedy film directed by Bob Clark and based on Jean Shepherd's semi-fictional anecdotes in his 1966 book '' In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash'', with some elements from his 1971 book ''Wanda Hickey ...

'' and in the 2022 movie ''

A Christmas Story Christmas ''A Christmas Story Christmas'' is a 2022 American Christmas comedy film directed by Clay Kaytis with a script he co-wrote with Nick Schenk, from an original story co-written by Schenk and Peter Billingsley. It is a legacy sequel to ''A Christ ...

'' * Higbee's was referenced in Season 7 Episode 12 of ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its ...

''. * Higbee's was referenced in Season 1 Episode 20 of ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live'', ta ...

''.

References

External links

Papers relating to the Higbee Company
at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School {{Dillard's history Defunct department stores based in Cleveland History of Cleveland Defunct companies based in Ohio Retail companies established in 1860 Retail companies disestablished in 1992 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1935 1860 establishments in Ohio 1992 disestablishments in Ohio Skyscrapers in Cleveland Defunct companies based in Cleveland Tower City Center