Lansburgh's was a chain of

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

s located in the Washington, D.C. area. The clientele were middle-income consumers.

History

The first store, at 7th and E Streets, NW, in Washington, D.C.'s downtown shopping district, opened on October 30, 1860. The founders were James and Gustav Lansburgh. The company was known initially for supplying the black crepe used for the funeral of President Abraham Lincoln. Lansburgh's installed the first elevator (wooden) in a commercial building in the District of Columbia. The company remained family owned until its acquisition by City Stores, Inc. in 1951. At the time of its final liquidation in June 1973, the chain ranked eighth in the Washington D.C. retail market, with sales of $28.5 million.

Flagship store

The initial Seventh Street flagship downtown store was located on and constructed in 1882, and was a work of architect

Adolf Cluss Adolf Ludwig Cluss (July 14, 1825 – July 24, 1905) also known as Adolph Cluss was a Germany, German-born United States, American immigrant who became one of the most important, influential and prolific architects in Washington, D.C., in the lat ...

. The store was greatly expanded in 1916, 1924 and 1941 out to Eighth Street. During the 1970s and 1980s, the store building was used for offices and warehouse space. The former flagship store on 7th Street was at the forefront of the revitalized

Penn Quarter Penn Quarter is a historic neighborhood of Downtown Washington, D.C., located north of Pennsylvania Avenue, in Northwest D.C. Penn Quarter is roughly equivalent to the city's early downtown core near Pennsylvania Avenue and 7th Street NW, Penn ...

section of downtown Washington, D.C.

Branch stores

In 1955, Lansburgh's opened its first suburban branch at

Langley Park, Maryland Langley Park is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. It is located inside the Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway), Capital Beltway, on the northwest edge of Prince George's Coun ...

. It was followed, in 1959, by a $2.5 million, branch at Shirlington Shopping Center in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

. The chain was slow to open other suburban branches. The store at

Tysons Corner Center Tysons Corner Center is a large shopping mall in the unincorporated area of Tysons in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States (between McLean and Vienna, Virginia). It opened to the public in 1968, becoming one of the first fully enclosed, clim ...

opened on October 19, 1969, after protracted battles regarding leases dating back to 1962. Because of that fight, the chain was slow to expand to other malls opening the Washington, D.C. suburbs. This was followed by the store at Rockville Mall on February 14, 1972, and a store at Springfield Mall (later Korvettes, then SpringFest Food Court/AMC) in March 1973."Springfield Mall Unit Key for Lansburgh's," by William H. Jones, ''The Washington Post and Times-Herald'', Mar 2, 1973, p. D7.

References

External links

The Lansburgh Apartments official website
{{Authority control Defunct department stores based in Washington, D.C. Defunct companies based in Washington, D.C. American companies established in 1860 Retail companies established in 1860 Retail companies disestablished in 1973 1860 establishments in Washington, D.C. 1973 disestablishments in Washington, D.C.