Read's Department Stores was a
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the List of cities in New England by population, fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Loc ...
-based
retail chain
A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, Management, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate many retail markets, dining markets, and service categories ...
founded in 1857 by D. M. Read. Known for its classy, upscale merchandise, the flagship store was once hailed as
New England
New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
's largest
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 ...
. It expanded to several other locations in the 1950s and 1960s, but these closed progressively through the 1980s and 1990s.
The Flagship Bridgeport store closed in 1981 when Read's moved to a new location a few blocks away. The former location was later extensively renovated and reopened as Read's Artspace, also known as the Sterling Market Lofts building.
Founding and growth
In 1857, David M. Read and W. B. Hall opened a dry goods and carpet store on Main Street in Bridgeport, Connecticut, with Read going solo in 1877. In 1885, the business expanded to two buildings on Main Street and Fairfield Avenue forming a "very popular and elegant place of business."
[Photo essay.] Read's became known for its classy, upscale merchandise and shopping environment,
becoming
New England
New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
's largest
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 ...
.
Flagship store
In 1926, Read's moved to the corner of Broad and John Streets in
downtown
''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English 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 district ( ...
Bridgeport, where its
flagship store
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...
ultimately had over of selling area on five floors. D.M. Read Company became a unit of
Allied Stores in 1954.
Branch stores
The second store was built as one of the two anchors
An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek ().
Anchor ...
in the new Trumbull Shopping Park (the state's first mall), 6.7 miles from downtown Bridgeport. The store had three floors, (), and was located in the south section of the mall where Target stands today.
Allied expanded the store into a chain in the 1960's thru the 1980's.
By then they were up to six stores in Fairfield and New Haven
New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...
Counties in Connecticut
Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
, and Westchester County in New York.
Transition
In 1981, Allied closed Read's landmark downtown store, leaving behind a boarded-up building as a reminder of Bridgeport's brighter past. It moved the store into space recently vacated by Gimbel's
Gimbel Brothers (known simply as Gimbels) was an American department store corporation that operated for over a century, from 1842 until 1987. Gimbel patriarch Adam Gimbel opened his first store in Vincennes, Indiana, Vincennes, Indiana, in 1842 ...
at the nearby Lafayette Plaza Mall in downtown Bridgeport.
In 1983, Read's opened a New York location in the Jefferson Valley Mall in Yorktown Heights. Around 1985 its television and radio commercials
A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...
featured the jingle
A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meanings that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...
, "Reads, Your Something Special Store". Read's operated in its hometown of Bridgeport until 1987 when Campeau Corp. of Canada, which had bought Allied Stores earlier, merged it into Allied's sister division, Jordan Marsh
Jordan Marsh was an American department store chain founded in 1841 by Eben Dyer Jordan and Benjamin L. Marsh. It was headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and operated throughout New England. The destruction of the historical flagship store o ...
of Boston, Massachusetts
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, and the stores subsequently took on the Jordan Marsh name.
In 1987, Campeau acquired Federated Department Stores
Macy's, Inc. (previously Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American holding company of department stores. Upon its establishment in 1929, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus (departm ...
of Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
and operated it in conjunction with Allied. As a result of the overall decline of Bridgeport's downtown shopping area, the Lafayette Plaza Jordan Marsh store closed in 1991, and all but the Trumbull and Jefferson Valley stores were closed by 1993 under the Federated/ Allied Stores bankruptcy filing.
In 1993, these remaining two stores at Trumbull and Jefferson Valley were converted to the Abraham & Straus
Abraham & Straus, commonly shortened to A&S, was a major New York City department store, based in Brooklyn. Founded in 1865, it became part of Federated Department Stores in 1929. Shortly after Federated's 1994 acquisition of R.H. Macy & Compan ...
nameplate when that division of Federated Department Stores
Macy's, Inc. (previously Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American holding company of department stores. Upon its establishment in 1929, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus (departm ...
merged with Jordan Marsh (as they were in the New York Metropolitan media market, they could operate more efficiently regarding advertising under the A&S name). In 1995 after Federated acquired Macy's
Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...
, it consolidated its A&S/Jordan Marsh division into Macy's East
Macy's, Inc. (previously Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American holding company of department stores. Upon its establishment in 1929, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus (departm ...
and renamed the two former Read's stores with the Macy's moniker.
The former Read's Trumbull location was abandoned in 2006, when Macy's relocated into the former Filene's
Filene's was an American department store chain founded in 1881 by William Filene. The historic Filene's Department Store in the Downtown Crossing district of Boston, Massachusetts housed the flagship store and headquarters, while branch store ...
store in the Westfield Trumbull shopping center upon the completion of the merger of the Federated and May Department Stores
The May Department Stores Company was an American holding company of department stores founded in 1877 by David May. It operated several regional department stores throughout the United States, which were managed as distinct business divisions ...
chains. Only the Jefferson Valley Mall store that Read's opened in 1983 has continually operated as a department store to present day.
Read's Artspace, Bridgeport
In the late 1990s the former Read's Building in downtown Bridgeport was converted into useful space for artists, run as a non-profit, called Artspace, also known as Read's Artspace, Sterling Market Lofts, The conversion and complete restoration of the building by Artspace Projects cost $14.1 million, and created "61 spacious live/work units on the upper floors and arts-friendly commercial space on the ground floor". Construction was carried out by A.P. Construction, under a contract worth $10,500,000. The new Sterling Market Lofts building opened in May 2005.
See also
* History of Bridgeport, Connecticut
* List of department stores converted to Macy's
This is a list of department stores converted to Macy's and sister brand Bloomingdale's by way of mergers and acquisitions. Macy's became a national brand through these conversions, and replaced many regional department stores with local heritage ...
* List of defunct department stores of the United States
This is a list of defunct department stores of the United States, from small-town one-unit stores to mega-chains, which have disappeared over the past 100 years. Many closed, while others were sold or merged with other department stores.
Depar ...
References
External links
Read's Department Store Souvenir Plate
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101226041035/http://www.hiddenhistoryofbridgeport.com/2009/03/blue-and-white-bridgeport.html , date=December 26, 2010 - Bridgeport Public Library
Defunct department stores based in Connecticut
Defunct companies based in Connecticut
Retail companies established in 1857
Retail companies disestablished in 1993
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1990
Companies based in Bridgeport, Connecticut
1857 establishments in Connecticut
1993 disestablishments in Connecticut