Shillito's
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John Shillito & Co. (commonly known as Shillito's) was Cincinnati's first
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 ...
.


History

In 1817, John Shillito (November 1808 – September 1879) arrived in Cincinnati (from
Greensburg, Pennsylvania Greensburg is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The population was 14,976 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located southeast of Pittsburgh, Greensburg is a part of the Greater Pittsbu ...
). The nine-year-old lad was soon working for the Cincinnati business Blatchley & Simpson. In 1830, he left to form a partnership with William McLaughlin, selling dry goods. A year later, McLaughlin left the company, and was replaced with Robert W. Burnett and James Pullen. The firm of Shillito, Burnett & Pullen outgrew its first location, and in 1833 moved to the other side of Main Street between 4th and 5th Streets. In 1837, John Shillito bought out his partners and moved to larger quarters on the north side of 4th Street. He gained sole ownership of the store in 1842. In 1857, John Shillito acquired property on the other side of the street, and built a five-story department story, the largest such building in the city. It was designed by Cincinnati architect James W. McLaughlin, the son of his first partner. When the company vacated the building in 1879, the space was occupied by a competitor, The McAlpin Company. By 2018, the building had been converted into a condominium dwelling, "The McAlpin". In spite of its impressive size, the Fourth Street store was not enough to contain the business after two decades. Shillito again used architect McLaughlin to erect an L-shaped six-story building with basement and sub-cellar on the SW corner of Race and Seventh Streets, moving his store there in 1879. The building's iron interior structure was considered fireproof. It was gas-lit throughout and sported a 58-foot diameter skylight dome. Two passenger elevators supplemented the building's marble staircases (there were also two freight elevators). The business used over a thousand employees. John Shillito died soon after opening his latest building, and his son Stewart Shillito then ran the company. When Stewart Shillito died in 1925, the company was sold to the Lazarus Company, but the Shillito name remained. Branch stores were built at new outlying suburban malls:
Tri-County Mall Tri-County Mall, originally Tri-County Center, was a shopping mall located on State Route 747 (Princeton Pike) just south of Interstate 275 in the city of Springdale, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Originally known as Tri- ...
(1960), Western Woods (1963), Beechmont Mall (1969), Oxmoor Mall (
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...
, 1971),
Fayette Mall Fayette Mall is a regional shopping mall in Lexington, Kentucky, located at 3401 Nicholasville Road in southern Lexington. It is the largest mall in the state of Kentucky. The mall's anchor stores are Macy's, JCPenney, Dick's Sporting Goods, and ...
(
Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...
, 1971), Florence Mall (
Florence, Kentucky Florence is a city in Boone County, Kentucky, United States, part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. The population was 31,946 at the 2020 census, making it the second-most populous city in Northern Kentucky, the eighth-most populous city i ...
, 1977) and Jefferson Mall (Louisville, 1979). The Shillito name was merged with corporate sibling Rike's to form Shillito-Rike's in 1982; the name was dropped altogether in 1986 in favor of Lazarus. On 6 March 2005, the Lazarus name was dropped and stores now operate under the
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 ...
brand name. The 1990 film ''
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'', was shot at the store representing the fictional Millimans department store set out in the film. The landmark Shillito's department store building has been converted into the Lofts at Shillito Place luxury apartments. It is a contributing property to the Race Street Historic District. When the building was renovated in 1998, the developer was surprised to uncover the atrium space with the original octagonal skylight, which was then updated with energy-efficient materials. At present there are 96 loft-style apartments on seven floors and office space on the main floor.


Business practices

From its early days, the Shillito company motto was "Truth Always - Facts Only". John Shillito maintained his image as honest, and also dedicated himself to improving the Cincinnati civic experience. By the 1880s, the John Shillito Company was distributing 24-page sales booklets, with stories of humorous or informative visits to the store. The company was an early embracer of the African-American community. In 1946, it was the first department store to give credit, offer employment, and advance African-Americans in management positions. The Cincinnati store's restaurant was the first to serve all patrons.


See also

* Cincinnati Gymnasium and Athletic Club, a historic property behind the landmark Shillito's *
McAlpin's McAlpin's was a Cincinnati-based department store founded in 1852 as Ellis, McAlpin & Co. McAlpin's opened their landmark downtown location on Fourth Street in 1880, taking over a building from their competitor Shillito's. In 1954, McAlpin's be ...
*
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 ...


References

{{Macy's history Defunct department stores based in Cincinnati Retail companies established in 1830 Retail companies disestablished in 1986 1830 establishments in Ohio 1986 disestablishments in Ohio