Hoping everyone is having a wonderful July 4th weekend. Another anniversary occurs this weekend, albeit one far less significant – today is the 7th anniversary of Pleasant Family Shopping, which began on July 5, 2007. Over those seven years, 315 posts have appeared (a too-small percentage of them appearing in 2013 and 2014 – a trend I hope to reverse), and as always, your comments have ..read more

One of the most storied events in Chicagoland history took place 47 years ago this week. From early morning on January 26, 1967 through about 10am the following day, 23 inches of snow fell, and a city that had long prided itself on an ability to push through harsh winters was brought to a standstill. There have been other record-setting snowstorms in Chicago in the years since – in 1979, 2011 ..read more

A brisk December evening in Los Angeles probably isn't as "brisk" as most other places in the country at the same moment. Still, it can get pretty cold there, but this beautiful holiday scene is guaranteed to provide a warm feeling.The building in the background is one of the great landmarks of 20th Century retail architecture - the May Company store at the corner of L.A.'s "Miracle Mile ..read more

Wishing you all a very happy 2017! I wanted to come up with something special to welcome in the new year and to thank you again for your readership in the past, and I'm hoping this fits the bill. Whenever the subject of Sears comes up here, it's almost inevitable that someone brings up the candy and popcorn counter, and the amazing sights, tastes and wonderful smells to be enjoyed there. The ..read more

Picture this:  you’re seven years old, and living in an apartment complex with indoor corridors. One fine November morning as you step outside to leave for school, you notice a newspaper with your Mom’s picture on the front page, sitting on every doorstep. Well, that’s exactly what happened to me in November of 1970. It wasn’t a newspaper in this case, of course, but rather a weekly ..read more

Here’s a wonderful set of photos featuring two stores from one of Southern California’s most fondly remembered supermarket chains – the late, lamented Alpha Beta. The photos were taken in the early 70’s by Werner Weiss, webmaster of the Yesterland website, a superb tribute to the early years of Disneyland. Yesterland, one of the most celebrated and influential nostalgia sites on the ..read more

To this day, I never pass up a chance to visit Oakbrook Center, the famed open-air mall in the west suburbs. Opened in 1962, it has retained a high degree of elegance and charm, despite numerous expansions and the normal coming-and-going of tenants. Most early photos of Oakbrook depict the majestic Marshall Field’s there (now Macy’s), or the superb modernist Sears (now- still - Sears), or ..read more

Last Thursday, a couple of longtime PFS friends clued me in on some important breaking retail news from Chicago, before I noticed it in the business headlines myself. Dominick’s Finer Foods, the number two traditional supermarket chain in Chicago, is being put up for sale by its owner of the last fifteen years, Safeway.  That night, I put up a few comments ..read more

It was the happiest of coincidences. In the late summer of 2010, I spent a day in the Kansas City area visiting customers with a co-worker who was based there. Most of our meetings were on the “Kansas side” of town (as opposed to the “Missouri side”), which was largely new to me at the time.  We wrapped up in the late afternoon and adjourned to a local ..read more

Last year saw the passing of one of the most influential figures in retailing history, one who deserves more recognition than he receives today, I’m afraid. Eugene Ferkauf, founder of the legendary E.J. Korvette chain of promotional department stores, passed away on June 5, 2012 in New York City at the age of 91. In the early sixties, Ferkauf found himself the subject ..read more