Sakowitz was a men's clothing store which grew into a small chain of family-owned high-end department stores based in Houston, Texas. It operated from 1902 until 1990. Sakowitz was responsible for launching many of the now-famous European fashion designers in America - among them Andre' Courreges, Yves St. Laurent Rive Gauche, Zandra Rhoades, Givenchy, and Erminegildo Zegna. The Sakowitz catalogues were mailed to all fifty states and abroad.
History Origins Leebe Shaikovich, was an Ashkenazi Jewish man from Korostyshiv, Volhynia, today part of Ukraine, but at that time part of the Russian Empire. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1886, where his name was changed upon arrival to Louis Sakowitz. In Galveston, Texas, Louis began a peddler business, taking orders and delivering clothes on a bicycle to the many merchant seamen. Then, he and his son Samuel opened a small store near the wharves, while brothers Simon and Tobias worked elsewhere around town, for the time being. But in 1902 they opened the Sakowitz Brothers gentlemen's haberdashery in Galveston at 2113 Market Street, then expanded into booming Houston in 1911 at 308 Main Street, which Simon ran while Tobias ran the then-larger Galveston operation. The location in Galveston was closed in 1917 and consolidated into the Houston store. Downtown Houston flagship By 1929, the original Houston store on 308 Main Street had relocated to the Gulf Building at 720 Main Street by noted Houston architect Alfred C. Finn.
In 1951, Sakowitz moved again to a five story, modernist store at 1111 Main Street (Dallas and Main) also designed by Finn. This was the first time that Sakowitz truly "ran a department store", as it now directly managed the women's (and several other) departments, which prior to then had been franchised to other operators.
The store, whose exterior has been kept but whose interior has been turned into a parking garage, contained:
8,073 feet of polished and antique mirrors 10,872 incandescent and fluorescent lamps 32 public telephones 205 store telephones of space The landmark Sky Terrace restaurant 2 “Red Reminder” phones. Phones at the store’s entrances that can be used to call any department in case a patron overlooked an item while shopping.
Expansion In 1956, Sakowitz opened its first suburban location at Gulfgate Mall.
In 1959, a large, , freestanding store was opened on Westheimer Road at Post Oak near The Galleria.
Eventually, the chain expanded to 16 locations, of which 14 were in Texas, one in Scottsdale, Arizona and another in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Sakowitz II format Some of the new sububrban stores were designated as the "Sakowitz II" format, essentially junior department stores, smaller in scale and targeting markets within a radius of each store, rather than like full-line stores did. The Champions Village store was the first in 1978; another in Clear Lake City (a.k.a. Ports O'Call or NASA), followed in 1979.Such locations included Champions Village in Northwest Houston, and near NASA.
There were purposefully no floor-to-ceiling walls in the Sakowitz II stores, and salespeople could wait on customers in different parts of the stores – men's, women's and children's; apparel, accessories and shoes. The smaller stores followed what Sakowitz's "I.D.A."merchandising strategy: innovational, directional and acceptational. Innovational fashion at the store's center, directional areas radiate from there, and acceptational merchandise lined the edges.
1985 bankruptcy By 1985, Sakowitz stores all together totalled in area. That year, an overextended Sakowitz filed for bankruptcy, and as part of the plan, they closed or sold off all the stores outside Greater Houston, as well as the downtown Houston store and the Gulfgate Mall location. Four profitable stores remained, all in suburban Houston: Post Oak, Town & Country, and two smaller stores at Clear View (NASA Road) and Champions.
Hooker ownership In the late 1980s, Australian developer L. J. Hooker proposed an upscale mall in suburban Cincinnati, Ohio, Forest Fair Mall, now Forest Fair Village. Hooker's plans called for Sakowitz to be one of the mall's anchor stores, along with B. Altman and Bonwit Teller, two upscale chains based in New York City.
In 1988, Hooker purchased controlling interest in all three chains so that they could open locations at the new mall and a number of other malls that it had already planned or envisioned, including the proposed Lake Fair Mall in Tampa, Florida, as well as two New York State malls, Carousel Plaza (now Destiny USA) in Syracuse, and Walden Galleria in suburban Buffalo. Sakowitz opened its store there on March 31, 1989.
Liquidation Only a few months after opening the Cincinnati mall with three of its department store, on August 9, 1989, Hooker filed for bankruptcy, due to debt accrued from its U.S. expansion. sold B. Altman back to its former owner, but proceeded to liquidate both Bonwit Teller and Sakowitz.
Over the course of 1990, all Sakowitz locations were closed, along with the Bonwit Teller and B. Altman chains. Sakowitz Furs remains Starting in 1976 originally Evans Fur Company leased Sakowitz' fur salons with Jerry Gronauer as manager. In 1986, Gronauer left Evans and started leasing the salon space from Sakowitz himself, and with his son, and the Gronauers continue to operate in a store near the old Post Oak Sakowitz store. Table of stores + Table of Sakowitz stores Store Name Store type Opened Closed Metro area Suburb or Neighborhood Shopping Center Sizesqft Sizesqm Galveston Men's & Boys 1902 1917 Galveston, Texas 2113 Market Street Downtown Houston1st location Men's 1911 1917 Houston Downtown 308 Main Street Downtown Houston2nd location Men's & Boys' 1917 1929 Houston Downtown Main and Preston,Kiam Building Downtown Houston3rd location Full-line 1951 Houston Downtown Gulf Building,Main and Rusk 60,000 5,574 The store launched with a grand celebration, with 25,000 expected to attend. No sales were permitted, the party was only to show off the elegant new large store. Decorated with art deco chandeliers, tall columns, and glass showcases. Featured a grand staircase leading up to the mezzanine and higher floors. Downtown Houston4th location Full-line* 1951 1990 Houston Downtown 1111 Main Street 254,000 23,600 Alfred C. Finn. architect. 5 stories. Sky Terrace restaurant. The exterior remains, but inside has been converted to a parking garage. Shamrock Hotel Men's Shop 1952 closed Houston Downtown Shamrock Hotel Gulfgate Mall Full-line 1956 1985 Houston East End Gulfgate Mall 128,900 11,980 Post Oak Full-line 1990 Houston Galleria area Westheimer and Post Oak 187,000 17,400 5000 Westheimer Road, on the northwest corner of Post Oak Boulevard. Colonial style architecture. Expanded in 1970. Old Colony Restaurant and Crazy Calorie fast casual restaurants. Demolished, now the site of The Centre at Post Oak retail and dining complex. Town & Country Village Full-line 1967 1990Hassell, Greg. "Sakowitz ends an era, closing shop/420 employees to lose jobs after liquidation." Houston Chronicle. Thursday June 7, 1990. A1. Retrieved on October 25, 2012. Houston Memorial City Town & Country Village At its center, the store had a prominent fountain with small green hued mosaic tiles and a metal sculpture from which water sprayed. Amarillo Full-line 1969 1985 Amarillo, Texas Western Crossing mall Sakowitz merged with White & Kirk, a local Amarillo store founded in 1897 as White's Cash Store at 6th and Polk. In 1903 it became White & Kirk. In 1910 it ceased selling groceries and soon most other general merchandise, becoming an apparel store mostly for women. It moved into a new downtown store opened in 1938, which later expanded, adding a men's department, and again after merging with and expanding into the Trolinger-Smith store. It opened a store in the Western Crossing shopping center in 1968. Sold to and rebranded as Dunlaps in 1985. Yves St. Laurent Boutique Dallas Boutique 1973 closed Dallas North Dallas 4400 Lovers Lane Scottsdale AZ Full-line 1974 Phoenix Scottsdale Camelview Plaza Champions Sakowitz II 1978 1990 Houston 1960/Cypress (NW Houston) Champions Village Valentino Boutique Dallas Boutique 1978 closed Dallas North Dallas 4400 Lovers Lane Clear Lake Sakowitz II 1990 Houston Clear Lake CityNASA area,Nassau Bay Ports O'Call Fashion Mall 31,500 2,930 1400 NASA Boulevard, now site of Mid Towne Plaza strip mall. Opened by Bernard and Robert Sakowitz with a "fog-cutting" ceremony. The Galveston Daily News wrote: "…jewel of a store…the interior……utilizes angular and curving walls, varying ceiling height and floor levels, a dramatic marble center well with clerestoried skylight which all belnd to create an unusual spatial experience resembling a vertical diamond. Counter fixtures are made of early American Appalachian white oak and glass, and others are angular plexiglass and chrome. The floor covering are in gradations of gray blend with the textural wall surfaces in navy lacquer, salmon suede and natural hemp creating a complementary effect to the spatial experience." Dallas Full-line 1980 1985 Dallas North Dallas Sakowitz Village (now Village on the Parkway) Tulsa OK Full-line 1980 1985 Tulsa Southern Hills Kensington Galleria(now Kensington Business Center) 70,000 6,503 Midland TX Full-line 1980 1985 Midland, Texas West Loop 250 North Midland Park Mall Cincinnati OH Full-line closed Cincinnati Forest Park and Fairfield, Ohio Forest Fair Mall *full-line department store
References
External links
Sakowitz Furs About Sakowitz Furs Gonzalez, J.R. "Ever shopped at Sakowitz?." Houston Chronicle. December 18, 2009.