Read's Department Stores

{{Short description|Now-defunct department store chain}} {{use mdy dates|date=December 2022}} {{Infobox company | name = D.M. Read's Department Stores, Inc. | logo = Read's Department Store Logo.png | caption = | image = Former Read’s department store in Bridgeport.jpg | fate = Acquired | successor = Parent company merged it with Jordan Marsh in 1987, which in 1992 merged with Federated Department Stores (today Macy's) | founded = 1857 | defunct = 1993 | location = Bridgeport, Connecticut | area_served = Connecticut, Westchester County, New York | industry = Retail chain, Department store chain | key_people = D. M. Read, Founder * | products = Clothing, footwear, sporting goods, toys, jewelry, beauty products, housewares, furniture, bedding and discount goods | num_employees =  | parent = Allied Stores, since 1954 | subsid =  }} '''Read's Department Stores''' was a Bridgeport, Connecticut-based retail chain founded in 1857 by '''D. M. Read'''. Known for its classy, upscale merchandise, the flagship store was once hailed as New England's largest department store. 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 == left|thumb|100px 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."<ref>{{cite book |author=Samuel Orcutt |title=A History of the Old Town of Stratford and City of Bridgeport Connecticut, Volume 2 |year=1886 |publisher=Fairfield County Historical Society |page=752 | url=https://archive.org/stream/ahistoryoldtown01conngoog#page/n91/mode/2up }}</ref><ref name=centennial_photos>Photo essay.{{cite news |title=Centennial of Read's Progress Reflects City's Growth |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UQIzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3wAGAAAAIBAJ&pg=3528%2C215585 |work=Bridgeport Sunday Herald |date=January 6, 1957 |access-date=2010-07-11 }}</ref> Read's became known for its classy, upscale merchandise and shopping environment,<ref name =times1>{{cite news |author=Kenneth Best |title=The View From/Fairfield; A Fitting Place for Artists to Take Up Residence |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/21/nyregion/the-view-from-fairfield-a-fitting-place-for-artists-to-take-up-residence.html?scp=1584&sq=presses&st=nyt&pagewanted=all |work=New York Times |date=July 21, 2002 |access-date=2010-07-07 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Handsomely Tailored Garments (advertisement) |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=r2MmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6v8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=6205,4707080&dq=dm+read&hl=en |work=Bridgeport Sunday Herald |date=October 14, 1896 |access-date=2010-07-07 }}</ref> becoming New England's largest department store.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}}

== Flagship store== In 1926, Read's moved to the corner of Broad and John Streets in downtown Bridgeport, where its flagship store ultimately had over {{convert|100000|sqft|m2|-4}} of selling area on five floors. D.M. Read Company became a unit of Allied Stores in 1954.<ref name =times1/><ref name=centennial>{{cite news |title=Read's Marks 100 Years of Progress in Bridgeport |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UQIzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3wAGAAAAIBAJ&pg=4998,224037&hl=en |work=Bridgeport Sunday Herald |date=January 6, 1957 |access-date=2010-07-11 }}</ref>

Flagship store at Broad and John Street, Bridgeport, Conn.

The store had seven floors, five above ground and two below, and sold all sorts of items which according to the Bridgeport store directory were:<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.thedepartmentstoremuseum.org/2010/09/d-m-read-co-bridgeport-connecticut.html?m=1 | title=D. M. Read Co., Bridgeport, Connecticut }}</ref>

'''Downstairs''' China • Glassware • Silver • Gifts • Lamps • Housewares

'''Street Floor''' Jewelry • Watch Repair • Cosmetics • Gloves • Small Leather Goods • Belts • Handbags • Fashion Accessories • Neckwear • Hosiery • Casual Shoe Bar • Hat Bar • Umbrellas • Blouses • Street Floor Sportswear • Street Floor Lingerie • Fashion Shoes • Corner I • Notions • Stationery • Cameras • Luggage • Confections • Snack Shop '''John Street '''Men's Furnishings • Men's Sportswear • Men's Clothing • Men's Shoes • Men's Hats '''East Building '''Appliance Center '''Post Office '''Arcade Casual Shop

'''Second Floor''' Domestics • Curtains • Draperies • Slipcovers • Portrait Studio '''Young World Shops''' Infants' Shop • 2-to-6 Shop • Boys' Shop • Girls' Shop • Subteen Shop • Teen Shop • Young World Shoes • Children's Furniture

'''Third Floor''' Sportswear • Dresses • Daytime Dresses • Coats • Suits • Town and Country Shop • Fairfield Room • Millinery • Fur Salon • Bride's Shop • Uniforms • Maternity Shop • Lingerie • Foundations • At Ease Shop Jr. News Jr. Dresses • Jr. Coats • Jr. Sportswear

'''Fourth Floor''' Bedding • Furniture • Rugs • Broadloom • Photo Studio • Trim-a-Home Shop • Beauty Salon

'''Fifth Floor''' Toyland • Bicycles • Outdoor Equipment • Books • Venetian Tea Room • Offices

== Branch stores == The second store was built as one of the two anchors in the new Trumbull Shopping Park(the state's first mall), 6.7 miles from downtown Bridgeport. The store had three floors, ({{cvt|220,000|ft2}}), and was located in the south section of the mall where Target stands today.{{when|date=December 2022}}{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

Allied expanded the store into a chain in the 1960s thru the 1980s.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://mall-hall-of-fame.blogspot.com/2008/03/trumbull-shopping-park-merritt-parkway.html?m=1 | title=Mall Hall of Fame }}</ref> By then they were up to six stores in Fairfield and New Haven Counties in Connecticut, 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.<ref>{{cite news |author=Nancy Doniger |title=Old Department Store May Get New Life |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/21/nyregion/old-department-store-may-get-new-life.html?scp=1&sq=old%20department%20store%20may%20get%20new%20life&st=cse |work=New York Times |date=January 21, 2001 |access-date=2010-07-07 }}</ref> It moved the store into space recently vacated by Gimbel's 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 featured the jingle, "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 of Boston, Massachusetts, and the stores subsequently took on the Jordan Marsh name.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jordan Marsh Co. acquires D.H. Read Co. |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-4673590.html |work=PR Newswire |date=February 27, 1987 |access-date=2010-07-07 }}{{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

In 1987, Campeau acquired Federated Department Stores of Cincinnati, Ohio 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.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

In 1993, these remaining two stores at Trumbull and Jefferson Valley were converted to the Abraham & Straus nameplate when that division of Federated Department Stores 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, it consolidated its A&S/Jordan Marsh division into Macy's East and renamed the two former Read's stores with the Macy's moniker.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

The former Read's Trumbull location was abandoned in 2006, when Macy's relocated into the former Filene's store in the Westfield Trumbull shopping center upon the completion of the merger of the Federated and May Department Stores chains. Only the Jefferson Valley Mall store that Read's opened in 1983 has continually operated as a department store to present day.{{when|date=December 2022}}{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

== 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,<ref>{{cite web | title=Artspace USA | website=Read's Artspace | date=8 December 2009 | url=http://www.artspace.org:80/properties/reads/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121217032257/http://www.artspace.org:80/properties/reads/ | archive-date=17 December 2012 | url-status=dead | access-date=21 December 2022}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite web | title=Artspace Read's | website=Artspace | url=https://www.artspace.org/reads | access-date=21 December 2022}}</ref> Construction was carried out by A.P. Construction, under a contract worth $10,500,000.<ref>{{cite web | website=A.P. Construction | url=https://apconst.com/portfolio-item/sterling-market-loftsreads/|title=Sterling Market Lofts/Read's| access-date=21 December 2022}}</ref> The new Sterling Market Lofts building opened in May 2005.<ref>{{cite web | title=Finally, Progress in Restoring Bridgeport's Grandeur | website=The New York Times | date=29 May 2005 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/29/realestate/finally-progress-in-restoring-bridgeports-grandeur.html |first=Lisa |last=Chamberlain| access-date=21 December 2022}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == *[http://www.hiddenhistoryofbridgeport.com/2009/03/blue-and-white-bridgeport.html 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

Category:Defunct department stores based in Connecticut Category:Defunct companies based in Connecticut Category:Retail companies established in 1857 Category:Retail companies disestablished in 1993 Category:Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1990 Category:Companies based in Bridgeport, Connecticut Category:1857 establishments in Connecticut Category:1993 disestablishments in Connecticut