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{{Short description|Former department store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.}}
{{Other uses|Wanamaker (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = John Wanamaker Store
| nrhp_type = nhl
| image = Grand Court of Macy's Center City.jpg
| image_size = 240
| caption = The grand court at the original Wanamaker's at 1300 [[Market Street (Philadelphia)|Market Street]] in [[Philadelphia]] in May 2017
| location = 1300 [[Market Street (Philadelphia)|Market Street]], [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| coordinates = {{coord|39|57|5.98|N|75|9|43.81|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin = Pennsylvania#USA
| area = 
| built = {{Date and age|1876}}
| architect = Thompson, Starrett Co.; Daniel Burnham
| architecture = [[Renaissance architecture|Renaissance]]
| added = June 2, 1978<ref>[http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1786&ResourceType=Building Listing of John Wanamaker Store] at the [[National Park Service]]</ref>
| designated_nrhp_type = June 2, 1978
| refnum = 78002459<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2007a}}</ref>
}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Wanamaker's
| former_name = John Wanamaker's
| type = Department store
| founded = 1861
| founder = [[John Wanamaker]]
| defunct = 1996
| successor = [[Macy's]]
| hq_location = 1300 [[Market Street (Philadelphia)|Market Street]], [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| area_served = [[Delaware Valley]]
| products = Clothing, footwear, housewares, furniture, toys, jewelry, linens
}}
'''Wanamaker{{'s}}''', originally known as '''John Wanamaker Department Store''', was one of the first [[department store]]s in the [[United States]]. Founded by [[John Wanamaker]] in [[Philadelphia]] in 1861, it was influential in the development of the [[retail]] industry including as the first store to use price tags.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Georgiadis |first=Philip |last2=Onita |first2=Laura |last3=Barnes |first3=Oliver |date=2023-09-15 |title=The rise of surge pricing: ‘It will eventually be everywhere’ |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/d0e3bcb5-b824-414e-bfac-4c0b4193e9f0 |access-date=2023-09-16 |quote=But in 1876, inspired by notions of equality, Quaker merchant John Wanamaker introduced price tags at the launch of his eponymous department store in Philadelphia.}}</ref>

At its zenith in the early 20th century, Wanamaker's also had a store in [[New York City]] at [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]] and 9th Street in [[Manhattan]]. Both employed extremely large staffs. By the end of the 20th century, there were 16 Wanamaker's outlets. After years of change, the chain was bought by [[A. Alfred Taubman]] in late 1986,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/new-book-details-the-history-of-woodward-and-lothrop-a-vanished-dc-department-store/2014/04/16/cae0ed12-c577-11e3-8b9a-8e0977a24aeb_story.html|title=New book details the history of Woodward & Lothrop, a vanished D.C. department store|work=The Washington Post|last1=Kelly|first1=john|access-date=15 May 2015}}</ref> and added to Taubman's previous purchase of [[Woodward & Lothrop]], the [[Washington, D.C.]], department store.

In 1994, Woodies, as it was known, filed for bankruptcy. The assets of Woodies were purchased by the [[The May Department Stores Company|May Company Department Stores]] and [[JCPenney]]. In 1995, Wanamaker's transitioned to [[Hecht's]], one of the May Company brands.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.mcall.com/1995-09-04/news/3046837_1_hecht-s-wanamakers-hecht-s-parent-sales|title=Wanamakers' Faithful Flock To Hecht's Department Store Begins Its Two-month Transition|date=September 4, 1995|publisher=The Morning Call|last1=Jackson|first1=Kimberlly L.|access-date=15 May 2015}}</ref>

In 2006, [[Macy's]] opened in the former Philadelphia Wanamaker's Department Store, now called Macy's Center City. The building is a [[National Historic Landmark]].  One of its expansions was designed by master architect [[Daniel Burnham]].  It contains the [[Wanamaker Organ]], the largest functional organ in the world.

==History==
===19th century===
[[File:Signature of John Wanamaker.jpg|thumb|The logo, patterned after [[John Wanamaker]]'s signature]]
[[File:JohnWanamaker.jpeg|thumb|[[John Wanamaker]], who founded the store chain in 1861]]
[[File:John Wanamaker's Clothing House, Market St, Philadelphia, PA 1876.jpg|thumb|John Wanamaker's on [[Market Street (Philadelphia)|Market Street]] in 1876]]
[[File:Philadelphia; a guide, made for the convenience of people interested in the city's notable history and present achievements (1917) (14780590225).jpg|thumb|The Grand Court in the Wanamaker Store in [[Philadelphia]], showing the [[Wanamaker Organ|organ]] façade at the south end in 1917]]
[[File:Wanamaker Directory.jpg|thumb|The flagship store directory]]
[[John Wanamaker]] was born in [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], in 1838.  Due to a persistent cough, he was unable to join the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] to fight in the [[American Civil War]], so instead started a career in business.

In 1861, he and his brother-in-law Nathan Brown founded a men's clothing store in Philadelphia called Oak Hall. Wanamaker carried on the business alone after Brown's death in 1868. Eight years later, Wanamaker purchased the abandoned [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] station for use as a new, larger retail location. The concept was to renovate the terminal into a "Grand Depot" similar to London's [[Royal Exchange (London)|Royal Exchange]] or Paris's [[Les Halles]] and forerunners of the modern department store that were well known in Europe at that time.

The Wanamaker's Grand Depot opened in time to service the public visiting Philadelphia for the American Centennial Exposition of 1876, and in fact resembled one of the many pavilions at that world's fair because of its fanciful new Moorish facade. In 1877, the interior of Wanamaker's was refurbished and expanded to include not only men's clothing, but women's clothing and [[dry goods]] as well. This was Philadelphia's first modern-day department store, and one of the earliest founded in America. A circular counter was placed at the center of the building, and concentric circles radiated around it with 129 counters of goods. The store also accepted mail orders, though it was not a large business until the early twentieth century.<ref>{{cite web |title=Golden Book of the Wanamaker Stores 1861-1911 |url=https://archive.org/details/goldenbookofwana00wana/page/n13/mode/2up?view=theater |access-date=4 March 2024 |page=48}}</ref><ref>Herbert Ershkowitz, ''John Wanamaker: Philadelphia Merchant'' (1999))</ref>

Wanamaker first thought of how he would run a store on new principles when, as a youth, a merchant refused his request to exchange a purchase. A practicing [[Christians|Christian]], he chose not to advertise on Sundays. Before he opened his Grand Depot for retail business, he let [[Evangelism|evangelist]] [[Dwight L. Moody]] use its facilities as a meeting place, while Wanamaker provided 300 ushers from his store personnel. His retail advertisements—the first to be copyrighted beginning in 1874—were factual, and promises made in them were kept.{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}}

Wanamaker guaranteed the quality of his merchandise in print, allowed his customers to return purchases for a cash refund and offered the first restaurant to be located inside a department store. Wanamaker also invented the price tag.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/theymadeamerica/whomade/wanamaker_lo.html|title=Who Made America? &#124; Innovators &#124; John Wanamaker|website=www.pbs.org}}</ref>

His employees were to be treated respectfully by management (including not being scolded in public), and John Wanamaker & Company offered its employees access to the John Wanamaker Commercial Institute, as well as free medical care, recreational facilities, profit sharing plans, and pensions—long before these types of benefits were considered standard in corporate employment.[[File:WanamakerBuilding6.JPG|thumb|right|248x248px|Wanamaker's from South Penn Square]]
[[File:Wanamaker Annex.jpg|thumb|right|247x247px|The second Wanamaker's at [[770 Broadway]], NYC]]
Innovation and "firsts" marked Wanamaker's. The store was the first department store with [[electrical]] illumination (1878), first store with a [[telephone]] (1879), and the first store to install [[pneumatic tube]]s to transport cash and documents (1880).

Wanamaker's commissioned a Philadelphia/[[New Jersey]] artist, [[George Washington Nicholson]] (1832–1912), to paint a large landscape mural, "The Old Homestead", which was finished in March 1892. The {{Convert|7|by|14|ft|m|adj=on}} mural was still owned by Wanamaker's in 1950, but has since passed into a private collection.

===20th century===
[[File:Albert Leo Stevens balloon at Manhattan Wanamaker's.jpg|thumb|[[Albert Leo Stevens]] ascends from Wanamaker's in [[New York City]] in 1911]]
In 1910, Wanamaker replaced his Grand Depot in stages, and constructed a new, purpose-built structure on the same site in Center City Philadelphia.  The new store, built in the Florentine style with granite walls by Chicago architect [[Daniel H. Burnham]], had 12 floors (nine for retail), numerous galleries and two lower levels totaling nearly two million square feet. The palatial emporium featured the [[Wanamaker Organ]], the former [[Louisiana Purchase Exposition|St. Louis World's Fair]] pipe organ, at the time one of the world's largest organs. The organ was installed in the store's marble-clad central atrium known as the Grand Court. Another item from the St. Louis Fair in the Grand Court is the large bronze eagle, which quickly became the symbol of the store and a favorite meeting place for shoppers.  All one had to say was "Meet You at The Eagle" and everyone knew where to go. The store was dedicated by President [[William Howard Taft]] on December 30, 1911.

Despite its size, the organ was deemed insufficient to fill the Grand Court with its music. Wanamaker's responded by assembling its own staff of organ builders and [[Wanamaker Organ#History|expanding the organ]] several times over a period of years. The "Wanamaker Organ" is the largest fully operational pipe organ in the world, with some 28,750 pipes. It is famed for the delicate, orchestra-like beauty of its tone as well as its incredible power. The organ still stands in place in the store today and free recitals are held twice every day except Sunday. Visitors are also invited to tour the organ's console area and meet with staff after recitals.<ref>[http://wanamakerorgan.com/events.php Friends of the Wanamaker Organ schedule for recitals] Retrieved 2010-12-24</ref> Once a year, usually in June, "Wanamaker Organ Day" is held, which is a free recital which lasts most of the day. The New York store also housed a large organ; it was sold at auction in 1955 for $1,200 (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=1200|start_year=1955}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) after the New York store closed the year prior.<ref>"Events of the Year 1955 in the Organ World in Review" (PDF). ''[[The Diapason]]''. '''47''' (2): 6. January 1, 1956.</ref>

News of the ''[[RMS Titanic|Titanic]]'s'' sinking was transmitted to Wanamaker's [[wireless]] station in [[New York City]], and given to anxious crowds waiting outside—yet another first for an American retail store. Public Christmas Caroling in the store's Grand Court began in 1918.

In 1919, {{lang|es|El Mundo}}, a Spanish newspaper said of its New York store that it was 100 special departments all under one roof, including {{lang|es|El Departamento de Latino-Americano de Servicio Personal}} (The Department of Personal Service for Latin-Americans).<ref name="El Mundo 1919">{{cite news |title=WANAMAKER Cien Secciones Especiales en Una sola Tienda |url=https://issuu.com/coleccionpuertorriquena/docs/elmundo_03211919-r |access-date=14 June 2020 |work=El Mundo |date=21 March 1919}}</ref>

Other innovations included employing buyers to travel overseas to Europe each year for the latest fashions, the first [[White sale]] (1878) and other themed sales such as the February "Opportunity Sales" to keep prices as low as possible while keeping volume high. The store also broadcast its organ concerts on the Wanamaker-owned radio station [[WOO (Philadelphia)|WOO]] beginning in 1922. Under the leadership of James Bayard Woodford, Wanamaker's opened piano stores in Philadelphia and New York that did a huge business with an innovative fixed-price system of sales. Salons in period decor were used to sell the higher-price items. Wanamaker also tried selling small organs built by the [[Austin Organ Company]] for a time.

After John Wanamaker's death in 1922, the business carried on under Wanamaker family ownership. [[Rodman Wanamaker]], John's son, enhanced the reputation of the stores as artistic centers and temples of the beautiful, offering imported luxuries from around the world. After his death in 1928, the stores (managed for the family by a trust) continued to thrive for a time. The men's clothing and accessories department was expanded into its own separate store on the lower floors of the [[One South Broad|Lincoln-Liberty Building]], two doors down on Chestnut Street, in 1932. This building, which also had a private apartment for the Wanamaker family on its top floor, was sold to [[CoreStates|Philadelphia National Bank]] in 1952; the initials on the building's crown read "PNB" until November 2014, even though the bank no longer existed.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Melamed|first1=Samantha|title=Skyline changes: PNB letters removed by 'copter from atop 1 S. Broad|url=http://articles.philly.com/2014-11-17/news/56313323_1_pnb-letters-southwest-philadelphia-philadelphia-national-bank|website=philly.com|publisher=The Philadelphia Inquirer|access-date=November 17, 2014}}</ref>

====Christmas Light Show====
In 1956, the Philadelphia Wanamaker's premiered a Christmas Light Show, a large musical and blinking light display several stories high, viewable from several levels of the building. Its popularity with Philadelphia parents and children, as well as tourists, ensured a continuous run, even after the building was sold to different business interests.

For decades until 1994, the melodic baritone narrator of the show was [[John Facenda]], known to Philadelphians for decades reporting the news on radio and television and known nationally as the voice of [[NFL Films]]. NFL Films' [[Ed Sabol]] referred to Facenda as "The Voice of God". His wordsmithing and dramatic baritone delivery were highlights of the shows and did much to boost Facenda's stock and mystique. Various announcers narrated the show between 1995 and 2005.

In the late 20th century, Wanamaker's lost business to other retail chains, including [[Bloomingdale's]] and [[Macy's]], in the Philadelphia market. The Wanamaker Family Trust finally sold John Wanamaker and Company, with its underpatronized stores, to [[Los Angeles]]-based [[Carter Hawley Hale Stores]] for US$60 million (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=60000000|start_year=1978}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) cash in 1978.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shope |first=Dan |date=1986-07-18 |title=HESS'S CONSIDERS BUYING WANAMAKER'S |url=https://www.mcall.com/news/mc-xpm-1986-07-18-2542087-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230112030525/https://www.mcall.com/ |archive-date=2023-01-12 |access-date=2023-01-12 |website=[[The Morning Call]]}}</ref> Carter Hawley Hale poured another $80 million into renovating the stores,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Funk |first=Nancy M. |date=1988-12-11 |title=WANAMAKER'S AGAIN FACING CLOUDY FUTURE |url=https://www.mcall.com/news/mc-xpm-1988-12-11-2660287-story.html |access-date=2023-01-12 |website=[[The Morning Call]]}}</ref> but to no avail—customers had gone elsewhere in the intervening decades and did not come back.

In late 1986, the now 15-store chain was sold to [[Woodward & Lothrop]], owned by [[Detroit, Michigan|Detroit]] shopping-mall magnate [[A. Alfred Taubman]], for around $180 million (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=180000000|start_year=1986}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}).<ref name=lat-1986nov05>{{cite news |url=https://articles.latimes.com/1986-11-05/business/fi-15038_1_carter-hawley |title=Wanamaker Will Be Sold by Carter Hawley : Analysts Estimate Value of Deal at $180 Million |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=November 5, 1986 |first=Martha |last=Groves}}</ref> Taubman reorganized the business with a shortened corporate name (Wanamaker's Inc.), and poured millions more into store renovations and public relations campaigns. This too was no help, as Taubman's retail interests were heavily in debt and the stores' combined sales were a disappointment.

Believing that the Wanamaker Building space was more valuable than portions of the historic Wanamaker store, the Philadelphia flagship store was reduced to its first five stories, the Juniper Street side became the lobby of an office building for the upper stories, and the former basement budget "Downstairs Store" became a parking garage. The Crystal Tea Room restaurant was closed and eventually leased to the Marriott Corporation for use as a ballroom. Personal effects of Mr. Wanamaker from his until-then preserved office on the eighth floor, and the store archives, were donated to the [[Historical Society of Pennsylvania]]. In October 1987, the Wanamaker Building was sold to developer John Kusmiersky.<ref name=sothebys /> Beloved huge Easter paintings ''Christ before Pilate'' (1881) and ''Golgotha'' (1884) by [[Mihály Munkácsy]] that had been personal favorites of Mr. Wanamaker and were displayed every year in the Grand Court during Lent were unceremoniously sold at auction in 1988.<ref name=sothebys>{{cite news |last1=Solis-Cohen |first1=Lita |title=Sotheby's to Auction Wanamakers' 19th-Century Art |publisher=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=February 22, 1988}}</ref>

[[Woodward & Lothrop]] collapsed in bankruptcy, filing for Chapter 11 on January 17, 1994, and with it the Wanamaker stores, which were sold to [[May Department Stores|May Department Stores Company]] on June 21, 1995. Wanamaker's Inc. was formally dissolved, and operations were consolidated with May's [[Hecht's]] division in Arlington, Virginia. After 133 consecutive years, the Wanamaker's name was removed from all stores and replaced with [[Hecht's]]. In 1997, May acquired Wanamaker's historic rival [[Strawbridge and Clothier|Strawbridge & Clothier]] and re-branded all [[Philadelphia]]-area Hecht's locations with the Strawbridge's name. The Center City Hecht's (temporarily named Strawbridge's) was closed for a lengthy renovation and refurbishment that saw the former Wanamaker retail space reduced in size again to three floors, and the former selling floors on the upper floors further subdivided into commercial office space. This was to prepare the way, in 1997, for New York-based [[Lord & Taylor]], another division of [[May Department Stores]], to open in the former Wanamaker's flagship in Center City Philadelphia. In August 2006 the store was converted to [[Macy's]], operated by the Macy's East Division of Federated Department Stores Inc., (now [[Macy's Inc.]]), which acquired May in late 2005. The New York Wanamaker's store on Broadway had retail space occupied by [[Kmart (United States)|Kmart]] by 1996, and later [[Wegmans]] (2023).

The store was not immune to the major change in retailing away from regional chains to national chains.  The uniformity of brand offerings and the cost savings available to national chains all worked against the viability of the store as an independent personality, although customers generally had a major say in determining store offerings and the magnificence of its commercial space did tend to cause it to be stocked with better offerings. Other retailers had also learned to offer goods with much smaller staff rosters. The ability of retailers to go national in opposition to regional tastes is still an experiment-in-progress with mixed results.

The Wanamaker's flagship store, with its famous organ and eagle from the St. Louis World's Fair, was designated a [[National Historic Landmark]] in 1978. In 1992, a nonprofit group, the Friends of the [[Wanamaker Organ]], was founded to promote the preservation, restoration and presentation of the famous pipe organ.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wanamakerorgan.com/|title=Friends of Wanamaker Organ}}</ref>
[[File:Store Directory, Wanamaker Building, Macy's Center City Philadelphia.jpg|thumb|The store directory of Macy's Center City in February 2024]]
As a retail site, the Philadelphia flagship store has proved profitable for later tenants [[Lord & Taylor]] and now [[Macy's]].{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} With a long tradition of parades and fireworks displays, Macy's has taken a prominent civic role in fostering historic Wanamaker traditions, especially the Wanamaker Organ and the Christmas Light Show.

===21st century===
[[File:Wanamaker xmas lights.jpg|thumb|The original Christmas light show in 2006]]
[[File:WanamakerBuilding3.JPG|thumb|The Christmas light show in 2013]]
Beginning in 2006, under [[Macy's]], [[Julie Andrews]] became the show's narrator. Also in 2006, the Santa Express Train at the top of the Grand Court returned.
In 2007, the entire Christmas Light Show was completely modernized and rebuilt by Macy's Parade Studio on new trusses with lighter materials and LED lighting. In 2008, a new and bigger Magic Christmas Tree with LED lights debuted. However, due to safety concerns and logistical issues, the dancing water fountains were retired and sold.<ref>{{cite web |title=Light Show Evolution—with Christmas Display Review |url=https://wanamakerorgan.com/2022/10/beginnings/ |website=Friends of the Wanamaker Organ |access-date=4 March 2024}}</ref>

In 2008, Macy's celebrated its 150th birthday in the Philadelphia flagship store with a concert featuring the Wanamaker Organ and the Philadelphia Orchestra that attracted a capacity audience. Currently only 3 floors of the building are still used as department store sales area.<ref>{{cite web |title="Departments at this Store", Macy's Center City Philadelphia |url=https://www.macys.com/stores/pa/philadelphia/wanamaker-building_213.html |website=Macy's |access-date=5 February 2024}}</ref>

In September 2023 the building went into [[Receivership|receivership]] after a substantial loss of its commercial tenants.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rothstein |first1=Matthew |title=Receiver Takes Control Of Wanamaker Building As It Heads To Foreclosure |url=https://www.bisnow.com/philadelphia/news/office/wanamaker-building-heads-to-foreclosure-receiver-takes-control-120715 |url-access=registration|website=BizNow Philadelphia |publisher=Bisnow |access-date=4 March 2024 |date=18 September 2023}}</ref> As of January 2024 the owners were considering the possibility of converting the building to residential spaces.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Toussaint |first1=Jensen |title=Wanamaker Building Owner Considers Converting Office Space into Residential Space as Occupancy Declines |url=https://philadelphia.today/2024/01/wanamaker-building-conversion/ |website=Philadelphia.Today |publisher=American Community Journals, LLC |access-date=4 March 2024 |date=2 January 2024}}</ref>

==Flagship store setup==
* Ground floor: 2,500-pound "Durana" bronze eagle statue in the Grand Court, made by German sculptor [[August Gaul]] for the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exhibition and purchased by John Wanamaker; to this day, Philadelphians frequently agree to "meet me at the eagle" at Wanamaker's.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.visitphilly.com/music-art/philadelphia/eagle/|title=Wanamaker Eagle}}</ref>
* 3rd floor: Egyptian Hall auditorium behind the executive offices, also a Greek Hall auditorium. As of 2008, the architecture of Egyptian Hall is obscured by the Executive Offices and Dickens Christmas Village.
* 8th floor: Toy department had a ''Rocket Express'' [[monorail]] (from 1946 to 1984) for the kids that traveled around the toy department, camera department, and piano and organ department. The monorail car is a static display at Philadelphia's [[Please Touch Museum]].<ref>{{cite web |title=John Wanamaker Monorail |url=https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2009/mayjune/curio/john-wanamaker-monorail |website=National Endowment for the Humanities}}</ref>
* 9th floor: Crystal Tea Room
* 10th floor: In-house physician and nurses
* 12th floor: Wanamaker Organ Shop, where the Wanamaker Organ was enlarged by an in-house expert staff
* Sub-floors: The Downstairs Store, post office, [[lost and found]], shoe repair, the Dairy Bar restaurant. This area became a parking garage.
* Radio broadcasting station
* Model house on the furniture floor
* Home of the [[Wanamaker Grand Court Organ|world's largest playable pipe organ]]

===Crystal Tea Room===
[[File:The Great Crystal Tea Room at John Wanamaker.jpg|thumb|The Crystal Tea Room, one of the largest dining rooms in the world as of the early 20th century, in 2007]]
Wanamaker's also was home to the Crystal Tea Room restaurant on the 9th floor, which closed to the public in 1995; it was restored as a private banquet hall, accommodating sit-down receptions of up to 1,000 people. A Wanamaker's guidebook from the 1920s states that the Crystal Tea Room was the largest dining room in [[Philadelphia]], and one of the largest in the world. It once could serve 1,400 people at a time. It served breakfast in the morning, luncheon, and [[afternoon tea]]. The kitchen's big ovens could roast 75 turkeys at a time and the facility was equipped with lockers and baths for the employees. In acknowledgment of John Wanamaker's promotion of temperance causes, alcohol was not served in the Tea Room until after the family trust sold the store. There was informal modeling in the Tea Room.<ref>Nicole C. Kirk, ''Wanamaker's Temple: The Business of Religion in an Iconic Department Store'' (NYU Press, 2018).</ref>

There was also a balcony café, the Terrace on the Court, on the third floor facing the Grand Court, where shoppers could hear the Wanamaker Organ as they dined. Macy's closed this restaurant in 2008.

== Suburban branch stores ==
Wanamaker's opened a store in [[Wilmington, Delaware]] in 1950.<ref name="goldenage">{{cite book |last1=Arrigale |first1=Lawrence M. |last2=Keels |first2=Thomas H. |title=Philadelphia's Golden Age of Retail |date=2012 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |page=111}}</ref> After the New York store closed in 1954, Wanamaker's expanded to the Philadelphia suburbs, starting with the [[Wynnewood, Pennsylvania|Wynnewood]] store in December 1954.<ref name="goldenage"/> The second suburban branch opened in 1958 in [[Jenkintown, Pennsylvania|Jenkintown]], not far from the [[Strawbridge and Clothier Store, Jenkintown|Strawbridge and Clothier store]].<ref name="goldenage"/> The store at [[Moorestown Mall]] opened in 1963.<ref name="goldenage"/> Other prominent suburban branch stores included [[King of Prussia (shopping mall)|King of Prussia Mall]] (1963), [[Harrisburg Mall]] (1969)[[Springfield Mall (Pennsylvania)|Springfield Mall]] (1974), [[Berkshire Mall (Pennsylvania)|Berkshire Mall]] (1970), [[Oxford Valley Mall]] (1973), [[Deptford Mall]] (1975), [[Roosevelt Mall]] (1976),<ref name="Eagle">{{cite book|last1=Lisicky|first1=Michael J.|title=Wanamaker's: Meet Me at the Eagle|date=2010|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ynB0CQAAQBAJ&q=%22Roosevelt+Mall%22+Philadelphia|isbn=9781596290082}}</ref> [[Lehigh Valley Mall]] (1976), [[Montgomery Mall (Pennsylvania)|Montgomery Mall]] (1977) and [[Christiana Mall]] (1991, last Wanamaker's store built).

==In popular culture==
* In the 1950 musical ''[[Guys and Dolls]]'', in the song "Marry the Man Today", Adelaide sings the line, "In Wanamaker's and [[Saks Fifth Avenue|Saks]] and [[S. Klein|Klein's]], a lesson I've been taught. You can't make alterations on a dress you haven't bought."
* In 1981, scenes in the film ''[[Blow Out]]'' were filmed outside Wanamaker's.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/b/Blow-Out.php|title=Filming Locations for Blow Out (1981)|website=The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations}}</ref>
* In 1987, much of the movie ''[[Mannequin (1987 film)|Mannequin]]'' was filmed at Wanamaker's,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.phillymag.com/news/2013/12/04/mannequin-best-movie-ever-made-about-philadelphia-kim-cattrall-andrew-mccarthy/|title=Why Mannequin Is the Best Movie Ever Made About Philadelphia|date=December 4, 2013|last=McQuade|first=Dan|work=[[Philadelphia (magazine)|Philadelphia]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mcall.com/news/mc-xpm-1985-11-29-2496585-story.html|title=MOVIE WILL BE FILMED AT WANAMAKER'S IN PHILA. BRIEFLY|first=The Morning|last=Call|website=themorningcall.com}}</ref> as was the 1991 sequel, ''[[Mannequin Two: On the Move]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://philly.metro.us/phillywood-7-key-sites-in-philly-movie-history/|title=Phillywood: 7 key sites in Philly movie history|first=Mike|last=Fenn|date=July 19, 2016|website=Metro Philadelphia}}</ref>
* In 2006, in the [[HBO]] TV series ''[[The Sopranos]]'', jailed Lupertazzi crime boss, John "Johnny Sack" Sacramoni, tells his lawyer that he met his wife Ginny while she was working at the tie counter at Wanamaker's.<ref>{{Citation |title="The Sopranos" Moe n' Joe (TV Episode 2006) - IMDb |url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0756404/characters/nm0192603 |access-date=2022-09-23}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Philadelphia}}
* [[Millrose Games]]
* [[List of National Historic Landmarks in Philadelphia]]
* [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Center City, Philadelphia]]
* [[Please Touch Museum]] (Wanamaker's Rocket Express Monorail)
* [[Wanamaker Mile]]
* [[PGA Championship#History|Wanamaker Trophy]] for golf's PGA Champion

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Arceneaux, Noah.『Wanamaker's Department Store and the Origins of Electronic Media, 1910–1922.』''Technology and culture''' 51.4 (2010): 809-828 [https://www.gwern.net/docs/technology/2010-arceneaux.pdf online].
* Arrigale, Lawrence M., and Thomas H. Keels. ''Philadelphia's Golden Age of Retail'' (Arcadia Publishing, 2012).
* Ershkowitz, Herbert. ''John Wanamaker: Philadelphia Merchant'' (Signpost Biographies-Da Capo Press, 1999)
* Kirk, Nicole C. ''Wanamaker's Temple: The Business of Religion in an Iconic Department Store'' (NYU Press, 2018).
* [[Robert Sobel]] ''The Entrepreneurs: Explorations Within the American Business Tradition'' (Weybright & Talley 1974), chapter 3, John Wanamaker: The Triumph of Content Over Form {{ISBN|0-679-40064-8}}
*{{cite book|title=Wanamaker's: Meet Me at the Eagle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=guEJUnmORDoC|date=2010|publisher=The History Press|isbn=978-1-62619-068-9}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*{{HABS |survey=PA-1692 |id=pa1340 |title=John Wanamaker Store |photos=2 |cap=2}}
*[http://wanamakerorgan.com Friends of the Wanamaker Organ]
*The [http://www.hsp.org/files/findingaid2188wanamaker.pdf John Wanamaker Collection, 1827-1987], including an extensive collection of correspondence, accounts, scrapbooks, legal papers, photographs and other materials which detail the history of Wanamaker's store, is available for research use at the [[Historical Society of Pennsylvania]].

[[Category:1861 establishments in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1861]]
[[Category:Commercial buildings completed in 1902]]
[[Category:Defunct department stores based in Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Historic American Buildings Survey in Philadelphia]]
[[Category:History of Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Macy's stores]]
[[Category:Market East, Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Market Street (Philadelphia)]]
[[Category:May Department Stores]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Retail companies disestablished in 1996]]
[[Category:Retail companies established in 1861]]
[[Category:Wanamaker family]]

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