Cornerstone of American Retail Took a Staggering Financial Hit, Historic Location Shuttered in Attempt to Save the Store
As an era ends in Philadelphia, it will go out amid the thunder and grace of a musical instrument that has entertained shoppers for more than a century.
The Macy’s story on Philadelphia’s Market Street was among the 66 stores Macy’s targeted for closing this year, according to WCAU-TV. The chain will close 150 stores over the next two years, leaving it with 350 stores.
Macy’s had about 1,100 stores in 2008, according to the Daily Mail.
To mark its last days, Saturday features a day-long concert on the famed Wanamaker Organ.
“It’s a very emotional time. A very emotional time. I’ve been in this building as the Wanamaker Grand Organist for 38 years. This is my baby,” organist Peter Richard Conte said, according to WPVI-TV.
The Wanamaker building is a piece of Philadelphia retail history. The building opened 114 years ago as John Wanamaker’s, which closed in 1995. Prior to becoming a Macy’s, retail names such as Hecht, Strawbridge, and Lord & Taylor filled the space.
And what a space it was.
When Wanamaker’s opened in 1911, it was the world’s largest retail store with 45 acres of floor space.
“It’s so core to Philadelphia because of its location, but also because of the experience,” Selena Austin, program coordinator at the Pennsylvania Historical Society, said.
“Of the 12 stories, nine were dedicated to retail space but then he had these additional spaces that were intended for events and for his employees,” Austin said.
“There was an auditorium where they would hold all types of assemblies and events, there was a space where tennis matches were held on a tennis court, and there are classrooms where the Wanamaker Institute operated,” she said.
“So many people still today can relate to going to the Wanamaker’s department store, can go into their storage unit and find a solid oak table that they purchased from Wanamaker’s, can go into the thrift store and find some Bicentennial china branded with the Wanamaker’s logo,” she said.
It’s the end of an era for Macy’s and the historic organ inside the Wannamaker building. The department will officially close this weekend.
Many are visiting the store on Friday to take pictures and to say goodbye. @realraystrick reports.
Details: https://t.co/ha54GilLqP pic.twitter.com/QwKURX1K9t
— CBS Philadelphia (@CBSPhiladelphia) March 22, 2025
The Wanamaker Organ that will fall silent after Saturday’s concerts was conceived in America’s Gilded Age as the 20th Century was dawning.
Built with more than 10,000 pipes for the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair and then acquired by Philadelphia department store mogul J.D. Wanamaker.
Over the years, the organ grew to have more than 28,000 pipes.
The organ’s finale runs all day Saturday. Sunday is the final day the store will be open for business.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
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