| "The Old Girl" was
born to shop, and what a spree she's had with some of Dallas' major retail players.
Throughout most of Dallas history, the city has been known as a retail-wholesale center
and a popular shopping destination for customers in North Texas and beyond. Dallasites may
have first become acquainted with The Kirby Building through its retail roots. A. Harris
& Co., founded in 1887 by Prussian-born dry good merchant Adolphus Harris, was the
anchor tenant of The Kirby Building from the time the structure was completed in 1913
until the store moved in 1965. |
A. Harris was the anchor tenant for many
years, bringing a stream of shoppers to the Kirby.
|
| In the 1930 city
directory, two national department store chains had locations in Dallas: Sears and
JCPenney. Certainly, the best-known local store was Neiman-Marcus, located across the
street from The Kirby Building. Other locally owned department stores were A. Harris &
Company, Titche-Goettinger and Sanger Brothers, all of which had flagship stores in
downtown Dallas. A. Harris & Company was considered a strong department store, with a
middle- to upper-middle class clientele and quality merchandise. As was the case elsewhere in the country, local department stores gradually
were bought out or went out of business. Sanger Brothers was acquired in 1951 by Federated
Department Stores. Sanger's retained its separate identity until 1961, when Federated also
acquired A. Harris & Company. Operations of the two former Dallas rivals merged. The
married department stores became known as Sanger-Harris, and the owners decided to build a
new facility. The A. Harris & Company store in The Kirby Building was abandoned after
50 years of use. Sanger-Harris was acquired by Foley's in 1990. After more than a century
in Dallas retailing, the Sanger and Harris names disappeared. Even though Sanger and
Harris are long gone, "The Old Girl" still looks good. Being across the street
from Neiman-Marcus helps. |
