Memories of Myers Brothers

When it was announced last month that Springfield’s iconic 98-year-old Myers Building would go up for auction, it sparked memories of the old Myers Brothers Department Store that brought many years of Christmas season bustle to downtown. Here is a remembrance of department store days gone by.

For decades, downtown Springfield was a hustling, bustling place, especially during holiday seasons. Shoppers filled the sidewalks, scurrying between the many stores or wandering past the elaborately decorated store windows. There was Roland’s, Bressmer’s, Herndon’s, the Hub, the Platter, Bridge Jewelers, etc. And then there was Myers Brothers Department Store at the corner of Fifth and Washington.

The store was filled with the latest merchandise for whatever was in style. The main floor’s huge, shiny glass cases were stocked full. Surrounding the main floor was the balcony called the mezzanine. Shoppers could visit the various departments that offered almost anything anyone wanted – men’s and boys’ wear, infant apparel, shoes, jewelry, fabrics, millinery, cosmetics, perfume, furs, toys, luggage, books and much more. There were small departments within large departments with special names – “Daytime Fashion,” “Bath and Closet Shop,” “Carriage Shop,” which was described in 1964: “lovely woolens on display with sweaters and skirts, blouses and jackets that would make your mouth water.” There was the bridal china section, LP records area, a beauty salon, a bargain basement, and personal shopping service. Cashiers took payments and put them in pneumatic tubes that shot up to the accounting area. Window dressers created colorful displays in the large windows and often received recognition for best decorated windows.

One Christmas display window in 1938 showcased a little girl doll playing the organ. Kelly Sholtis shares a family story: “My great-grandmother was a pianist at the Orpheum Theater. She would walk past Myers and see the display. She wrote a poem that Myers used in their Dec. 25, 1938, ad.” Sholtis has a framed copy of the ad. (see the poem on page 23)

Patti Camille and Linda Morrison remember picking out their wedding dresses. Bob Marcy remembers his summer jobs in the Young Men’s Department. Bob Hill loved watching the electric train while waiting for his mom to get off work. Pam Yeager bought a figurine each year for her mother. Donna Povse remembers picking out Easter outfits complete with hats and patent leather shoes. Visit the Memories of Springfield Facebook page and read hundreds of reminisces about the store.

Myers was known as “The Store that Quality Built.” Quality was what it offered in its merchandise and in its attention to customers as well as employees. Julie Dirksen says, “They were known for hiring people of many nationalities, as I know from my Italian family.”

The history of the Myers family in retailing goes back to 1858 when Morris Myers ran a general store in Athens and then opened a store in Springfield in 1865. In 1886, his three sons, Albert, Louis and Julius, purchased a store on the north side of the square owned by Samuel Rosenwald (father of later famed Sears Roebuck founder Julius Rosenwald). This was the first Myers Brothers store, one room that strictly sold men’s and boys’ clothes. In 1905 the brothers built a five-story building at Fifth and Washington to be able to offer more goods.

Tragedy struck in 1924 when the building burned to the ground. The brothers bought a nearby store and its contents and reopened the day after the fire. A new 10-story building was built and opened a year later in 1925 at the same Fifth and Washington site. Three floors plus a basement housed the store; offices filled the upper stories. This building is now on the market.

When the last of the three brothers died in 1941, the sons of Albert – Albert Jr. and Stanley, and the sons of Louis – Morris and Alan, took over the operation. They became influential citizens of Springfield for decades – Albert was named the First Citizen of Springfield in 1973. The family supported many organizations, helped establish the convention center and raised funds for Lincoln Memorial Garden.

Through the years the store won national merchandising awards and offered special events and deals. On Dec. 9, 1910, the first 500 boys who spent $5 in the boys’ department were given a Websters Unabridged Dictionary. In 1941 Rita Hayworth’s dress, worth $250,000 and made of cultured pearls, was on display. The store offered a sale on pearls. Myers put on style shows, entered floats in the State Fair parades, sponsored a baseball team (as did many businesses), and hosted special programs.

Myers was the first department store in Springfield to have delivery service and an elevator. Women elevator operators, propped on a high stool and wearing white gloves, called out the floors. In 1949 air conditioning was added.

Two monkeys joined the store – Weegee in 1952 and Tiki in 1957. Jamie Myers, grandson of Albert, says, “I really didn’t like the monkeys. They were mean, but they were an attraction for many.” Jamie remembers having to dress up in “starched, uncomfortable clothes” when he was around three or four to model new children’s clothes. “I later worked in the basement. It took me 65 years to move from the basement to the fifth floor, where I now have my psychologist’s office.”

The Myers brothers always welcomed customers and took an interest in getting to know them. Julie Myers Casper tells the story of Francis Dunseth, and her daughter, June, who came to shop in the 1950s. They were greeted by Alan Myers. “Alan asked about the women. Francis introduced herself and shared that June had come home from Long Beach, California. Alan told them his son, Louis, lived in Long Beach. One thing led to another; June and Louis went out on a blind date. She wore a long, green silk column dress. Later, they married; I am their daughter. When my mother died, we buried her in that green dress. Alan was my grandfather and there is a picture still hanging in the hallway in the back of the building of him greeting customers on the main floor.”

Another popular store, Dirksen’s Furniture Store at Fourth and Washington, was purchased in 1965, and Myers added a new furniture department. This expansion made Myers the largest independently owned store in Illinois. A small area between the two buildings had a hallway where the floor wasn’t even. (Many recall tripping.) The area was called Al’s Alley and housed a Baskin-Robbins, believed to be the only one located in a store. (Albert Myers and Butch Baskins were good friends.) That part of the building became a parking lot around 1989.

Myers Brothers opened a store on Sangamon Avenue (1973-1994, where Schnucks is today). Stores opened in other towns – Lincoln, Havana, Danville, Jacksonville, Mattoon, Alton and Decatur.

By 1968 the store had 70 departments and 275 employees. That year the store was sold to Phillips-Van Heusen, but the Myers name remained.

The Dairy Rose Restaurant (now Boone’s Saloon), owned by Chares and Mary Lox, served ice cream, sundaes, sandwiches, and Mary’s special potato soup. (see recipe page 21). Myers added a Dairy Rose on the store’s mezzanine in 1977.

A Myers store opened in White Oaks Mall in 1978; it, too, had a Dairy Rose restaurant decorated with antiques, stained glass and plants. That year Bergner’s bought the store, keeping the Myers name until 1983. The downtown store closed in 1989.

If Myers Brothers were still open this holiday season, no doubt the departments would be filled with shoppers, standing shoulder to shoulder looking for the best gifts. Possibly the area with toys would look just as it did years ago, described in the newspaper with its “counters heaped in glittering profusion.”

Myers Brothers was the place everybody shopped.

Cinda Ackerman Klickna remembers shopping at Myers.

This article appears in Winter 2024 December 2024.