Wanamaker Building
The first American department store, and home to the largest operating musical instrument in the world
Category Musical Wonders
John Wanamaker did things a bit differently. Inspired by two great central markets, London's Royal Exchange and Paris' Les Halles, Wanamaker decided it was time to bring what would become one of the first department stores to America. He envisioned a grand shopping hall which would sell his already established menswear and would expand to sell woman's clothing and dry goods.
Not only did Wanamaker envision a new kind of shopping destination, he pioneered a new shopping experience as well. The first to use and enforce the phrase, "The customer is always right," Wanamaker ran his store under the message of the golden rule. Employees were to be treated with respect by their superiors, and all were offered free medical care, recreational facilities, profit sharing plans, and pensions long before it became the standard.
One of the most important things Wanamaker left to modern stores was the price tag. Before he popularized the use of set prices, stores relied on haggling. Wanamaker believed that if everyone was equal before God, then everyone should be equal before price. It seems obvious today, but it wasn't until Wanamaker invented the price tag that it became the norm.
Opened in 1877, the store was the first to use electrical lighting (in 1878) and the first to use a pneumatic tube system for transporting cash and documents (in 1880). By 1910, Wanamaker had begun updating his store, slowly phasing out the old Moorish facade that followed the Grand Depot styles of London and Paris, in favor of the lavish, Florentine style it still has today. The new building featured the incredible Wanamaker Organ, formerly the St. Louis World's Fair pipe organ. Despite the organ's imposing size, it was decided that it was not large enough to fill the Grand Court with it music, and was expanded by Wanamaker's own staff of organ builders. After a period of a few years, the organ had become the largest in the world.
Eventually, Wanamaker's customers petered off to other department stores like Bloomingdale's and Macy's, and after being sold from retailer to retailer for many years, has become a Macy's itself. Thankfully, Wanamaker's was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1978, and visitors to Macy's can still marvel at one of the first department stores in America and the largest operating musical instrument in the world, the famous Wanamaker organ, which is played every day except Sunday.
Happily, even Wanamaker himself couldn't put price tag on that.
Guided tours of the building are available at the Visitor Center (on the third floor) of Macy's.
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- Hours Tour Hours: Tours take place daily at 3:00pm Store Shopping Hours: Mon - Sat 10:00 am - 8:00 pm, Sun 11:00 am - 7:00 pm
- Address 1300 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19107, United States
- Cost Tours are $10, visiting the store is free
To take a tour, head up to the Visitor Center, found on the third floor next to Gift Wrap.
Comments
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Anonymous
December 21, 2009
I, too, remember trips to Wanamaker's with my mother as a young girl in the late 1960's. I recall having Christmas cookies in the Crystal Tea Room, and watching the Christmas light show. While I am sad that so much of the character of that store has changed, I am glad the building at least remains. -
Anonymous
November 22, 2009
i remember wanamakers growing up it was an all day excursing when you visited the store. no need to leave. there were restaurant. lounge area by the rest rooms to rest your tired feet. there was a bakers, dairy bar. too bad it is all gone.
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