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26-690: Rhodes Department store was founded in Seattle by Albert J. Rhodes in 1907 in the Arcade Building on Second Avenue. He was a former partner in the Rhodes Brothers Department Store in Tacoma but the two companies were never affiliated. He was inspired to install a pipe organ in his store after a trip to Wanamaker's famous Department Store in Philadelphia . Albert Rhodes died in 1921, before he had

52-449: A 13-store chain. The company's gross sales in 1984 exceeded $ 50 million, and as of 1985 the company had about 1,000 employees. Founder Dallas Troutman was still company president. Around 325,000 customers held Emporium charge accounts at that time. By this time, at least, the stores were all identified simply as Emporium, and the company name was alternatively given as Emporium Inc. or Troutman's Emporium. The average store size

78-816: A building previously used as a grocery store. In 1963, Troutman's Emporium moved to a 14,000-square-foot (1,300 m ) space in Pony Village Shopping Center, an enclosed shopping mall. Troutman's Emporium started growing when the company opened a second store at the Willamette Plaza in Eugene, Oregon , in 1968. A third store was built in 1972 in Mount Vernon, Washington . In 1973, Troutman's Emporium acquired two Alexander's stores in Springfield and Florence, Oregon . Years earlier, Dallas Troutman had worked at

104-454: A huge growth plan was proposed for the following years. Searching for more capital to expand, Lamonts was sold to Dallas , Texas based Aris Corp. , owned by the Thompson family of 7-Eleven fame in 1989. Not long after this, the company profits took a downturn though record sales were reported. Profits continued to slide in 1991 and 1992. In November 1992, after a financial restructuring in which

130-519: A law firm. Albert Rhodes left Rhodes Brothers in 1907 and moved to Seattle, where he established the Rhodes Department Store. By 1926, it anchored the corner of Second Avenue and Union Streets in the downtown retail core. The store, which by then had several suburban branches, was purchased in 1968 by the Pay 'n Save corporation, who promptly shuttered its downtown store and re-branded the rest under

156-607: A newly created moniker: Lamonts . (See the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods web site, Seattle.gov, and its information on the Albert J. Rhodes mansion, designed by Ambrose J. Russell and Frederick Heath (architect) .) Troutman%27s Emporium Emporium , more formally known as Troutman's Emporium , was a chain of department stores founded in 1955 by Dallas Troutman in North Bend, Oregon . After 1977, Emporium's headquarters

182-1333: The Karcher Mall . The Chico store opened at Chico Mall in 1988, and was the only Emporium in California . That store was called "Troutman's", due to a trademark dispute with Emporium in California (Emporium-Capwell at the time of the Troutman's store's opening). In 1999, Emporium was in merger talks with Lamonts , but it fell through. In 2000, Ron Schiff was hired as the new president and CEO of Troutman's Emporium. Ron Schiff added six new stores in fall 2000 including stores in Aberdeen, Washington ; Brookings , The Dalles and Cottage Grove , in Oregon; and Elko and Winnemucca , in Nevada . In 2002, faced with increasing debt with creditors, Troutman's Emporium filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company initially planned on closing one store but instead found themselves with far more debt than expected. Unable to secure financing or investment partners while in bankruptcy, Emporium announced it would be closing all of its stores and

208-617: The Mall of America in Minnesota. The stores, usually opened within malls, featured bright colors and graphics, play areas and specially designed fixtures targeted to children. Wide aisles, extra large dressing rooms to accommodate double strollers, and in-store restrooms with changing tables for infants were also included. The focal area in the store's center, dubbed "Lamonster Land", included video monitors with cartoons and other entertainment for kids, as well as books and stuffed animals. Lamonts shut down

234-582: The 1960s. At one time there were signs on highways in Washington that said, "All roads lead to Rhodes," giving the number of miles to the Rhodes store in Tacoma. In the early 1950s, Rhodes was acquired by Western Department Stores, Inc. , which also owned Kahn's of Oakland, California , and Olds & King of Portland. Western took on the Rhodes name, becoming Rhodes Western , and by 1960 all stores were brought under

260-842: The 38 remaining Lamonts stores and they were converted into Gottschalks stores by the end of the year. Unfortunately, expectations of the locations' profitability fell short, and on March 31, 2009, Gottschalks announced they were closing and liquidating the remaining 58 locations. The original downtown Rhodes store was demolished in 2003 for the Seattle Art Museum and new Washington Mutual Tower. In 1991, Lamonts launched Lamonts For Kids which focused on children's clothing, one of Lamonts most profitable departments (accounting for 17 percent of its sales). The first store opened in Boise, Idaho . Other stores were opened in Salt Lake City and Omaha , and in

286-521: The Burien store until 1974. After steady expansion through the 1970s and 1980s, Lamonts finally came into its own when Pay 'n Save Corp. was taken over by New York investors led by brothers Eddie and Julius Trump. With $ 250 million in junk bonds , they split Lamonts and other Pay 'n Save stores from the company and brought them under the ownership of Northern Pacific Corp . With the hiring of Leonard Snyder, formerly of Allied Stores Corp. , as chairman in 1987,

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312-684: The Rhodes name. In 1969, Rhodes Western was acquired by Amfac which owned the Liberty House chain of department stores and took on that name. Liberty House opened a location in Tacoma Mall in 1973, where Rhodes Western had been considering opening a location before they were bought out. The downtown Tacoma Rhodes store was closed in December 1974, and the Lakewood and Tacoma Mall locations were sold to Frederick & Nelson in 1979. Threatened with demolition,

338-518: The Springfield Alexander's store while in high school, working stock and sweeping floors. The company's headquarters was moved to the Springfield store after its acquisition, but when it was damaged by fire in 1977, the headquarters was relocated to Eugene, where Emporium also opened a new distribution center. The next several years were a period of major expansion, and by 1983, Emporium was

364-832: The University District of Seattle at University Village (1956), Crossroads Mall in Bellevue (July 1964), and in Lake Forest Center Mall in Lake Forest Park (October, 1964). In October 1967, the financially ailing Rhodes was acquired by The Pay 'n Save Corporation followed in 1968 by the singular Bell's of Burien Department Store, founded in 1956 in Burien, Washington . Pay 'n Save proceeded to shutter Rhodes' flagship store in downtown Seattle in July 1968 as it shifted its focus to

390-483: The brothers would shift into the department store business, opening in the newly built Snell Building at Broadway and 11th Street in the heart of Tacoma's retail core. The store achieved great success, and by 1911, three floors were added to the building, eventually bringing it to 170,000 ft² (15793.52m²), including a tea room (opened in 1908) and a branch of the Tacoma Public Library . By 1920, even more room

416-442: The chain in December 1994 because of poor operation. At its peak, Lamonts For Kids operated 8 stores. Lamonsters was a line of infant, toddler and children's clothing introduced in 1986. It was discontinued in 1995. Rhodes Brothers Rhodes Brothers was a department store located in Tacoma, Washington , originally established in 1892 as a coffee shop in downtown Tacoma by Albert, William, Henry and Charles Rhodes. In 1903,

442-402: The chain to slim down from 57 to 43 stores and moved their headquarters from Bellevue to Kirkland to save costs. Company officials blamed a bad inventory mix and poor sales due to unusually cold spring and summer seasons that finally pushed them over the edge. After emerging from bankruptcy in early 1998, in attempt to modernize and improve their image, they rolled out a brand new store design that

468-471: The chance to expand the store but his wife, Harriet W. Rhodes, continued operations. By 1927, the store had outgrown its quarters. Architects Harlan Thomas and Clyde Gral were commissioned to design a new seven story store that would take up half of a block. It included the Aeolian Pipe organ that Albert had planned. With the prosperity following World War II , the company expanded by opening branch stores in

494-408: The company in massive debt eventually leading to its demise. In the 1990s other more successful chains in areas with Lamonts stores, such as Mervyn's and JCPenney , caused Lamonts to restructure in 1992, to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1995 and once more in 2000. An ill-timed expansion in the early 1990s put the company so far in debt that it never quite recovered. The first bankruptcy caused

520-479: The company traded most of its common stock to Lenders for a reduced debt, Lamonts proposed an ambitious plan to open three to four 25,000-to 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m) stores a year in existing malls in Eastern Washington, Idaho , Montana , Utah , Colorado , Nebraska , Kansas , North Dakota and South Dakota . Unfortunately, this plan coincided with the recession of the early 1990s which would put

546-612: The downtown Tacoma location was bought and renovated by the University of Puget Sound in 1978 for use as a law school. After the building was vacated by the University of Puget Sound in 1999, it was purchased by the State of Washington and was renovated further in 2001. Now known as the Rhodes Center, the building is mostly vacant today, housing rentable conference space, several state offices and

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572-549: The suburbs. The three suburban Rhodes locations as well as the Bell's of Burien store continued to operate as they were for several years. In a move to create a strong department store brand to add to Pay 'n Save's roster of brands, the stores were all converted to the Lamonts name in 1970. The new chain was named for and by M. Lamont Bean, the head of Pay 'n Save Corp. at the time. The Bell's moniker (hyphenated with Lamonts) remained attached to

598-635: Was 30,000–40,000 square feet (2,800–3,700 m ) at that time, following early 1980s remodeling of some stores. In 1986, Emporium acquired the then-40-year-old, eight-store Quisenberry's chain, which had five stores in Eastern Oregon and three in Idaho . Over the next two years Troutman's Emporium opened 5 stores, including a store in Chico, California . In 1988, Emporium acquired a J.C. Penney store in Nampa, Idaho , at

624-597: Was brighter and more shopper-friendly. In 1999, Lamonts turned down a merger offer from rival chain Troutman's Emporium . During Lamonts third bankruptcy in 2000, Troutman's offered a bid on the company but was outbid by Gottschalks. The company proposed to change some stores to Troutman's Emporium and sell others to The Bon Marché , an upscale department store chain based in Seattle . Lamonts would eventually be acquired by Gottschalks out of bankruptcy court. Gottschalks bought 34 of

650-462: Was located in Eugene, Oregon . At its peak, Emporium operated at least 34 stores, in Oregon , Idaho , Nevada , California and Washington . The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2002 and liquidated. The last stores closed in 2003. Emporium was founded in 1955, when Dallas Troutman opened the first Emporium store, in North Bend, Oregon , a 4,000-square-foot (370 m ) store in

676-629: Was needed and several buildings across the alley (Court C) were purchased and connected to the main store by a sky bridge . Further additions included a discount annex in 1935, a new men's shop in 1937 and a special vault that could hold 5,000 coats. In 1957, the company opened its first suburban location at the Villa Plaza Shopping Center in Lakewood, Washington . Rhodes also operated a department store in University Village in Seattle in

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