Goldsmith's
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- For the London College, see Goldsmiths, University of London. For other uses, see Goldsmith (disambiguation)
| Goldsmith's & Co. | |
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| Type | Department store |
| Founded | 1870 |
| Headquarters | Memphis, Tennessee |
| Industry | Retail |
| Products | Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, and housewares. |
| Website | None |
Goldsmith's was a department store founded in Memphis, Tennessee in 1870 by German immigrant brothers Jacob and Isaac Goldsmith, who, with a $500 investment, opened a dry goods store on a muddy lane called Beale Street. It grew into a chain largely located in the Memphis metropolitan area, until 2005, when the nameplate was eliminated and replaced by Macy's. Goldsmith's stores were subsequently folded into Federated's Macy's Central division, reorganized into Macy's South, and today into a differently configured Macy's Central, the current division encompassing the stores.
Goldsmith's was acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1959, and added in 1988 to an Atlanta, Georgia-headquartered division led by that city's Rich's chain. The downtown Memphis location was closed in 1993. The division expanded to include Cincinnati, Ohio-based Lazarus in 1995, with all of the division co-branded with Macy's in 2003. At the time of the most recent name change to Macy's, five Goldsmith's-Macy's stores remained in existence. Additional stores were previously operated in the Raleigh neighborhood of northeast Memphis, and in the current Pembroke Square area of downtown Memphis.
Macy's Inc.'s current employee volunteer program, Partners in Time, was founded in 1989 at Goldsmith's (and Rich's) as a way to give back to the community.
Among the popular slogans of the store, one was "Memphis' Greatest Store," words seen prior to the name change on the outside of the chain's largest store, located in Memphis' White Station area.
Another widely used slogan was "All about the South."
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[edit] Former locations
All locations converted to Goldsmith's-Macy's in 2003 and then Macy's on March 6, 2005 unless otherwise noted
[edit] Memphis, Tennessee
- Downtown Memphis (founded 1870, opened 1901, closed 1993; location now houses the Belz Museum of Asian and Judaic Art)
- Oak Court Mall (opened as Goldsmith's Oak Court 1961; the Mall opened 1988)
- Southland Mall (opened 1966)
- Raleigh Springs Mall (opened 1971, closed 2003)
- Hickory Ridge Mall (opened 1981; closed as Macy's in 2008 following severe storm damage)
- Wolfchase Galleria (opened 1997)
[edit] Jackson, Tennessee
- Old Hickory Mall (opened 1981)
[edit] External links
- History of Federated Department Stores including Goldsmith's
- An article about the impact of corporate changes at Goldsmith's from Memphis Business Journal
- Postcard image depicting the restaurant in the former downtown Memphis Goldsmith's
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