Jump to content

Sakowitz

From Alfawiki
Sakowitz
Company typePrivate
IndustryRetail (department stores)
Founded1902
FounderLouis Sakowitz and family
Defunct1990
FateLiquidation
Headquarters
Houston, Texas
,
United States
Area served
United States (primarily Texas)
ProductsMen's and women's apparel, accessories, department store goods

Sakowitz began as a men's apparel retailer and evolved into a modest chain of family-operated upscale department stores headquartered in Houston, Texas. The business was active from 1902 until its closure in 1990. Sakowitz played a pivotal role in introducing numerous now-renowned European fashion designers to the American market, including André Courrèges, Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, Zandra Rhodes, Givenchy, and Ermenegildo Zegna. Their catalogs were distributed nationwide across all fifty states as well as internationally.

Founding

Leebe Shaikovich, an Ashkenazi Jewish immigrant originally from Korostyshiv, located in the Volhynia region (then part of the Russian Empire, now Ukraine), arrived in the United States in 1886. Upon entry, his name was Americanized to Louis Sakowitz. Settling in Galveston, Texas, Louis initiated a peddling venture, delivering clothing by bicycle to merchant sailors. Later, he and his son Samuel established a modest shop near the docks. Meanwhile, his brothers Simon and Tobias were engaged in other local enterprises. In 1902, the Sakowitz Brothers opened a gentlemen’s haberdashery at 2113 Market Street in Galveston. They expanded into Houston’s burgeoning market in 1911 with a store at 308 Main Street—Simon managed the Houston location while Tobias oversaw the larger Galveston store. The Galveston branch was shuttered in 1917 and merged into the Houston operation.

Flagship Store in Downtown Houston

By 1929, the Houston outlet had relocated from its original address to the Gulf Building at 720 Main Street, a structure designed by prominent Houston architect Alfred C. Finn.

In 1951, Sakowitz inaugurated a new five-story modernist flagship at 1111 Main Street (corner of Dallas and Main), also crafted by Finn. This move marked Sakowitz's first full operation as a department store with direct management over women's departments and several others that had previously been franchised out.

Although the building’s facade remains intact today, its interior has been repurposed as a parking garage. The store featured:

  • 8,073 square feet adorned with polished and antique mirrors
  • 10,872 incandescent and fluorescent lighting fixtures
  • 32 public telephone booths
  • 205 internal telephones for store use
  • Approximately 254,000 square feet of retail space
  • The iconic Sky Terrace dining establishment
  • Two “Red Reminder” telephones located at store entrances enabling customers to contact any department if they forgot an item during shopping

Expansion

Sakowitz launched its initial suburban outlet in 1956 at Gulfgate Mall.

Three years later, in 1959, the company unveiled a substantial standalone retail space spanning 187,000 sq ft (17,373 m2) on Westheimer Road near Post Oak, close to The Galleria.

Over time, the retailer grew to encompass 16 stores, with 14 situated in Texas, one located in Scottsdale, Arizona, and another in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Sakowitz II format

Certain newly established suburban outlets were branded under the "Sakowitz II" concept. These were essentially smaller junior department stores designed to serve customer bases within a 3-to-5-mile (5-to-8 km) radius, contrasting with the broader 5-to-20-mile (8-to-32 km) reach typical of full-line stores. The inaugural Sakowitz II store opened in 1978 at Champions Village, followed by another in Clear Lake City—also known as Ports O' Call or NASA—in 1979. These locations included Champions Village in Northwest Houston and an outlet near NASA.

The design of Sakowitz II stores intentionally avoided floor-to-ceiling partitions, allowing sales associates to assist customers across various departments such as men's, women's, and children's apparel, along with accessories and footwear. These smaller formats adhered to Sakowitz's "I.D.A." merchandising philosophy—innovational, directional, and acceptational. The central area featured innovative fashion items, with directional sections extending outward and acceptational merchandise displayed along the perimeters.

1985 bankruptcy

By 1985, the combined retail space of all Sakowitz stores reached approximately 1,100,000 sq ft (102,193 m2). That year, facing financial overextension, Sakowitz filed for bankruptcy protection. As part of restructuring efforts, they shuttered or divested locations outside the Greater Houston area, including the 225,000 sq ft (20,903 m2) downtown Houston flagship and the Gulfgate Mall store. The company retained four profitable outlets—all situated in suburban Houston: Post Oak, Town & Country, and two smaller stores at Clear View (NASA Road) and Champions.

Hooker ownership

During the late 1980s, Australian real estate firm L. J. Hooker envisioned an upscale shopping center in the Cincinnati suburb, originally named Forest Fair Mall and now known as Forest Fair Village. The development blueprint included Sakowitz as one of the primary anchor stores, alongside two other high-end retailers from New York City, B. Altman and Bonwit Teller.

In 1988, Hooker acquired a controlling stake in all three department store chains to facilitate their openings not only at this Cincinnati mall but also at several other planned or prospective locations. These included the proposed Lake Fair Mall in Tampa, Florida, as well as two malls in New York State: Carousel Plaza (currently Destiny USA) in Syracuse and Walden Galleria near Buffalo. Sakowitz officially launched its store at Walden Galleria on March 31, 1989.

Liquidation

Merely months after debuting the Cincinnati mall with its trio of department stores, L. J. Hooker filed for bankruptcy on August 9, 1989, burdened by debts from its aggressive expansion into the U.S. market. The company returned B. Altman to its previous owner but moved forward with liquidating both Bonwit Teller and Sakowitz.

Throughout 1990, all Sakowitz outlets were shuttered alongside the closures of Bonwit Teller and B. Altman stores.

Sakowitz Furs continues operations

Beginning in 1976, Evans Fur Company initially leased the fur salons of Sakowitz with Jerry Gronauer serving as manager. In 1986, Gronauer departed from Evans and commenced leasing the salon space directly from Sakowitz. Alongside his son, the Gronauer family still manages a store located near the former Post Oak Sakowitz location.[1]

Store listings

Sakowitz store directory
Store Name Store category Opening Year[2] Closing Year Metropolitan Area Neighborhood or Suburb Shopping Center Size
sq
ft[2] 		Size
sq
m
Galveston Men's & Boys 1902[3] 1917[3] Galveston, Texas 2113 Market Street[3]
Downtown Houston
First location 		Men's 1911[3] 1917[3] Houston Downtown 308 Main Street[3]
Downtown Houston
Second location 		Men's & Boys' 1917[3] 1929[3] Houston Downtown Main and Preston,
Kiam Building[3]
Downtown Houston
Third location 		Full-line
  1. REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting
[3] 		1951[3] Houston Downtown Gulf Building,
Main and Rusk[3] 		60,000[3] 5,574
The grand opening was a lavish event expecting around 25,000 attendees. No merchandise sales occurred as the event was solely to present the elegant new large retail space. The interior featured art deco chandeliers, tall columns, glass display cases, and a grand staircase ascending to mezzanine and upper floors.[3]
Downtown Houston
Fourth location 		Full-line* 1951[3] 1990[3] Houston Downtown 1111 Main Street 254,000[4] 23,600
Designed by Alfred C. Finn, this five-story building included a Sky Terrace restaurant. While the exterior still stands, the interior has been converted into a parking garage.
Shamrock Hotel Men's Shop 1952[5] closed Houston Downtown Shamrock Hotel[5]
Gulfgate Mall Full-line 1956[5] 1985 Houston East End Gulfgate Mall 128,900 11,980
Post Oak Full-line
  1. REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting
[5] 		1990 Houston The Galleria area Westheimer and Post Oak 187,000 17,400
Located at 5000 Westheimer Road, on the northwest corner of Post Oak Boulevard. The building featured colonial-style architecture and underwent expansion in 1970. It housed Old Colony Restaurant and Crazy Calorie fast casual eateries. The structure was demolished and replaced by The Centre at Post Oak retail and dining complex.[6]
Town & Country Village Full-line 1967[5] 1990[7] Houston Memorial City, Houston Town & Country Village[5]
A distinctive fountain adorned the center of this store featuring small green mosaic tiles and a metal sculpture spraying water.
" Amarillo " Full-line " 1969[5] " 1985[8] Amarillo, Texas[5] " Western Crossing mall " "
Sakowitz merged with White & Kirk, an Amarillo-based retailer established in 1897 as White's Cash Store at Sixth and Polk streets. Renamed White & Kirk in 1903, it transitioned away from groceries by 1910 focusing mainly on women's apparel. In 1938 it opened a new downtown building which later expanded to include men's departments after merging with Trolinger-Smith store. The Western Crossing shopping center location opened in 1968.[9] The store was sold and rebranded as Dunlaps in 1985.[8][10]
" Yves St. Laurent Boutique Dallas " Boutique " 1973[5] " closed " Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex#Dallas Dallas " North Dallas " 4400 Lovers Lane[11] "
" Scottsdale AZ[12] " Full-line " 1974[5] "
  1. REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting
[13] 		" Phoenix metropolitan area#Phoenix Phoenix " Scottsdale, Arizona#Scottsdale Scottsdale[5] " Scottsdale Fashion Square#History Camelview Plaza "
" Champions " Sakowitz II junior department store " 1978[5] " 1990 " Houston " Northwest Houston (1960/Cypress) " Champions Village shopping center[5] "
" Valentino Boutique Dallas " Boutique " 1978[5] " closed " Dallas " North Dallas " 4400 Lovers Lane[11] "
" Clear Lake " Sakowitz II junior department store "
  1. REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting
[5] 		" 1990 " Houston metro area (Clear Lake City/NASA vicinity) " Nassau Bay neighborhood
NASA 		" Ports O'Call Fashion Mall [5] "31,500" "2,930"
Located at1400 NASA Boulevard (currently Mid Towne Plaza strip mall). Opened by Bernard and Robert Sakowitz with a ceremonial "fog-cutting." The Galveston Daily News described it as "a jewel of a store... featuring angular and curved walls, varied ceiling heights and floor levels creating a vertical diamond spatial effect. Fixtures combined Appalachian white oak and glass with angular plexiglass and chrome elements. Floor coverings in gray gradations complemented wall textures in navy lacquer, salmon suede and natural hemp for an integrated aesthetic."[5]
' Dallas ' Full-line department store' '1980'[5] '1985'[14] 'Dallas' 'North Dallas' 'Sakowitz Village' (now Village on the Parkway)[15][5]
' Tulsa OK ' Full-line department store' '1980' '1985'[14] 'Tulsa metropolitan area Tulsa' 'Southern Hills neighborhood' 'Kensington Galleria'[12]
(currently Kensington Business Center)' 		'70,000'[12] '6,503'
' Midland TX ' Full-line department store' '1980'[16] '1985'[14] 'Midland, Texas Midland' 'West Loop 250 North' 'Midland Park Mall'
' Cincinnati OH [17] ' Full-line department store' '
  1. REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting
'[18] 		'closed' 'Cincinnati metropolitan area Cincinnati [12]' 'Forest Park, Ohio and Fairfield, Ohio, Ohio' 'Forest Fair Mall'

*full-line department store

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named nmgsf
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named history
  4. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named chronblog
  5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17 5.18 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named portsocall
  6. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  7. ↑ Hassell, Greg. "Sakowitz ends an era, closing shop/420 employees to lose jobs after liquidation." Houston Chronicle. Thursday June 7, 1990. A1. Retrieved on October 25, 2012.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named amarillo
  9. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  10. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named lovers
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named tulsa
  13. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named phx-clo
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named 5close
  15. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named dallas
  16. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named newsbank
  17. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named forest
  18. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named cin-open

External links

Lua error in mw.title.lua at line 359: bad argument #2 to 'title.new' (unrecognized namespace name 'Portal').

Retrieved from "https://www.alfawiki.org/index.php?title=Sakowitz&oldid=31737"