William Taylor & Son

William Taylor & Son Company

Company type	Private
Industry	Retail (department store)
Founded	1870
Founder	William Taylor
Defunct	1961
Fate	Closed
Headquarters	Cleveland , United States
Products	Department store goods, including British goods

Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox building The William Taylor & Son Company edifice stands as a 146-foot tall, nine-story apartment high-rise, which opened in 1915 in downtown Cleveland’s Gateway District. This structure once served as a prominent department store in Cleveland’s commercial history. Initially constructed with five stories, the building was expanded by an additional four floors in 1913 to accommodate the company’s growth. The architect responsible for the design was J. Milton Dyer, who also designed notable Cleveland landmarks such as Cleveland City Hall and the CAC Building.

Taylor's

Established in 1870 under the name Taylor, Kilpatrick, and Company, Taylor's became one of Cleveland’s "big six" department stores alongside Halle's, May's, Higbee's, Sterling-Lindner Davis, and Bailey's. Today, all six have become part of Cleveland’s retail history rather than its present landscape. Taylor's was often likened to London’s prestigious department stores like Harrods and Selfridges because of its ornate architectural style and its stock of British goods. On October 24, 1941, the flagship Taylor’s store marked its 26th anniversary with a celebration held at the now-demolished Hollenden Hotel located at Superior and East 6th Street—the site currently occupied by the Fifth Third Center.

Ownership and management of Taylor’s passed through several members of the Taylor family during its operation. The business began with William Taylor (1832-1887) and was later joined by his son John Livingstone Taylor (died 1892) in 1887. Following John's death in 1892, Sophia Strong Taylor assumed leadership as president until 1935 when she transferred control to her brother Charles H. Strong, who remained president until 1939. Subsequently, ownership shifted to an individual aligned with May Company, a minority stakeholder in Taylor's.

Over time, the store adapted its target market to serve primarily lower middle-class customers—a segment that complemented May Company's strategy to broaden their consumer base by including this demographic. In line with this approach, May invested heavily in expanding the store with a $2 million renovation completed in 1945. Despite these efforts, the store ceased operations by 1961, less than two decades later.

668 Euclid

The building entered a new phase in 2009 when the K & D Group from Willoughby launched apartment rentals within the structure, which was rebranded as Six Six Eight Euclid Avenue. For this redevelopment, the original retail space underwent a complete interior overhaul and exterior refurbishment, incorporating contemporary features expected in upscale urban residences. Upgrades included granite countertops, stainless steel kitchen appliances, and bespoke flooring designs. This initiative is part of a broader movement in Cleveland to revitalize long-neglected properties through adaptive reuse, contributing to the city's urban renewal. Comparable projects illustrating this trend include 668 Euclid, The 9 Cleveland, the Huntington Bank Building, 1717 East Ninth Building, the Statler Arms Apartments, and the extensive transformation of the East 4th corridor from derelict to vibrant.

On March 21, 2021, iHeartMedia announced a deal to move its Cleveland radio station studios into Six Six Eight by securing a decade-long lease with K & D Group. The new studios would be pioneers within the company’s portfolio by operating entirely on cloud storage platforms and would feature dedicated podcast production spaces alongside a street-facing "marquee studio." By July 2022, all nine Cleveland stations had completed their transition to the Six Six Eight location.