Lost Department Stores of San Francisco (Landmarks)

I loved reading this book. This is a detailed historical narrative re many of the great San Francisco department stores and their owners from the grand openings in approximately 1850 to the sad endings in the 1970s and later. As a former San Franciscan I miss my "old days" of street cars, cable cars and hitting the downtown shopping haunts. I also appreciated the photos. Highly recommended reading for anyone interested in big department store development or simply the love of nostalgic shopping.

I grew up in SF during the time of beautiful, luxurious department stores. It was thrilling when I was old enough to go alone. Reading this book brought me back to the Emporium, both Magnin stores, Gumps....all the good places.And I learned so much more about the history of each store, and San Francisco itself. Really fun and informative read. Terrific photos and lots of them.

The author reviews San Francisco's 6 big, lost department stores: City of Paris, Emporium, Gump's, I. Magnin, Joseph Magnin, and The White House--including detailed corporate histories (mergers, takeovers, etc.) plus many warm, human-interest stories from long-time employees and customers. There are also specific details on WHAT HAPPENED that caused each of these popular firms to eventually close their doors between 1965 and 2018. With nearly 100 photos, many of them seldom seen before, the author paints a vivid picture of the downtown shopping scene--including restaurants, flower stands, cable cars, and many other merchants (Roos-Atkins, Woolworth, all the way down to tiny Morrow's Nut House). It's a must-read for lovers of old San Francisco.

This book brings back wonderful memories of my mom and myself shopping in downtown San Francisco. Especially at Christmas . Going downtown "window shopping" and having lunch at Blum's are memories I will always have. I hope there is a second book with the department stores not in this first book. Thank you for the memories.

I grew up in the Bay Area in the 60's to 80's. Have many fond memories of shopping with my Mom and Sis. Taking a shopping trip up to San Francisco was a special treat, especially at holiday time. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and enjoyed learning more about the stores that I grew up with.

It is a really good read. The information about these different stores is very good.

Ann Hitz has done tremendous research into the 6 of the most popular lost Department Stores of San Francisco. If you grew up shopping at Emporium or City of Paris, this is a must read! The pictures are fantastic and you will enjoy this trip down memory lane!

This book focused only on a few of the department stores. There are a lot more that are no longer in San Francisco. There weren’t enough photos in the book I returned it.