L.S. Ayres and Company: The Store at the Crossroads of America Hardcover – December 26, 2012

Great book, lots of b&w pix across time of the history of the store. I remember accompanying my folks on shopping trips to LS Ayres downtown before the suburban mall stores opened. I remember having lunch at the Tea Room: Chicken Velvet Soup and Monte Christo sandwich. I recall the bargain basement of the store that we entered from an enclosed stairway from the small parking lot at the rear of the store. I recall the distinctive call bell system that dinged and donged over the PA system. I still have a family photo portrait hanging on the wall that was taken at the LS Ayres Portrait Studio. Fond memories. I recommend this very informative book. I now know more about the store than I ever realized I would.

I grew up in Indianapolis in the early 1950's. I have so many memories of my grandma taking me downtown on Saturdays.L.S. Ayres was our favorite store then and remained so for me as I grew up.As I grew older and worked in downtown Indy, I'd visit the Ayres store several times a week on my lunch hours. The Ayres Tea Room was a favorite of myself and co-workers, or we'd eat at the small cafe on the first floor mezzanine. The photos in this book bring back all those special times with family and friends.I was so disappointed when Ayres closed their doors downtown. Then eventually the Ayres stores located around the city at themalls were also closed. This book is so wonderful and contains so much history of L.S. Ayres and surrounding downtown Indianapolis. I highly recommend it to anyone familiar with L.S. Ayres and it's history.

I miss the Ayres store so much! That store was so much a part of my life and I remember it fondly. I thought Mr. Turchi did a nice job presenting the story of Ayres and the management of the store. I would like to have seen more pictures of the balcony, the music department (with the individual listening booths), and the basement store. This is a book that I will put out for others to enjoy when they come to my house. I recommend it highly!

If you grew up in Indianapolis you will love this book. I can still remember Ayres Christmas windows and the thrill of peeking in them when I was a kid. Having lunch at Ayres Tea Room and eating chicken velvet soup, what a treat. And if you grew up in Indy you will no doubt have met with someone under Ayres clock. The cherub that seemed to magically appear on top of Ayres clock at Christmas time was something everyone watched for. Such wonderful memories this book brings back.

I've never lived in Indiana, where this store was located, but I grew up with other stores that were similar and hold fond memories for me. This book is FANTASTIC--filled with great photos and fascinating information about a treasured traditional department store. Don't even think about it--buy this book immediately. You won't be dissappointed.

As a former employee of L,S. Ayres & Co. I was excited to purchase this book. There were many names of people I knew and even pictures of some of them. Made me homesick for those years and for the locally owned department store. I have just found some former employees on Facebook and will recommend L.S.Ayres & Company to them.

Very well written and indepth

Attention anyone interested in writing a book on Department Store history - this is how you do it! As a collector of books on Department Store history, I found this book to be very interesting & informative. It helps that the author had access to the L.S.Ayres archives & photographs, something missing from many other books.