[jg6544]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

Saks Fifth Avenue grew and grew, starting on the corner of Peck and Wilshire, in the late 30s, in a John and Donald Parkinson building (Paul Revere Williams did the interiors):

pinterest

Massively successful, SFA expanded west down the block in 1940 and 1948. This time PRW was the architect for the exterior and the interiors:

paulreverewilliamsproject


departmentstoremuseum

Since completing the block, and expanding into the Magnin's building, I think they're done.
(Too bad they didn't mirror the Parkinson building):

paulwilliamsproject/donhoran (2010)

I've always really liked the interiors at SFA (the exterior too) but could never find anything I wanted there.

The painted windows makes the store look more than a little blind.

The large department store I worked for covered the insides of the windows with fake Venetian blind sticky film and then dry-walled over them or used the window spaces for stockrooms, etc. (retailers don't want customers to be aware of the time). It gave a nicely uniform look (but they don't do it anymore).

The original Paul Williams interiors were stunning. At least part of the main floor of the store was carpeted.