Meet Me at the Eagle: Wanamaker's Department Store
John Wanamaker was the father of the department store and a pioneer of modern conveniences. He felt customers were easily victimized and wanted to change the entire retail culture. A deeply religious man, he felt all were equal in God's eyes and, rather than haggling, should all be expected to pay the same price. The first to abide by "the customer is always right", Wanamaker's priority was to give shoppers a comfortable experience, where they were not looked at suspiciously if they didn't immediately make a purchase. He displayed art and was not averse to blending his religion with his business, feeling an obligation to moralize and educate everyone that came to his store.
Upon opening his department store, Wanamaker's first order of business was the price tag. Prices at Wanamaker's were almost always lower than at small specialty stores, making haggling obsolete. On top of that, having nine floors of retail space made having straightforward pricing essential. Customers were also allowed to return items for a full refund. Wanamaker's made good customer service a priority when shopkeepers of the time were, at best, watchful of their customers and, at worst, accusatory.
Like his contemporaries, Wanamaker was staunchly opposed to labor organization. Unlike his contemporaries, he pioneered pensions, free medical care, and profit sharing for all of his employees. Wanamaker strove to create not just a shopping experience, but a cultural experience and was one of the first to have electric lighting, elevators, and pneumatic tubes. The art displayed was more extensive than a lot of galleries and museums of the time. Wanamaker's was also home to an extravagant holiday display with elaborate exhibits, thousands of lights, and life-size depictions of Jesus Christ's crucifixion.
Wanamaker purchased a great bronze eagle from the 1903 World's Fair in St. Louis, which has been on display ever since. For decades Philadelphians would "meet at the eagle". Wishing to recreate the grandiosity of a church, Wanamaker's Department Store employed its own organ makers and was soon home to the largest pipe organ in the world, with nearly 30,000 pipes. To illustrate its cultural and economic importance, President Taft attended the grand re-opening in 1911 and was the keynote speaker, making him the first and only president to attend such an event.
While today it is a Macy's Department Store, the original Wanamaker's building is also on the National Historic Register and the building has maintained its grandeur. Wanamaker's was a place to meet, a place to eat, a place to shop, and most importantly, a safe place that turned what used to be a chore into a social event.
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