Seattle Historical Sites

This store was part of a nationwide chain of “five-and-dime stores” started in 1896 by Samuel H. Kress to provide quality merchandise at the lowest possible price. The chain grew to became one of the most successful retail operations of the twentieth century. Kress envisioned his stores as works of public art that would contribute to the cityscape, taking pride in well designed and constructed stores. The company had an architectural division from 1905 until 1944 and, by the late 1920s, had more than 100 people working on store designs. They designed more than 220 stores throughout the country, using high quality materials and a wide range of façades to fit the scale and context of specific streetscapes. A consistent part of their image was the lavish use of terra cotta and prominent “KRESS” letters or logo, a perpetually distinctive element displayed high upon the building, its doors and windows. Edward F. Sibbert, the company’s chief architect, designed a distinct group of streamline and Art Deco modern store facades between 1929 and 1944. All of the Kress stores used a systematic floor plan to efficiently display goods and direct customer circulations.  In the 1960s, the company expanded to suburban shopping malls. The Kress Company evolved into what is now the K-Mart group of shopping mall retail outlets.  http://www.nbm.org/exhibitions-collections/collections/kress-collection.html