Looking Up at the Fulton Mall
[nggallery id=”26356″ template=galleryview] Some readers noted that holding the announcement of the Shop Brooklyn initiative, intended to get folks to buy made-in-Brooklyn products, at the Fulton Mall was a little ironic. True, it’s filled with many chain stores selling the same wares as retail outposts across the country. But head down to the Fulton Mall…
[nggallery id=”26356″ template=galleryview]
Some readers noted that holding the announcement of the Shop Brooklyn initiative, intended to get folks to buy made-in-Brooklyn products, at the Fulton Mall was a little ironic. True, it’s filled with many chain stores selling the same wares as retail outposts across the country. But head down to the Fulton Mall and look up. There you’ll see plenty of architectural originality and only-in-Brooklyn buildings.
MM;
Indeed I do remember McRory’s. I am trying to remember which store was right next to A&S: Woolworth’s or McRory’s? I “think” it was Woolworth’s, and I think McRory’s was near Mays. The reason I bring this point up is that part of our Fulton Street “trip” was always a stop in this store next to A&S (again, I think it was Woolworth’s). As soon as you entered, there was a bakery and confectionary section, and my father always bought us fresh-baked Fig Newtons as a treat. They were so delicious!!
Also, do you remember how stores like McRory’s and Woolworth’s always had the photo machine booth, where you could have a strip of photos taken and developed for something like a dime? One would always pile in there with friends or siblings and mug for the camera. It used to be a ritual of dating.
Most of the owners of these stores lived a stop or two away on the A train in Bedford Stuyvesant and Crown Heights… Frank Woolworth 209 Jefferson. I believe the Abraham family lived on St. Marks near where the children museum is today…
and Martin’s don’t forget.
NOP and Benson, when I first came to Brooklyn, in the late 1970’s, many of those stores were still there, so I also have some fonder memories of downtown. My mother spent part of her childhood in Brooklyn, and when we came back, she also told stories of the grand old stores.
I loved A’n S! It used to be a treat to eat lunch in their 4th floor restaurant, behind what is now the children’s dept. They had great food, and good service, and even in the 70’s, was a nostalgic event, harkening back to the white glove days of shopping. I used to take my Mom there quite often, as I couldn’t afford Gage and Tollner, and Junior’s was a once in while treat. I remember their great Christmas decorations, and windows, and you are right, the elevators did make one nauseous!
In addition to Korvettes, remember McRory’s? Used to be you could enter their basement from the A train. I think the boarded up windows are still there. Also good old Woolworth’s, complete with lunch counter. I also remember May’s. That was a great store, too.
Benson:
Congratulations on the catch!
I never got to go. Ocean fishing was more Dad’s game, and a friend of the family with a sail boat would take us out of Sheepshead Bay.
Dad did take us rowing on the lake, though. And after he died, I came on a book about Frederick Law Olmsted in his library. In it he’d penned a poem to the great man, thanking him for the many happy hours he’d given him and his boys.
After Prospect Park, Central Park seems small potatoes!
NOP
NOP’
Yes, the story of the origin of the name “E.J.Korvettes” is true! I even heard it once on a TV game show (so you know it had to be true ;-).
I am proud to say that I once caught the catfish with the brass ring!! Funny thing is, I was so excited to catch this fabled fish, that I remember that moment, but I don’t remember the prize. Also, I remember that when you participated in the contest, you received a big button with a picture of a fish and a rod, to wear on your lapel.
My family was working-class, so we mainly stuck to Mays and EJ Korvette’s. However, we also did shop at “A’n S”. My father was always proud of A&S as a Brooklyn institution, and was heartbroken when they disappeared. I remember well the elevator operators and their circular control handle. My most vivid memory of those elevators, however was the ride. For some reason, the way those elevators started and stopped made me nauseous, and I wasn’t alone on that. I also remember the “folding” doors that the operators opened and closed on each floor.
Those were the days when stores had class. I think it is hard for most folks today to remember and/or believe that going to a store was an event, for which you dressed up.
Nostalgic, what a marvelous post. I love reading about retailers of bygone eras. I am still mourning the passing of I.Magnin, alas. (Check out “When Ladies Go A-Thieving” for a history of dept stores…) As for PropJoe, he’s a troll, not a brother.
Benson:
I wonder how many very old catfish are still swimming around the lake, toting those brass rings. Did anyone ever catch one?
Judging from your post, you and I may have trolled the aisles of A&S’s toy department at the same time. Small, world, Brooklyn.
I guess my family could be typecast by its shopping habits. I don’t recall the stores you mention, although I’ve heard of Korvette’s. It also had a Manhattan location (on Fifth Avenue!). And a Jewish friend once proudly told me the root of its name. But is that really true?
Fulton Street was a great street because it served everybody in Brooklyn. I don’t know about you, but I shudder at the name “Fulton Mall.”
NOP
Many upscale stores also sell the exact same chain store merchandise found across the country too.
It is a shame about the upper floors. After I read that, I walked along Fulton Mall trying to figure out how one would put the staircases back in… looks like a huge project. That being said, it does seem like a more productive enterprise than another luxury condo tower.
Also, please tell me that Macy’s isn’t closing. I’ve never bought anything there, although I’m considering their couches, but I grew up with Strawbridge’s and Wanamaker’s and I really love old department stores.