- Department stores have changed dramatically over the last 100 years.
- Department stores once sold necessities. Now, many are struggling to remain in business.
- While some classic chains cease to exist, other retailers have found ways to increase sales.
In the early 1900s, department stores existed to sell necessities, including food, home goods, and apparel.
Today, many luxury department stores are struggling to survive.
The rise of the internet and surge in online sales have placed a major strain on department stores. Saks Global, the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, and Neiman Marcus, became the latest department retailer to file for bankruptcy on Tuesday.
Take a look at how department stores have changed over the last 100 years.
In the early 1900s, department stores were focused on selling the necessities.
Core products included clothing and home goods. During times of war, the necessities on sale included military jackets, coats, and accessories.
That's why Harrods, a famous department store in London, featured an in-house tailoring room throughout World War I. The space was utilized to alter used uniforms and sell new ones.
Department stores still sell the basics, but novelty items are also typically present.
You can find everything from household tools and fashionable clothes to toys and knickknacks at modern department stores — they seem to sell everything, in an apparent bid to compete with online retailers.
Harrods also sells store-branded items, including bags, stationery, and teddy bears.
Leading up to the 1930s, department stores were often crowded.
Around 1929, people were encouraged to shop in order to help boost the nation's sinking economy, Fortune reported.
But that same year, the stock market crashed, and the Great Depression officially began. The period lasted for 10 years, causing major layoffs, failing banks, and mass poverty.
Today's department stores rarely see such large crowds, aside from major shopping events like Black Friday.
Even during major holiday sales, many modern shoppers still prefer to shop online from the comfort of their homes.
In 2025, shoppers in the US were projected to spend a record $11.7 billion online on Black Friday, an 8.3% increase from 2024.
It marked a contrast from the wild Black Friday scenes that could be seen in stores in the decade before the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the 1920s, employees worked in department store basements to make change for cashiers upstairs.
In large stores that existed across multiple floors, vacuum systems transported the change upstairs through tubes.
None of those "tube rooms" are needed anymore, thanks to computers and credit cards.
Modern shoppers often don't even have to interact with a cashier if they don't want to. Instead, they can use touchscreen self-checkout machines to purchase products from many department stores.
Starting in 1924, Macy's celebrated the holidays with its first annual "Christmas Parade."
Live animals such as elephants were included in the early days of the Macy's parade. Balloons depicting popular characters such as Mickey Mouse appeared a little later in the '30s.
The name has since been changed to the "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade."
Other aspects of the yearly tradition have also been changed. For example, live animals have been replaced with people dressed in costumes, and giant marching bands have become a staple. Tons of celebrities have also appeared on floats.
Minimal merchandise was showcased in store window displays throughout the '40s.
Beginning in the 1870s at Macy's, some chain retailers in New York City have made it a tradition to decorate store-front windows each holiday season.
There was some art to these displays, as props were placed alongside mannequins and merchandise to create a scene.
Contemporary display windows are unlike anything of the past.
Modern department stores often incorporate technology, moving props, and bright lights into window displays.
As early as 1923, Barneys New York was a popular department store.
Barneys New York was created by a man named Barney Pressman when he pawned his wife's engagement ring and opened a shop on Seventh Avenue and 17th Street in New York City.
By the '60s, Barney's son, Fred, had turned the location into a luxury store, and the company became a national sensation throughout the 1990s and 2000s. By 2019, there were 22 stores in the US.
However, the chain faced difficulties and shuttered all stores in 2020.
Bonwit Teller was once a prominent luxury department store with a flagship location in New York City.
The store was known for selling a range of high-end women's clothing inside a luxurious Art Deco building. It grew to more than a dozen locations across cities, including Chicago, Philadelphia, and Columbia, South Carolina.
By 2000, every Bonwit Teller store had gone out of business.
In 1979, the Bonwit Teller company was sold from its original owners to outside corporations. Ten years later, in 1989, the store filed for bankruptcy and began shutting all of its stores, with its last location closing in 2000.
While the flagship Bonwit Teller store would have been exempt from the closure, the building was purchased by Donald Trump in 1979, who demolished it to build Trump Tower.
The Saks Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York City opened in 1924.
Saks Fifth Avenue was once a bustling destination for luxury shoppers. At 650,000 square feet, the store spans an entire city block.
Saks Global filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday.
Saks Global's 2024 acquisition of Neiman Marcus for $2.7 billion left the company in debt and struggling to pay luxury vendors, some of whom have withheld inventory.
Business Insider reporter Madeline Berg visited the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship store the day Saks Global announced it was filing for bankruptcy and found it to be "nearly empty" with little foot traffic.
