Debuting during the busy holiday season, new exhibit ‘May I Help You, Madame?’ shows how society’s love affair with department stores began.

"May I Help You, Madame? The Making of the Modern Department Store" is on view at the Flagler Museum now through May.

If you rushed to area stores for Black Friday deals Nov. 27, 1981, tune in — your feathered hairstyle or long sideburns may ...

James Edgar channeled entrepreneurial spirit and a gift for making people smile into changing the way the world celebrates Christmas. Edgar was the first department-store Santa Claus. An immigrant ...

Macy’s announcement Tuesday that it will close 150 stores, or nearly a third of its total, is the result of a once-great department store industry in decades of decline. The gradual demise of the ...

Due this month from the Minnesota Historical Society Press, "Thank You for Shopping" chronicles the history of department stores in Minnesota — from their rise in the late 1800s through their decline ...

Generally considered the world’s first department store, Le Bon Marché in Paris spurred a retail revolution when it began its incredible expansion in the late 19th century. The stores that followed on ...

Image in the public domain from New York Illustrated (published 1877 but appears to be early 1850s). Once located at 280 Broadway between Chambers and Reade Streets in Tribeca was one of the nation’s ...