Loveman's of Alabama

Infobox Defunct Company
company_name = Loveman's of Alabama
company_
fate = Liquidation
foundation = 1887
defunct = 1980
location = Birmingham, Alabama
industry = Retail
key_people = Adolph Bernard Loveman, founder
products = Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, housewares
num_employees =
parent = City Stores Company
subsid =

Loveman's of Alabama was a Birmingham, Alabama-based chain of department stores with locations across Alabama. It adopted this name to distinguish it from Loveman's department stores operating in Chattanooga, Tennessee and in Nashville, Tennessee.

History

The store was originally founded in 1887, as A.B. Loveman's Dry Goods Emporium at 1915 Second Avenue by Adolph Bernard Loveman. Moses V. Joseph of Selma, Alabama, soon joined the company and it was renamed Loveman & Joseph. In 1889, the company became Loveman, Joseph & Loeb with the addition of Emil Loeb.

Loveman's primary location was built in 1890, at 200 19th Street on the corner of 3rd Avenue North. The store was expanded in 1899. By 1911, Loveman's was known as the largest, most magnificant department store south of the Ohio River. In 1917, an add-on known as the Loveman's annex was built between the main building and the Alabama Theatre.

In 1923, Loveman, Joseph & Loeb, along with B. Lowenstein, Inc., of Memphis, Tennessee and Maison Blanche Co., of New Orleans, Louisiana, were the first three department stores of the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based City Stores Company syndicate.

The department store was destroyed in a massive fire on March 10, 1934, although the exterior of the annex survived. The store reopened within a few weeks at a temporary location while a new Loveman's building was built on the site of the fire. The new Loveman's building was completed in 1935. There was a clock on corner of the new building, facing the 19th Street/3rd Avenue intersection, which was a popular local landmark. The new department store was one of the first in the nation to be air conditioned, and the first in Alabama to feature an escalator.

Loveman's eventually opened additional locations across Birmingham and the state. Loveman's had anchor stores in both Western Hills Mall and Century Plaza when they opened. There were also stores in Huntsville and Montgomery.

City Stores filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 1979, forcing liquidation of the chain and closing of the flagship downtown store in April 1980. The downtown Loveman's building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 14, 1983. It now houses the McWane Science Center.

Former Locations

*Bessemer - Westlake Mall - became Pizitz, mall torn down
*Birmingham - 200 19th Street (downtown) (opened 1935, became McWane Science Center)"
*Birmingham - Century Plaza (opened 1976; - McRae's opened 1987 in former Pizitz, became Belk 2006, closed late 2006)
*Birmingham - Western Hills Mall (the location became Pizitz and later Parisian, before finally closing in 2005)
*Huntsville
*Montgomery

References

* [http://www.liebman-loveman.com/Loveman%20Merchants1.htm The Liebman-Loveman Family, Loveman Merchants Page 1 (retrieved Aug 30, 2008)] .
* Loveman's. In BhamWiki, part of the "Project to Document the Birmingham District" (retrieved Aug 30, 2008) [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Loveman%27s_of_Alabama&action=edit&redlink=1] .
*Kuhl, Earl D., editor (1934) "Illustrated Souvenir: Birmingham's $3,000,000 Fire, March 10, 1934." Birmingham: Birmingham Firemen's Relief Association. - accessed at Birmingham Public Library Archives Digital Collections, February 22, 2007
* White, Marjorie Longenecker, ed. (1980) "Downtown Birmingham: Architectural and Historical Walking Tour Guide," second edition. Birmingham: Birmingham Historical Society.

External Links

* [http://www.birminghamrewound.com/lovemans.htm Birmingham Rewound - Photographs of Loveman's downtown Birmingham store and opening of Century Plaza store (retrieved Aug 29, 2008).]
* [http://www.archiplanet.org/wiki/Loveman,_Joseph,_&_Loeb_Department_Store Archiplanet.org National Register of Historic Places entry (retrieved Aug 30, 2008)]
* [http://bplonline.cdmhost.com/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/p4017coll6&CISOPTR=1169&CISOBOX=1&REC=4 Loveman, Joseph and Loeb Department Store (Birmingham, Ala.). (1936). In Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections. retrieved Aug 30, 2008.]