7 Stores That Anyone Who Grew Up In Washington Will Undoubtedly Remember

Affectionaly known as "Woodies," Woodward & Lothrop was a much beloved department store. In fact, it was DC’s first department store opening in 1887. The flagship store on 10th, 11th, F and G Streets was 10 stories tall and held over 400,000 square feet. The building was declared a DC Historic Landmark in 1964. Woodies would eventually expand out into the cities and until they filed for bankruptcy in the 1990s.

Garfinkel’s was a big popular department store in the 1900s. Their flagship store was at 1401 F Street. Garfinkel’s expanded around the Washington DC area until 1990 when they filed for bankruptcy.

Hechts was a department store that had stores all over the East coast. They opened in DC in 1896. Their store was the first to have a parking garage and the first to have an elevator in the district.

Palais Royal is probably not as well known as Woodward & Lothrop but still just as loved by Washingtonians. It opened in 1887 shortly after Woodies opened. Unfortunately even though the building had been designated as a DC landmark, it was torn down after the store closed in the 1980s.

Kann’s or S. Kann Sons Co. was founded in 1893. It was one of the first stores to use a "customer is always right" concept. The store was owned by the Kann family until 1971 when it was sold and later closed in 1975.

Potomac Video was DC’s last video store. From 1981 until 2014, it was one of the best stories in DC to rent or purchase movies.

McBrides wasn’t a huge department store but it was well known in DC. McBride’s differed from many of its competitors because it did not have large flagship stores downtown. Instead it stayed in shopping centers. They closed their last two store at Benning Road and Minnesota Avenue and H Street in the 1980s.