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Macy's Preserves Its Old Wooden Escalators
Old department store buildings, which were THE place to shop before the Internet, e-commerce and all things Web-oriented, are filled with fascinating gems.
I remember in my hometown of Colorado Springs, the Hibbard & Co. department store housed in a 1914 relic had pneumatic tubes that clerks on the second and third floor used to whisk money down to the cashier on the main floor. And the store still had its original hardwood floors and a scary metal elevator. Eventually the Hibbard department store closed in 1996 and was converted into offices and retail stores on the ground floor by the Hibbard family.
Fortunately for history buffs, Macy's has done a better job of preserving its past. Even though it just spent $400 million to renovate its flagship store in Herald Square, it has retained some of its old wooden escalators that still creak along on the upper floors.
The ash and oak escalators were installed between 1920 and 1930 when Macy's expanded its 1902 structure to make way for more shopping. Originally there were 40 escalators, but 19 of them had their wooden steps replaced with metal steps and one was taken out to make way for a Coach shop.
In today's New York Times, there is a fascinating story about how the wooden escalators were saved. Check it out.
