Well, Rike's became Lazarus (as shown in that photo) and was demolished in the late 90's for a performing arts center.

a performing arts center is good news at least!

Macy's closing Cincinnati district office

 

Cincinnati-based retailer Macy's Inc. will also be closing a district office when it shutters its Fountain Square retail location in March.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/01/17/macys-closing-cincinnati-district-office.html

^^^ Was that entire block demolished for the Schuster Center, or were the buildings to the west already gone? I'm assuming Second is running along the left edge of the photo... I didn't realize that much was torn down. As much as I love the Schuster Center, having that much heft on that block would go a long way toward making downtown Dayton feel a bit less desolate (darn you, excessively wide streets!).

 

 

a performing arts center is good news at least!

 

The Schuster Center was built by Cesar Pelli, who also did the Aronoff Center in Cincinnati around the same time, and although they're thematically similar complexes (no pun intended), the Schuster Center is far superior to the Aronoff in just about every way. I think it's one of Pelli's best works, although the condo tower is a bit bland.

 

Anyway, I digress. This is about Macy's, not unnecessary cool old department store demolitions.

 

The Schuster Center was built by Cesar Pelli, who also did the Aronoff Center in Cincinnati around the same time, and although they're thematically similar complexes (no pun intended), the Schuster Center is far superior to the Aronoff in just about every way. I think it's one of Pelli's best works, although the condo tower is a bit bland.

 

 

Aronoff was built in '95, Schuster was almost a decade later.

 

Why is the Schuster Center far superior to the Aronoff in just about every way? It's capacity is about 1,000 smaller, so I imagine it feels more intimate, but I haven't been there. I like the Aronoff, though.

Intimacy is a big part of it. And frankly it's a much more impressive auditorium, despite being smaller.

 

 

 

The visual similarities to the Aronoff are obvious, but the Schuster has a more vertical "opera house style" thrust to it than the Aronoff does. This in turn allows each tier to be shallower than at the Aronoff, so overall the viewpoints of the stage are better. Cleveland still beats out both Cincinnati and Dayton for the sheer beauty of their theaters, for obvious reasons, though.

^^^ Was that entire block demolished for the Schuster Center, or were the buildings to the west already gone? I'm assuming Second is running along the left edge of the photo... I didn't realize that much was torn down. As much as I love the Schuster Center, having that much heft on that block would go a long way toward making downtown Dayton feel a bit less desolate (darn you, excessively wide streets!).

 

Yes, that entire block was demolished for the Schuster Center and yes, Second is on the left edge.

The Aronoff Center has three theaters. 

 

Cleveland still beats out both Cincinnati and Dayton for the sheer beauty of their theaters, for obvious reasons, though.

 

Because you're from Cleveland.  Severance Hall simply can't compete with Cincinnati's Music Hall for presence in its neighborhood.  I drove by Severance Hall many times before I paid any attention to it or knew what it was.  Cincinnati's Music Hall is one of the most neighborhood-defining structures in the United States. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

^ I was talking specifically about Playhouse Square - completely agree about Music Hall v. Severance (though Severance is nothing to sneeze at). There's nothing like it anywhere else, especially with the way it anchors Washington Park the way it does. Its acoustics are better than Severance too.

I've said it before, but I think it bears repeating- Macy's real "home" is NYC, not Cincinnati.  All of their creative staff, big corporate execs, etc. live and work in New York. The flagship store is Herald Square. They're synonymous with the Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC. The only reason their HQ is listed as Cincinnati is because they merged with Federated Department Stores in the 90s, and I imagine they get some pretty big tax breaks from having the HQ in Ohio instead of New York. They are not a local company ala Procter and Gamble or Kroger. They have had pretty limited involvement in the local community over the years, and I truly think they have very little allegiance to Cincinnati or Ohio.

Not necessarily so. Considering Cincinnati's historical involvement in department store merchandising and how its powerful Federated Department Stores acquired Macy's, rather than the reverse - why relocate anything now?  Undoubtedly, in the 1990s, many high level Macy's management personnel may have been dismayed to have to relocate to Cincinnati, but let's keep in mind that the retailing powerhouse who acquired their services was already well established here.  I don't think many lay people realize this; most of the public probably presumes that Macy's downtown 7th Street HQs is little more than a high-rise call-center merely awaiting another set of orders from NYC.

Federated was an interesting story overall.

Their old digs on west 7th are an interesting relic.

Federated was an interesting story overall.

So true. Federated Department Stores (FDS) acquired a frothy merchandising history long before it acquired Macey's.  Many forum members probably haven't an inkling of how convoluted and melodramatic its story really is - in fact, behind its most publicized mergers, FDS's Machiavellian retailing operations undoubtedly rivaled the doings of the Borgia and Medici families, centuries before.  Don't think so?  Do a research of this retailing powerhouse and judge for yourselves.   

Downtown Macy's is down to furs and rugs. You can get 75-80% off rugs worth thousands of dollars. I think the last day is tomorrow.

 

Here are photos from last Sunday, about an hour before they locked the doors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's really sad. Cincinnati was the last major city in Ohio to have a department store, downtown.

^ we still do....

Yeah, that sucks >:(