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Showing posts with label DEPARTMENT STORES. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DEPARTMENT STORES. Show all posts

Saturday, July 04, 2009

DUNHAM'S: GONE BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN



It was one of our favorite stores. Dunham's was synonymous with quality. Judy and I were regulars at that great store in Trenton during the city's peaceful golden years. We used Dunham's as the main source for our footwear and clothing. With the gradual deterioration of the city beginning in the late 1950's, many center city stores looked to the suburbs to branch out. Dunham's opened a branch in the Independence Shopping Center on South Broad Street which became the store we patronized. The rioting and looting in the 1960's changed the city of Trenton forever. Trenton and many other cities in New Jersey were dealt a near death blow which resulted in shoppers and merchants fleeing to the suburbs. Additionally, the narrow streets in downtown Trenton were a factor in the downturn of the city. Along came the malls, and the rest is history. I wrote the above column when Dunham's decided to pull out of center city. It was a very sad day, and a very sad blow to those brave city of Trenton town fathers tried valiantly to restore the once proud capital. The photo in the column above shows the store on the corner of State and Broad Streets in Trenton. The 1905 article traces back to the acquisition of the property in the photo.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

1944: BINDER'S DOWNTOWN TRENTON

This building would have been the building that was destroyed by a devastating fire in the late 1940's; I seem to recall it as being in 1947. Along with the Binder's fire, there was also a huge fire during the same time period at New Jersey Floor Covering (??) on South Broad Street in downtown Trenton.