As a youngster or older, What stores did you do your holiday "shopping" at, that are no more? We would go to Kaufmanns

[jmowreader]

172. The Crescent in Spokane, WA

I think the people running The Crescent wanted to be Spokane's Macy's - this was back when the only traditional department stores in town were The Crescent and The Bon Marche.

Like the Macy's on 34th Street in New York City, The Crescent had this enormous display window that a Christmas display would be built in. About a month before what is now called Black Friday, they'd cover it from the inside and build the display - which was unique every year. The day before Thanksgiving the store itself had no trace of an indication Christmas was coming. On Thanksgiving Day, it was tradition that all employees report to work to reset the store for Thanksgiving - and when they were done their families were allowed to come in and the whole bunch would be served the most deluxe Thanksgiving dinner imaginable. (Strangely enough, the employees thought this was an honor to do.) At something like 6am, the townspeople would be gathered in front of the store for the window unveiling and opening the store to reveal the Christmas Wonderland it had become. IIRC they kept the place in holiday mode until January 1 then set it back to normal.