Finding Thalhimers

At all of my book signings and lectures, I hear the same thing over and over again: “There just aren’t places like Thalhimers anymore.” And I have to agree. If I think about it long enough, it concerns me deeply.

Thalhimers, like so many department stores across America, focused on building personal relationships and creating unique experiences. Yes, it was about selling things. Yes, it was a business. But it was more than that. Employees felt like they were part of something exciting and dynamic. Many people worked at Thalhimers for decades because they enjoyed it. They felt like part of a family. In Richmond and across the country, storeowners cared about their employees, and employees cared about their customers. Shoppers returned because not only could they find quality merchandise at Thalhimers, but attentive employees who really seemed to care and an environment where they could not only shop but be entertained, learn something new, and be part of a community.

Where can we find this atmosphere anymore? This web of connectedness? This distinct sense of place? When I travel to cities around the country — Wichita, St. Louis, Nashville, Atlanta, Baltimore — it’s becoming more difficult to tell them apart. Sure, each one has its historic landmarks and geographic features. But what makes our cities unique anymore? Where do we go to feel the heartbeat of a city? Is America becoming one long street lined with Cracker Barrels and Wal-Marts and Home Depots?  If so, how do we stop it and regain each city’s personality and charm?

I have an idea, but look forward to hearing yours. What if we turned abandoned downtown streets (like Richmond’s Grace Street behind the old Thalhimers and Miller & Rhoads) into marketplaces featuring local businesses and artisans? Bakeries, dress shops, locally grown food co-ops, used book stores, theaters, jewelers, children’s stores, sandwich shops, and bars with locally brewed beers. Not chain stores, but stores that express the community’s flavor and talents. Places where you can find gifts, food and clothing that you can’t find in other cities.

I was at Bizarre Bazaar last week (Richmond’s gigantic annual holiday fair with hundreds of vendors) and was shocked at the crowds. Why not create a permanent bazaar downtown: a constant marketplace abuzz with activity that encourages our city to embrace its uniqueness? We could even close off the street. Allow people to walk in the middle. Plant trees and flowers. Welcome local musicians like we do at Carytown’s Watermelon Festival every summer. Hold Christmas parties and Festivals of Lights. Art exhibitions and ethnic food festivals. Children’s costume contests and outdoor fashion shows.

Perhaps my idea is too idyllic. I’m sure there are zoning issues and city politics and differences in opinion that might make this dream impossible to achieve. But my ancestors dreamed big, and their business was around for 150 years. They adhered to a model that was flexible enough to change over the course of history and time. Now we need to create a new model to re-establish the character, community, and sense of place that we’ve lost.

Regardless of how we do it, American cities need to overcome the plague of “sameness” that has descended upon us and mature beyond the era of sprawl. We need to create city centers that are unique and community-based. Do share your ideas on how we can accomplish this. Something has to come next. Someone has to take the lead.

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If you remember shopping in downtown Richmond at Christmastime, then I don’t need to tell you that it was a special experience! As early as the 1910s and 20s, Thalhimers featured special Christmas decorations and Toyland for the children. If you shopped at Thalhimers in the 1940s or 50s, you may remember your mother putting on long gloves and a fashionable hat to take you shopping. You would be dressed in your holiday finest from head to toe, and perhaps the most memorable thing was riding a small train on Thalhimers’ rooftop.

The 1960s and 70s brought with them animated holiday windows along Grace Street full of model trains, animated characters, carolers singing, and snow-covered scenes that captivated the young and the young-at-heart. Hundreds gathered to watch Santa climb a ladder from the corner of 6th and Broad Streets into Thalhimers’ second floor, waving to the crowds below. Santaland in the 5th floor auditorium was a wandering maze of festive scenes leading up to Santa in his big red chair. Thalhimers erected big candlesticks on the walkway over 7th Street, declaring Richmond the “City of Candlelight.”

In the 1980s, while listening to Wham’s “Last Christmas” on the radio, you’d drive down to see the annual Christmas Parade, formerly known as Thalhimers’ Toy Parade. Perhaps you’d catch a glimpse of a celebrity…my sister gave Chevy Chase a high five as his float passed by! Inside the store, special attractions included LegoLand on the Fourth Floor and The Snow Bear Shop, where kids shopped for gifts in a life-sized artificial igloo. (No parents allowed!) Snow Bear Breakfasts were a special treat, singing along to the “Snow Bear Hokey Pokey” and doing a special rendition of “Here Comes Santa Claus” to summon Santa and Snow Bear to join in the fun!

Christmas at Thalhimers was a magical time. It may have been cold outside, but inside the store people’s hearts were warmed enough to stoke a lifetime of memories.

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