Marston's was a department store based in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, and founded by city leader George Marston. It had a downtown main store on Sixth Street and opened two suburban branches before being sold to

The Broadway The Broadway was a mid-level department store chain headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1896 by English-born Arthur Letts Sr., and named after what was once the city's main shopping street, the Broadway became a dominant reta ...

in 1961.

Accolades

The ''San Diego Downtown News'' characterized the store as San Diego's "finest" department store and as "elegant". The ''Golden Era'' magazine carried an ad that proclaimed Marston's as the "leading dry goods house of San Diego."

History

Marston started his merchandising career in 1870 at age 20 as an assistant bookkeeper in Aaron Pauly's store and wharf office. He worked there for two years. He then clerked for one year for Mr. Joseph Nash, who advertised his grocery, dry goods and clothing storestore as "the cheapest... in the city". In 1873, Marston and his best friend and fellow clerk at Pauly's, Charles Hamilton, bought Nash's business and operated it together. In 1878, Marston went at it alone and opened his own clothing and dry goods store along Fifth Avenue between G and H (now Market) streets. In 1881, the store expanded to 509 Fifth Avenue in a new two-story building. In 1896, Marston's moved to 427 C Street (southwest corner of Fifth and C), with the construction of a large

neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...

building costing $60,000 (~$ in ), built for him by his uncle, Stephen W. Marston. This four-story building featured wide aisles, an open court from the ground floor to the roof, and a novelty–an elevator. The property is now an office building still known as the Marston Building. In 1907, Marston's made $15,000 (~$ in ) in improvements to its store, turning the third floor stockroom into of additional selling space, which was used for ladies' underwear and hosiery, and for dressing rooms. Money was also spent on new fixtures and interior decoration. In 1912, Marston's moved to its final location across Fifth Avenue. In 1954, Marston's expanded into a new, six-story addition on Fifth Avenue, thus occupying the entire block on the north side of C Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues (demolished in the 1960s). In 1960, Marston's added a home furnishings annex in the former Parmelee-Dohrmann building (Seventh and C).

Tearoom

The 190-seat tearoom, the first sit-down serviced food offering at Marston's, opened April 27, 1955. It was designed by San Diego architect Sam Hamill. It had several 200- to 400-year-old Japanese screens. Pigskin covered the columns, and there was gray-green wall-to-wall carpet on the dining room floor and in the foyer. The menu included coconut cream pie, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut in wedges sans crust, a Pacific Paragon salad sandwich, tomatoes stuffed with cottage cheese, and a frozen fruit salad with whipped cream dressing served with minced turkey finger sandwiches. Sandwiches cost from 0.95 to 1.50

dollars Dollar is the name of more than 25 currencies. The United States dollar, named after the international currency known as the Spanish dollar, was established in 1792 and is the first so named that still survives. Others include the Australian d ...

, included open-faced Swiss cheese and turkey with thousand island dressing, corned beef on pumpernickel, and a club sandwich served with fruit aspic. At daily fashion shows, models walked among the tables presenting the latest fashion.

Legacy

Marston's sold its stores to

in 1961. In 1962, the

Chula Vista Center Chula Vista Center is an outdoor shopping mall in Chula Vista, California. Opened in 1962, it features Burlington, JCPenney, and Macy's, with one vacant anchor last occupied by Sears. It is owned and managed by Brookfield Properties. History C ...

branch was opened, still under the Marston's name. This branch was particularly noted for its murals, in the Orange Tree Restaurant murals depicting missions, orange groves, and mountains; in the women's "Fashion Circle" area, buildings in the South Bay and

Coronado Coronado may refer to: People * Coronado (surname) Coronado is a Spanish surname derived from the village of Cornado, near A Coruña, Galicia. People with the name * Francisco Vásquez de Coronado (1510–1554), Spanish explorer often referred t ...

areas, including

Hotel del Coronado The Hotel del Coronado, also known as The Del and Hotel Del, is a historic beachfront hotel in Coronado, California, just across San Diego Bay from San Diego. A rare surviving example of an American architectural genre—the wooden Victorian be ...

; in the men's area the Spanish heritage of the area and early 19th century shipping activity, and rancheros on the way to a fiesta, and the old harbor; in the boy's area the

Montgomery glider John Joseph Montgomery (February 15, 1858 – October 31, 1911) was an American inventor, physicist, engineer, and professor at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California, who is best known for his invention of controlled heavier-than-air ...

flight of 1833 and the

Spirit of St. Louis The ''Spirit of St. Louis'' (formally the Ryan NYP, registration: N-X-211) is the custom-built, single-engine, single-seat, high-wing monoplane that Charles Lindbergh flew on May 20–21, 1927, on the Charles Lindbergh#New York–Paris flight ...

. The downtown flagship store was demolished in 1969 when Broadway opened a large new store at the new

Fashion Valley Mall Fashion Valley (also called Fashion Valley Mall) is an upscale, open-air shopping mall in Mission Valley in San Diego, California. The shopping center hosts of leasable floor area, making it the largest mall in San Diego and one of the largest i ...

; and a

Ross Dress for Less Ross Stores, Inc., operating under the brand name Ross Dress for Less, is an American chain of discount department stores headquartered in Dublin, California. It is the largest off-price retailer in the U.S.; as of July 2024, Ross operates 1,795 ...

occupies the location. The

Grossmont Center Grossmont Center is an outdoor shopping mall in La Mesa, California, a suburb in East County, San Diego. The mall opened in 1961 and is managed by Federal Realty Investment Trust. The anchor stores are Target, Macy's, RH Outlet, Walmart, Barnes ...

and

branches became Broadway stores, and are now

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

stores. Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO) maintains a collection of Marston's memorabilia at the Marston House, which is managed as a museum.

External links

"Marston's", ''The Department Store Museum'' (blog)
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References

{{History of Retail in Southern California Defunct department stores based in San Diego Defunct companies based in California Companies based in San Diego Buildings and structures in San Diego