''Sterling Lindner Davis'' (SLD) was a major department store in

downtown Cleveland Downtown Cleveland is the central business district of Cleveland, Ohio. The economic and symbolic center of the city and the Cleveland-Akron-Canton, OH Combined Statistical Area, it is Cleveland's oldest district, with its Public Square laid out ...

's Theater District which operated from 1845 (with the founding of Sterling & Welch) to 1968. The retailer was primarily known for displaying the largest decorated Christmas tree in the state of Ohio, this tradition started in 1927. At their peak, Cleveland's department stores ( May, Higbee's, Bailey's,

Taylor Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to: People * Taylor (surname) ** List of people with surname Taylor * Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah * Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron * Justice Taylor (disambiguation) ...

's,

Halle Halle may refer to: Places Germany * Halle (Saale), also called Halle an der Saale, a city in Saxony-Anhalt ** Halle (region), a former administrative region in Saxony-Anhalt ** Bezirk Halle, a former administrative division of East Germany ** Hall ...

, and SLD or the ''big six'') were one of the largest shopping districts in the United States. Before the explosive growth of Cleveland's suburban post World War II housing boom, people would flock to downtown's Euclid Avenue dressed in the finery of their Sunday best to shop in these huge stores that carried everything from clothing and jewelry to furniture and housewares. Though the idea of the largest tree in Cleveland is an attributed to Higbee's in

A Christmas Story ''A Christmas Story'' is a 1983 Christmas comedy film directed by Bob Clark and based on Jean Shepherd's semi-fictional anecdotes in his 1966 book '' In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash'', with some elements from his 1971 book ''Wanda Hickey ...

in 1983, the tradition was actually that of SLD, not Higbee's, which were in fact (along with May and Halle) huge rivals and constantly attempting to outdo each other in ever growing extravagance of merchandise and audacity of style. Sterling Lindner Davis was a conglomeration of three previously separate companies: Sterling & Welch, Lindner Co., and W. B. DavisCo. Lindner & Davis was bought by

Allied Stores Allied Stores was a department store chain in the United States. It was founded in the 1930s as part of a general consolidation in the retail sector by B. E. Puckett. See also Associated Dry Goods. It was the successor to Hahn's Department Store ...

in 1947, which then bought out Sterling & Welch, and the store became known as ''Sterling Lindner Davis'' in 1951. The store closed to little notice (due to the birth of malls and outlets) in 1968. By the end of the 1990s, none of the "big six" Cleveland department stores was still in operation.

References

{{coord, 41, 30, 04.3, N, 81, 41, 00.7, W, region:US-OH_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Cleveland Retail companies established in 1845 Companies disestablished in 1968 Defunct companies based in Cleveland Companies based in Cleveland Defunct department stores based in Cleveland