Sanger-Harris

Sanger-Harris was a department store chain from 1961 to 1987. It was formed by Federated Department Stores in 1961 from two Dallas, Texas chains, Sanger Brothers and A. Harris and Co., that dated from the 19th century. The firm was absorbed into Federated's Houston-based chain Foley's in 1987.

History

Sanger-Harris of Dallas, Texas, was the result of the 1961 merger of then four-unit Sanger Brothers Dry Goods Company of Dallas, founded in 1868 by the five Sanger Brothers and acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1951; and the two-unit A. Harris and Company of Dallas, founded in 1887 and acquired by Federated in 1961. In 1965 the company built a new downtown Dallas store to replace the flagship stores of the two companies and so the legend goes, turned down the opportunity to move into a new shopping center called NorthPark Center. During the late 1970s the chain dropped the hyphen between 'Sanger' and 'Harris' (rumored as a way to differentiate from hometown rival Neiman-Marcus), and continued as an upper-moderate shopping destination before being merged into the Foley's division in January 1987.

Locations

• Downtown (main store), Pacific and Akard St., Dallas

This store was closed in 1990 and is now the headquarters for Dallas Area Rapid Transit.

• Highland Park Village, Preston and Mockingbird,.Highland Park

This store was later a Sakowitz location, now repurposed with smaller tenants

• Big Town, Mesquite

This location closed after the Foley's merger; was torn down when the mall was razed

• Preston Center, near Preston and Northwest Hwy., Dallas

Foley's retained this location until they moved to NorthPark Center; now subdivided with multiple tenants

• Plymouth Park, Irving

This location was closed (Foley's moved to a former Joske's store at Irving Mall); the property was sold to a neighboring church and the building was later razed

• Town East, Mesquite

Foley's retained this store, now a Macy's

• Six Flags Mall, Arlington

Foley's ended up closing this location, which stands vacant

• Valley View Center, Dallas

Foley's, and later Macy's retained this location until recently, now is vacant

• Southwest Center, Dallas

This location was retained by Foley's and Macy's; a prior location near Kiest and I-35E was sold to the Dallas Independent School District and currently operates as the Nolan Estes Educational Plaza

• Hulen Mall, Fort Worth

This location was retained by Foley's and Macy's

• North Hills Mall, North Richland Hills

Foley's closed this location when it moved to nearby North East Mall, building was torn down when mall property was razed

• Collin Creek Mall, Plano

This location was retained by Foley's and Macy's

• Sanger Harris Plaza, Tyler

This location was retained by Foley's and Macy's

• Woodland Hills, Tulsa

This location was retained by Foley's and Macy's

• Southroads Mall, Tulsa

Foley's closed this location and moved to another nearby shopping area

• Crossroads, Oklahoma City

Foley's, and later Macy's retained this location until recently, now is vacant

• Quail Springs, Oklahoma City

This location was retained by Foley's and Macy's

• Foothills, Tucson

Retained by Foley's initially, later a Robinsons-May; mall now repurposed with outlets

• El Con, Tucson

Retained by Foley's initially, later a Robinsons-May, then a Macy's, now is vacant

• Tucson Mall, Tucson

Retained by Foley's initially, later a Robinsons-May, now a Macy's

• Coronado Center, Albuquerque

Foley's initially retained this store, later departed then returned to another space in the mall; now location is a JCPenney

In popular culture

• In early episodes of Dallas, the downtown Dallas store was used for filming in two different storylines:

• When a lowly young woman agrees to give up her baby to Sue Ellen (played by Linda Gray), Sue Ellen visits a department store to shop for baby clothes and related items. Pam (Victoria Principal) sees Sue Ellen and wonders why she is there. Sue Ellen tries to pass it off as getting baby items to give to charity. Later Sue Ellen can be seen walking in front of the downtown Dallas store, with bags in her hand clearly displaying the Sanger Harris logo and design. Then, she goes to drop off the bags with the mother and finds J.R. (Larry Hagman) there instead.

• Pam decides she wants to work outside the home, visits "the store" for a job interview with friend Liz Craig (Barbara Babcock); the downtown Dallas store facade can clearly be seen as Pam approaches the front door of the store. After Pam snags the job, later views of the downtown Dallas store's side entrance on Akard St. can be seen used to introduce scenes of Pam at work.

• In the 1986 movie True Stories, a fashion show takes place at the mall in Virgil, Texas. As the scene is about to begin, the camera pans by a mall's exterior. A Sanger-Harris store building can be seen, among others. This exterior actually belonged to Big Town Mall in Mesquite.
• During Dallas showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, audience members would sing the Sanger-Harris jingle "You can always tell a Sanger Harris man". This was done when Dr. Frank-N-Furter came down the elevator in heels and fish net stockings.

See also

• Levy's
• Neiman Marcus
• Sanger, Texas
• Titche's

External links

• Sanger-Harris Archive at the Dallas Public Library [1]
• Archived TV ad from 1981
• Cavallini Company --created mosaic facade (daytime and nighttime pictures) for downtown Dallas location