Category:Strawbridge & Clothier Building, Philadelphia

The Strawbridge & Clothier Building at 801 Market Street in the Center City area of Philadelphia was built by the department store (founded in 1868) from 1928 to 1931 and was designed by the Philadelphia architectural firm Simon & Simon in the Beaux-Arts style. It replaced all but one of the 5-story buildings the store had acquired or built on the site. The $10 million cost of construction - well over the original estimation of $6.5 million - during the Great Depression, almost brought the company down, but the store's expansion into suburban branches kept it profitable. Nevertheless, it was acquired by May's and then Macy's, and the building began to be phased out in 1996. The building is currently used for offices on the upper floors, including for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News, and was renovated for additional residential use in 2012.

The one building which was not razed for the new flagship store was a six-story terra cotta, brick and stone Renaissance Revival store built in 1897 and designed by Addison Hutton.

(Sources: NY Times article, Philadelphia Real Estate and "The Renovation of Strawbridge & Clothier Building, Philadelphia, PA")