Department Stores
As Canal Street became the center of shopping in New Orleans, some dry goods stores and clothiers sought to expand their offerings to include a variety of personal and home goods. Through the nineteenth century, they added departments dedicated to fabrics, clothing, hosiery, accessories, stationery, home furnishings, and bric-a-brac. By the twentieth century, these department stores had evolved into towering commercial enterprises that were considered among the city’s landmarks. They contributed to Canal Street’s reputation as one of the premier shopping destinations in the South.
D. H. Holmes (1842–1989)
Daniel Henry Holmes moved from Ohio to New Orleans and opened a dry goods store on Chartres Street in 1842. He was a direct importer for all types of textiles, from fine silks for evening gowns to rough cloth for slave clothing. In 1849 Holmes moved his business to a large establishment on Canal Street between Bourbon and Dauphine Streets, where it flourished for over a century. Steadily expanding through the nineteenth century, D. H. Holmes eventually occupied the entire block and included a restaurant and departments for women’s clothing, men’s clothing, hosiery, and household textiles. By the turn of the twentieth century, D. H. Holmes was the largest department store in the South and a landmark on Canal Street.
Godchaux’s (ca. 1840–1986)
Leon Godchaux, a Jewish immigrant from the Alsace-Lorraine region of France, got his start by the 1840s as a peddler, selling needles, thread, and other dry goods up and down the Mississippi River. He soon opened a store on Canal Street, Godchaux’s, selling dry goods and men’s clothing, the profits from which allowed him to purchase a large sugar plantation and several sugar mills. In 1892 Leon Godchaux’s descendents built a new “skyscraper-style” store at the corner of Canal and Chartres Streets. They soon began expanding the merchandise to include women’s clothing and household goods.
Maison Blanche (1897-1998)
Maison Blanche was named for the large white building that it occupied on Canal Street. Constructed in 1897 on property owned by the Mercier family, who ran a clothing store a few blocks away, the original Maison Blanche building was one of the first purpose-built department stores in New Orleans, with five stories divided into departments, including leather goods, jewelry, stationery, ladies’ clothing, men’s furnishings, toys, upholstery, and bric-a-brac. The business was operated by S. J. Shwartz, with financial support from his father-in-law Isidore Newman. The original building was demolished in 1906 and replaced with a larger white edifice, with the first five stories being dedicated to shopping and the upper floors designated for medical offices.
