It wasn't that long ago that when you needed something, you knew you could find it at a department store. Big ones like Marshall Field's, Carson Pirie Scott, Wannamaker's, Woodward & Lothrop and Filene's worked to be one-stop shopping for everything you needed. Maybe you remember a time when Marshall Field's had a grocery in the basement, appliances and electronics on the top floor and everything else you could imagine in between.
Yes, you could find these things in other places, but Field's carried the best of everything. If you wanted the newest and greatest television set, you could go to State and Randolph with its Tiffany glass ceiling, get your new TV and maybe some great clothes. Later that week a green truck would pull up in front of your house to deliver and set up the TV.
Department stores were designed to provide everything under one roof. Certain items and departments sold better and had better returns than others - but department stores were obliged to sell everything under every category imaginable. If it was new, the department store would carry it. Otherwise, for many consumers it just wouldn't exist.
Dad, husband, MBA, homeowner, publisher of hyperlocal 
