, known informally as Carson's, is a chain of traditional department stores that have been in business for over 150 years. Their product price points are targeted to the moderate-to-upscale shopper. The majority of the stores are located in the
Metro Chicago Area , with more than 30 stores under the nameplate.
The chain began in
1854 when Samuel Carson opened a dry goods store in
Amboy, Illinois , after he left
Ireland . In
1871 , the
Great Chicago Fire destroyed 60% of the store's stock. By
1989 , Carson Pirie Scott & Co. was acquired by P.A. Bergner & Co., who operated the
Bergner's , Chas. V. Weise, Myers Brothers and
Boston Store chains.
In
1991 P.A. Bergner & Co. filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy; upon emerging from bankruptcy in
1993 , it became a
NASDAQ publicly traded company, changing its operating name to Carson Pirie Scott & Co. One year later, the company commenced trading on the
NYSE under the CRP symbol.
By
1998 , Carson Pirie Scott & Co. ownership was held by
Proffitt's , Inc., later
Saks Incorporated as a result of the acquisition of
Saks Fifth Avenue . The Carson Pirie Scott, Bergner's, and Boston Store chains, along with
Younkers and
Herberger's nameplates, eventually operated as Saks' Northern Department Store Group (NDSG), based in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin . In late
2005 , however, the group was put up for sale as Saks Incorporated tried to refocus itself primarily on its core
Saks Fifth Avenue stores.
Carson's and its associated stores became part of
The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. in a $1.1 billion deal completed on
March 6 ,
2006 .
{Link without Title} The group's base of merchandising and marketing operations remains in Milwaukee.
The Carson Pirie Scott name is strongly associated with the landmark downtown Chicago department store at State Street and Madison, designed by
Louis Sullivan , built in 1899 for the retail firm Schlesinger & Meyer, and expanded and sold to Carson Pirie Scott in 1904. The building is remarkable for its steel structure, which allowed a dramatic increase in window area, which in turn allowed far more daylight into the building interiors, and far more display of merchandise to outside pedestrian traffic. The lavish cast-iron ornamental work above the rounded tower was also meant to be functional. Sullivan designed the corner entry to be seen from both State and Madison, and that the ornamentation, situated above the main entrance, would be literally attractive. The building is one of the classic structures of the
Chicago School .
