Strawbridge & Clothier's Store Chat magazine

About this collection

Store Chat was the employee magazine of Strawbridge & Clothier, a department store founded by Justus C. Strawbridge (1838-1911) and Isaac H. Clothier (1837-1921) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The magazine published communications from management, news about workers' lives, reports on company and company-sponsored activities, instructions to employees about fashion trends and consumer preferences, and light commentary on matters of local and national import. As the operation grew into a major regional retail chain, the magazine added dispatches from suburban branch stores.

    Store Chat was first published in June 1906 and was released at irregular intervals until 1909. After 1909, it maintained a more regular publication schedule, though it did not operate continuously, and ceased publication entirely in the early 1930s during the Great Depression. After it resumed publication in 1943, it ran continuously and on a monthly to bimonthly basis until 1996, when the Strawbridge & Clothier's was purchased by May Department Stores Company.
    The library's holdings of Store Chat are incomplete, but span its entire run of publication. For a list of the issues in our collection click here.
    Image from cover, Store Chat, Volume 33, Issue 11 (December, 1951). To view the full issue, click here.

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