Overview

For almost 100 years, the slogan ""Harris' Has It"" set a standard for quality merchandise, selection, and personal service. Starting in 1905 with only 25 feet of frontage at its original San Bernardino store, this partnership of three immigrant brothers grew into a corporation of nine stores, with the flagship store alone worth over $1 million. The Harris Company was the first in the region to enhance the shopping experience with the introduction of elevators, electric signs, and escalators. Although the store closed in 1999, the Harris Company is remembered throughout the Inland Empire as a shopping experience that was more than just business, it was ""looking after people.""

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Publication: Redland Daily Facts <br>Article Title: Browse the aisles of history <br>Author: John Weeks <br>Date: October 23rd, 2008 <p><br>We can't go to the Harris Co. anymore, alas, but we can do the next best thing. <br>We can flip through the pages of a wonderful new book, The Harris Company, which is packed with nearly 200 vintage photos of the grand old San Bernardino department store in its glory years. <br>Browsing this book is like going back in time and browsing the aisles. <br> The Harris Company (Arcadia Publishing, $19.99) is by local scholars Aimmee L. Rodriguez, Richard A. Hanks and Robin S. Hanks. You can purchase the book and meet the authors at a special event Saturday at the San Bernardino History and Railroad Museum. More about that in a minute. <br>Those of us who have lived in the Inland Empire for more than a few years keep a special place in our hearts for Harris', as it commonly was called. <br>The palatial four-story store opened in 1927 at Third and E streets in downtown San Bernardino and immediately became known as one of the swankiest stores in Southern California. <br>It was so successful, it eventually expanded to become a chain, with stores in San Bernardino, Riverside, Los Angeles and Kern counties. <br>In the early 1970s, it became the anchor of the new Central City Mall, which now is called Carousel Mall. But it faded during the recession of that decade, as did the mall and all of downtown San Bernardino. Eventually, in 1982, it was sold to a European company, and in 1998 it became part of the Gottschalks chain, which closed the flagship store in San Bernardino in 1999. <br>The building has remained vacant since, though its fate continues to bethe subject of lively discussion. <br>In its heyday, Harris' was where you shopped, if you had serious shopping to do. My friends were sure we'd have to go to L.A. to find such precious items, but I said no, let's try Harris' first. <br>We did. And Harris' had them. <br>Let me tell you, I wore the black shirt with large white polka dots that I bought that day for the rest of the decade. In its early days, Harris' had a landscaped rooftop garden where parties, dances and other events were held. There were even pony rides for the kids. <br>Harris' was not only a store, but a community center. It had cafes and a tea room, a beauty parlor, a barber shop, even a lending library in its book department. <br>The store was mobbed by curiosity-seekers in 1947 when the Inland Empire's first motorstairs debuted. Today they are called escalators. <br>The authors of The Harris Company will meet the public and sign copies of their book from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the San Bernardino History and Railroad Museum, located at the restored historic San Bernardino Depot at 1170 W. Third St. <br>I'll be there, too, signing copies of my new book, Inland Empire (Arcadia Publishing, $19.99), which offers a nostalgic tour of our whole region. <br>

Author Information

Aimmee Rodriguez, a library specialist, wrote her thesis on the Harris family and the corporation they built. Richard Hanks, a history professor and former archivist in the Inland Empire, has published many articles on local history. Robin Hanks, a graphic artist, has designed books for local authors. The authors collected most of their historic photographs from the California Room at the Norman F. Feldheym Central Library in San Bernardino, the San Bernardino Historical and Pioneer Society, the Rialto Historical Society, and the Heritage Room of A. K. Smiley Public Library in Redlands.

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