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| A section of the modern Northgate Shopping Center as it looks at night, Seattle, Washington. Ektachrome by Max R. Jensen. Published by C. P. Johnston Co., Seattle. |
The Modern Bon At Night
August 20th, 2009 @ 12:52 am by Cliffe | Sorted Photo Exposure |
On Tuesday we had a look at “modern” Northgate by air. Today we bring Northgate’s Bon Marche into focus right (thanks once again to the one and only Max R. Jensen) around the same time frame. Click on the thumbnail for the higher res shot.
If you look carefully you can see the JJ Newberry sign letters reflecting light to the left of the Bon… I think this shot must be from inside the mall looking EAST… as that part of the mall would still be there today… the outside would be far more recessed from the front wall…
Can anyone enlighten me on what “The Legend Room” was? Sounds like some swanky cocktail lounge!
It was the restaurant inside the Bon, closed in 94/95 I think…
Article here from 1992:
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19921030&slug=1521686
The Legend Room was the north end’s only real fine dining option for many years. Linen and silver service, union wait staff, it was a hold over from when all fine department stores had good eateries in them… (not just a sandwich bar…)
F & N had a tea room and a businessmans lunch. You had to show a business card and be in business attire to dine there. The Bon had Legend Rooms at Southcenter, Northgate, Tac Mall …
A cadre’ of sharp wait staff, all in black slacks or skirt and white shirt service gave a rather nice run of American Fine dining in the 60′s and forward to my knowledge into the mid 90′s, when the Bon finally shuttered them all. The Northgate Legend Room also had a small cafe off to one side if you wanted faster food or were not dressed for the Room. Sunday brunches were very big do’s… and the one that taxed all those who worked there were the Santa Brunches…
Years later, the Northgate Bon tried to make use of the realestate by moving a toyland into the old Legend room. Shopping there one night before the holidays, I was sitting on an old air vent, and noticed a rather petrified dinner roll still stuck deep inside. A sad reminder of what once was……
Lots of regulars with regular bar orders. The Bar fixed a great drink, and lots of sales folks held court after shifts…
I miss the concept of regional department stores. What made travel interesting was seeing all the different names of stores across the country and the sense of place it gave each location. “The Bon Marche” and “Frederick & Nelson” said “Seattle”. If you saw a “Meier & Frank”, you knew you were in Portland. “Macy’s” and “Bloomingdales” said “New York”, period. With Macy’s gobbling up smaller chains left and right and plastering its name over the old ones, the uniqueness of every city has given way to bland uniformity.
Right on Tom!
Agree. That’s why I’m glad Kroger Corp has not replaced the Fred Meyer brand. Even though they probably do all the same product sourcing as QFC, Kroger Grocery, etc…. at least somehow Fred Meyer “feels” unique.
Add my vote to missing the regional department stores.
I used to travel a lot for work, and it was really cool to see the Foleys, Famous-Barr, Liberty House, I Magnin, Burdines, Wanamakers, Lazarus, Rich’s, Bullock’s, Filene’s, etc.etc. all over the different parts of the country.
It’s odd that the mega corp Federated Department Stores that has re-branded itself Macy’s actually grew out of the midwest Cincinnati-based Lazarus chain, that acquired Macy’s along the way, and not vice versa.
When Federated/Lazarus decided to nationally re-brand, they just chose, of all the brands they had in their fold, Macy’s, as “Macy’s” they felt had the most national exposure and cache thanks to the Thanksgiving Day parade and “Miracle on 34th Street”.
Now it’s Macy’s as far as the eye can see…..
Of all the lost names, I think losing I Magnin in New York, and Filene’s in Boston are the saddest.
Thanks for pointing out that Newberry’s, Seattle Greg. Haven’t seen or heard about Newberry’s since I was a kid. There used to be one in Bellevue Square.
I recall the tea room at Fredrick & Nelson’s was called the Rhodadendron Room…but that may have been just the one at Bellevue Square..
While I miss the names as well, the region lost not only a local name (the Nordoffs had to know Chinook Jargin to work with some of their clients), but the Frango Battle…
F & N sold to Marshal Field for 6 million dollars in 1929… The NAME Frango were invented at Frederick and Nelson’s, although controversy still exsists over who actually owns and invented the chocolate mint.. When F & N added the top 5 floors in 1952 to their building, along with the beauty salon, post office, movie picture auditorium, a fully equipped medical facility and a nursery, on the tenth floor, the company built a modern candy kitchen that could turn out more than 500,000 pounds of Frango chocolate a year.
Frangos became available in Chicago. Marshel Field AND F & N made them a signiture part of the experience.
9/11 1992 signaled the end of F&N Frangos when what remained of F & N after multiple buy outs and sell outs disclosed in Bankrupcy Court that FRANGOS would now be sold to the BON, which ended up becoming Macy’s. At the Time Marshal Fields, was still head to head with Macy’s in Chicago. They appealed, but lost, and in time, they too, were sold to Macy’s.
I still cannot get over seeing Frango’s at the Bon…
http://www.seattlepi.com/archives/1992/9209110066.asp
My mother hated to cook and loved to shop. This meant often eating at the Bon Marche and Frederick and Nelson’s throughout most of the 1970s.
In contradiction to the above, I remember the Cascade Room at Southcenter and Downtown and the Legend Room at Northgate. This obit confirms this: http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19980815&slug=2766618
And here’s a link to some of the menus from the local department store restaurants, as well as others, including F&N’s Men’s Grill. I also think F&N’s restaurant–at least the one we went to downtown that required us to “behave,” was the Garden Room.
Hi, I wonder if someone can help me remember the name of a tavern near Northgate in the 1960s-1970s. It was at the bottom of Roosevelt Way just before the 110th St or Northgate Way intersection. It was on the left side heading north. If I recall correctly, it played country western music.
Anyone with a better memory than me? (I used to live up the hill from there.)
Thanks,
Harry