The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-04-06

Fhirfy-seven stores Under One Roof
and One Management-More DEPART
mcnts WIN BE Added Lator-Do-
scription ofBuiIding sndisomething
of Its Contents.
ESPECIAL TO TEE rREss1
lewiston, April ga store which occu-
pies all the floors of a great building and
combines under one roof the business
which in former days would have re-
'qhited thirty seven stores. marks an ad
vance In the commercial growth of this
city and Central Maine. Such an enter
prise has been innuguratstd here by the
u, Peck company, and an army of clerks,
Differed by the officials of the company.
are today arranging on counters and
shelves the hundreds of kinds of goods,
from babies bonnets to dining tables
that go to make up the stock of modern
department store The home Of this new
Lewiston store is a model of its kind.
The building stands on Main street
where 1t has frontage of $50 feet. It 10
built of buff brick with elaborate terra
Gotta and other ornamentatiou, while it's
purposes are admirably served by the
many large plate glass windows which
give abundancs of light beside providing
places to display samples of the good
things inside. The building is four
stories high above the basement and
covers an area of 20, 600 square feet. 1t is
OF steel construction, provided with auto
m otto fire sprinklers and equipped with
scientific heating and ventilating appara-
tus,
One enters the building through q great
arohed doorway and sees before him line
after limo of handsome oak counters and
glass oases. Here are the departments de-
voted to gloves, domestic linens, dress
goods, silks, fancy and cut goods, hosiery,
underwear, rlbbons jewelry, parasols.
upbiellas. laces, RTeihtgs, dress trim
miegs dress linints, notions. boots and
shues. boys and men 5 clothing, hats and
furnishings, books and station cry. Each
department is store in itself with IT'S
manager and clerks. BY the handsome
staircase which leads from this floor to
those above runs passenger elevator. en-
capable of carrying twenty people at
time.
The second floor is one of the most at
tractive portions of the great building. 1t
is n place especially set apart for the
ladies and the little ones and on shelves
and counters are dainty garments, spring
hats to captivate the hearts of maid and
matron, and great array of cloaks. suits
and millinery. The modern store needs
something beside counters and show
cases. 1t provides the comforts of home
for its patrons, and there are on this floor
dainty parlors and trying on rooms for
the convenience of lady patrons. The
ornamentation of these apartments is at
tractive both in design and execution. On
this floor, too, are the general officers and
the private offices of the offices of the
company The entire third floor of the
building is devoted to house furniture,
carpets upholstery and many other things
which add to home comfort. On the floor
above there will be IA TED room and later
other departments will be added to the 81
with which Lewiston's department store
begins business The life blood of such
an establishment is the stream of money
pouring over the counters all day long
and the arteries in this case are the brass
cubes through which the cash carriers are
driven to the cashiers office In the base
ment There are hundreds of these tubes
ramify ing to all parts Of the building
and they are part of a system like that in
use in the large cities of the country.
The b. Peck company which has in
augurated the first department. store of
Central Maine is the result of the enter
prise and business ability of Mr.. Bradford
Peck. In the language of the day, Mr..
Peck is hustler. He hustles from morn
ing to night and tn ere is method in his
hustling. He is man who must live
some years yet in order to reach the half
century mark, a man of medium height,
with quick manner and eyes which take
in everything as he goes through his big
store. making suggestions by the score
and answering questions by the hundred
DE has the confidence of his employees as
Is shown by the way in which they turn
to him for advice and suggestion. Mr..
Peck was travelling man when in 1880
he started the firm of E. A. Plummer q
Co., IL small store here. That store
was sIon outgrown and a building was
bull. for the business. That building has
been outgrown in Its turn. The
present B. Peck company is Incorporated
under the laws of Maine. In it are asso.
ciated with the founder of the business
some of Lewiston's brightest business
men. These are the officers of the com
pany:
Presidential. Peck.
Ireasurer-H. A. Free.
Directors-B. Peck, ii. A. Free, ]. II.
Crowley, W. 5. Nicoll and L. 7. Chabot.
MIR. Peck long ago selected the site of
the new building as the right location for
a Central Maine store and finally he
formed the b. Peck Real Estate company