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| Cain-Sloan Co.'s Church Street store was built in 1957, across the street from the original location, after the firm was purchased by Allied Stores in 1956. |
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| The Greatest Store of the Central South |
Cain-Sloan Co. (1903)
501-17 Church Street at Fifth Avenue
Nashville, Tennessee
ALpine 5-4651
Basement
Cain-Sloan Budget Store • Basement Luncheonette • Post Ofice
Main Floor
Diamonds • Fine Jewelry • Jewelry • Gloves • Handbags • Leathergoods • Hosiery • Fashion Accessories • Neckwear • Hanky Bar • Hat Bar • Blouses • Main Floor Shoes • Main Floor Sportswear • Toiletries • Cosmetics • Candy • Bakery • Stationery • Imagination Shop • Books • Notions
Men's Store Men's Furnishings • Men's Sport Furnishings • Men's Clothing • University Shop • Men's Hats • Boys' Furnishings • Boys' Clothing
Balcony
Men's Shoes • Cameras • Sporting Goods • Travel, Inc.
Second Floor
Misses' Sportswear • Dress Shop • Daytime and Casual Dresses • Budget Dresses • Better Dresses • Better Sportswear • VIllage Shop • Half-Size Dress Shop • Ladies' Suits • Ladies' Coats • Pacesetter for Misses • Young Couture • Harpeth Shop • Designer's Shop • Millinery Salon • Shoe Salon • Bridal Salon • Fur Salon • Lingerie • Foundations • Uniforms •
Maternity Shop • Trim-a-Home Shop
Maternity Shop • Trim-a-Home Shop
Junior World Junior Dresses • Junior Sportswear • Junior Coats • Pacesetter for Juniors
Third Floor
Fabrics • Art Needlework • Linens • Bedding • Bath Shop • Beauty Salon • Jean Sardou Studio • Personnel Office • Credit Office • Activity Room
Children's World Girls' Wear • Subteen Wear • Pizazz Shop • Children's Shoes • Toddlers' Wear • Infants' Wear • Nursery Furniture
Fourth Floor
China and Glassware • Crystal • Silver • Gifts • Decorative Accessories • Pictures • Mirrors • Lamps • Chandeliers • Housewares • Small Electrical Appliances • Casual Furniture • Cook-Out SsopGarden Shop • Music Center • Records • Television • Appliances • Vacuum Cleaners • Sewing Machines • Rugs • Carpets • Draperies • Sleep Shop • Furniture • The Iris Room
(346,000 s.f.)
(346,000 s.f.)
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| Green Hills Green Hills Village Oct. 25, 1965 120,000 s.f. The Steeplechase Room |
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| Rivergate Rivergate Mall Aug. 2, 1971 150,000 s.f. The Regatta Room |
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| Hickory Hollow I-24 at Bell Road August 9, 1978 130,000 s.f. Hickory Hollow Inn |
I can't wait to read about Cain-Sloan. Will you be featuring both Castner-Knott Co. and Harvey's, both of Nashville, as well as Miller's, Inc. of Knoxville and Miller Brothers of Chattanooga? These were some great stores!
ReplyDeleteWhom do I speak. I am Wendy Dawn Chadick myself I was wondering who I am talking to. Wendy
DeleteWhere can we read more on the Cain-Sloan Department Stores and the owners? I am a descendant of the Cain's and trying to locate any of my relatives in Tennessee. Their younger sister, Donie Cain (my great grandmother) worked at one of their stores as a tailor before moving to Houston. She was married to Mel V. Simon. I remember her beautifully dressed and always with a hat and latest handbag...no doubt her brothers influence in early Tennessee retail days. Thank you for any information.
ReplyDeleteRivers Hatchett Teske
Westport, Connecticut
How interesting! Most of my research is done in local libraries and online newspaper sources. As of now, there are not many Tennessee newspapers available online, hence the scarcity of information about Cain-Sloan. You could try ancestry.com perhaps as a first start - - it sounds like they moved a lot and it could help in that regard.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
Bruce
I hope you include Harvey's of Nashville. I remember as a child the zoo with live animals on each floor as you would ride the escalator. That would have been in the late 40s or early 50s.
ReplyDeleteMy husband remembers the large Laurmans Department Stores in Wisconsin, especially in
Sarah
I have several mechanical dioramas that were part of a group of 28 that were made for the Cain-Sloan Department Store as a Christmas display. Does anyone know of or remember this display? Or, may have photographs of the display. I would appreciate any information.
ReplyDeleteDavid
r548003@yahoo.com
We shopped there (downtown store) regularly when I was growing up in the 60s and I worked there for a while in the 70s. I converted to Catholicism in my 30s and was baptized by Father John Cain at St. Joseph's Church in Madison and he was a son of the founders (he was very old at the time I knew him, which was around 1990)
ReplyDeleteI worked there when I was 16.
ReplyDeleteLoved that store!!!
My family shopped Cain-Sloan's downtown store back in the 1940 before I was born. I remember they carried top brands of clothing. I had my first charge account with them in my 20's. The Iris Room was a great place for lunch. I remember their delicious yeast rolls. My mother began working for them in the early 1970's and continued with the transition to Dillards until she retired in the late 1980's. I also remember how fantasticly they decorated the store for holidays. The Christmas decorations were not to be missed. Cain-Sloans is a wonderful memory for me.
ReplyDeleteI would be curious to see your entries for Harvey's and Castner-Knotts.
Thank you for this walk back in time.
SPW-I worked as a waitress in The Iris Room at the downtown Cain-Sloan in 1975 I think. I was in my last year of college. I too remember going downtown at Christmas when I was young to see the beautiful decorations at Harvey's and Cain-Sloans. The Iris Room was a popular place for shoppers, attorney's and other downtown workers, The bread was baked there and made a great combo with soup and sandwich.
ReplyDeleteHi there, I remember eating down there when they would have fashion shows. I like there tuna salad and veggie soup. Do you have any recipes for this. Thank you mary
DeleteI worked as an "extra" sales person from 1967-1972 at the downtown store. I loved working there! I'm trying to find out when the "new" downtown store was built. Anyone know?
ReplyDeleteI think it was built in the early 50s.
DeleteI have an original brass hanging light that was used inside the store.It was bought when the store was demolished. It is around 100 years old.Would love to get some info on it.
ReplyDeleteAre there any photos existing of the Cain-Sloan branch stores? I've looked all over the net and haven't found a thing.
ReplyDeleteBranch stores that I remember were located at Hickory Hollow Mall (which I believe was torn down and rebuilt by Dillard's), Rivergate Mall (still open but completely renovated as a Dillard's), Green Hills (still open but soon to be torn down to make way for Neiman Marcus and newer Dillard's) and Governor's Square (Clarksville - now Belk).
ReplyDeleteWere there 2 locations on Church Street?
ReplyDeleteyes use to be at first in the Harveys store building. until 1956 when Allied bought them out.
DeleteI believe everything converted to plastic in 1979
DeleteI only know of one location on Church Street which I worked at from 1981 to 1988. Can someone remember the date that the downtown location actually closed?
ReplyDeleteThe original store had entrances on 5th and Church St. The newer one faced Church St.
DeleteMy Uncle John Dubuisson was with Cain Sloan his entire life and died as president after the Allied chain bought it. He designed the first suburban store at Green Hills. When I was a child in the 40s he traveled a lot to study other Dept stores. I remember once seeing him off at Berry Field (the airport)when he was going to observe Marshall Fields in Chicago. In the 40s plane travel was very special and honestly not as safe as now. If you flew you dressed WELL and were catered to with meals etc. It was all business or first class. Times change! My uncle was huge in Urban Renewal and president of the Chamber of Commerce and Rotary and Lions Club. I
also remember Lovemans and Castners and Harvey's the splashy newcomer with the commercial "Harvey's Has It" I remember the jingle with the words "escalators up and down gifts on every floor" Escalators were new to Nashville!
I worked as a store detective at all locations during the 70's
ReplyDeleteAnonymous asked: Can someone remember the date that the downtown location actually closed? ...
ReplyDeleteHarvey's closed its downtown store in 1984. Cain-Sloan closed its downtown store in 1987. Reference: The Nashville Scene at http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/the-street-where-we-lived/Content?oid=1180245, the years are listed near the end of that article. I hope this helps.
Clarksville never had a Cain-Sloan. The Belk there had always been a Belk, alhough it looks like a Dillard's. Clarksville had a Harvey's and Ward's at the Plaza.
ReplyDeleteHere's an article from a Nashville Scene in 1996 on the rise and fall of the Church Street department stores:
ReplyDeletehttp://m.nashvillescene.com/nashville/the-street-where-we-lived/Content?oid=1180245
I grew up in a small town known as Christiana, Tennessee. The home next door to us was always a curiosity to me because it was a mansion that set far back off in the woods. The home was falling in and had been abandoned by it's owner. The local folklore was that a lady who was the half owner of Cain Sloan department stores had lived there and left the home, to move to Texas. However, in her will, the property was to never be sold. It was to be used my any family member who needed a home to go to, if need be.
ReplyDeleteCan anyone verify this story as true? Locals just said that she had met a man and did not need the home any longer but wanted to take care of her relatives if they fell on hard times.
I have an old metal Cain Sloan charge plate in a small leather wallet. It was my great aunt's. Any idea of the time frame?
ReplyDeleteCan you describe it? Trying to find out if what someone found is the same thing.
DeleteThere used to be a consortium of stores that used the same charge plate. If you had an account at a particular store, your metal card was notched in a particular place. You could have notches for different stores on the card. My mother had one, a d they were still in use in the 70s when I got accounts at Harvey's and Gus Mayer. The stores started issuing their own plastic cards through the 60s and 70s.
Delete1950s charge-a-plates were born. Predated the bank cards. My mother had one. My uncle was president of Cain Sloan in the 60s
DeleteMy MiMi loved this store
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know what a metal tag with Cain Loan Nashville stamped on it would be? It also has a number 333 and a hole like for a key chain maybe.
ReplyDeleteMost likely it is a charge coin, from the days before plastic. You can see one from Abraham & Straus in the charge card section of this site.
Delete-Bruce
Vietvet1968@comcast.net Am in possession of what appears to be a clear 1/2 oz.glass bottle imprinted with Cain Sloan Co Nashville This probably was a perfume bottle but am not sure & would like to know about it & what it may be worth as a collectible item. May be contacted @ my e-mail or @ 615-767-6128.
ReplyDeleteI started at C/S in 1979 as mgmt trainee and worked in various positions until Oct 1981! Still have a sofa I purchased there in 1980. Upscale dept store!!
ReplyDeleteLooking for any Cain relatives and their history from the Cain Sloan Department Stores in Nashville. My great grandmother was Donie Cain and worked in the store for years for either her brothers (The Cain owners) or maybe they were cousins? She wore such elegant clothes and never left the house without a hat! I am curious about the note above from Christiana, Tn. (Oct 25, 2015)- my g.g. moved to Houston Texas after Nashville - so wondering if this could be part of her story of which I know nothing about.
ReplyDeleteThere is a book written about C/S- " A Saga of Ambition Achieved", by Margaret Sloan- Joyner and Hogan publisher 2008
DeleteI love Cain Sloan I bought my senior prom dress there
ReplyDeleteI have a charge plate in the red leather sleeve that has Ruth Ervin's name on it and a number. It is very interesting to read the information here.
ReplyDeleteMy father, Paul Hardesty was a merchandise manager for the downtown Cain Sloans from 1963-1972 when he died suddenly at age 42. Does anyone remember him or have any memories to share? I was only 11 when he died. My parents entertained the "french girls" that came in to do fashion shows.
ReplyDelete~Kitty Hardesty
I'm sorry for your loss at such a young age. My father, Ernest Herrell, was the men's furnishings buyer and always spoke well of your father. I worked summers at CS and recall your father as a distinguished looking man who was generally sighted on the 2nd floor.
DeleteMy name is Pat Quillen. I was a good friend of your father and mother and I worked at CS. I was in your home several times when the "French Girls" came to CS. I remember you and would look forward to speaking with you. I live in Cookeville and my telephone # is 931-528-4030.
DeleteI purchased a paper dress at Cain Sloan in the 1970's. Are there any pictures?
ReplyDeleteU purchased a paper dress at Cain Sloan in the late 60s or early 70s. Was red and white. Any pictures?
ReplyDeleteMy dad was the VP of personnel and he and my mom met there in the executive training program. He is 90 and my mom is 86!
ReplyDeletewere your parents "Groth's"? I remember a tall destingished man when I worked there in 1973 in high school, but can't remember his name.
DeleteI worked there in women's shoes at 17 years old on the 1st floor inn the summer of 1973, as a junior in high school. It's strange to seen this sight, but that year you could go on a service elevator to the top floor, a storage floor strictly. I remember signs that said for the segregated restrooms said "white and colored" with arrows pointed in different directions. the sign had L&N on it also. The local railroad was the L&N railroad. I guess they sponsored the signs? I thought then about taking the signs with me for historic sake, even in 1973, but never did.
ReplyDeleteI worked in the Iris Room. Miss the soup and salad bar!!! The racial tension there between the kitchen and the wait staff was beyond my imagination. I worked there 4 yrs as a hostess and waitress.
ReplyDeleteLooking to purchase old mink coats and memorabilia from cain sloan! Books and receipts are also welcome, if anyone is selling any ephemera please email me at theashleydoggett@gmail.com. i collect for civil rights history.
ReplyDeleteI used to eat at Cain-Sloan when I worked for South Central Bell. They had a great chicken salad with a frozen fruit square and a fruit bread. Does anyone have that recipe?
ReplyDeleteI worked security at the Hickory Hollow location in late 70s. Sears and JC Penneys had security cameras, but Cain Sloan didn't, so they caught several shoplifters that had some of our merchandise in their possession. We still managed to catch many shoplifters in spite of not having cameras. One of my arrests were one of a high school football coach that was shoplifting 3 men's shirts in spite of having well over a thousand dollars in his possession, the day before Christmas.
ReplyDelete