90 Years in 90 Days: Higbee's at Severance

Cleveland Heights officially became a city in 1921. Cleveland Heights Patch is by compiling 90 photos to create an album of the city's past and present. We'll run the feature for 90 days, one photo at a time.

Today's photo features the Higbee Co. store at . The picture was taken in 1963, the year the mall opened.

The company began with the establishment of Hower and Higbee, a dry goods store that opened in 1860 near W. 3rd St. and Superior Avenue. The store prospered during the next 50 years. After the death of the John Hower and Edwin C. Higbee, the original owners, the store was headed by William T. Higbee. He reorganized the company and sold it to a group of investors. Eventually the store was owned by the brothers, who developed Shaker Heights. The company went bankrupt during the Depression, but was re-established in 1935. In the 1960s, the store opened suburban outlets, including the one pictured at Severance Mall.

In 1987, the store was sold to Dillard's Department store, but the original name was retained. In 1992, the chain was renamed Dillard's.  - source: Encyclopedia of Cleveland History.