Throughout Bellingham’s history, commerce has stayed strong in the downtown area even as Interstate 5 pointed away from it. The city has seen a tug-of-war, much like the rest of the country: early twentieth-century department stores, which divided goods by type under one roof, dominated before giving way to the 1980s boom in shopping malls.
For younger generations, department stores carry the mystique of a half-remembered bygone time. The “Muzak” brand and genre of background music, which encouraged shoppers to relax at a leisurely pace, has become a dreamlike throwback to listeners of videos such as “Sounds of the Department Store.” Even the malls that replaced midcentury department stores now compete with online shopping, so “dead malls” with reduced traffic and empty wings inspire the “liminal space” aesthetic in internet subcultures.
As the previous WhatcomTalk article on nostalgic landmarks demonstrates, older generations have preserved the memory of local department stores. Their nostalgia for the escalators, dining, and social activities of old can remind us of a time when shopping was an event.
Turn-of-the-Century Department Stores in Bellingham
Bellingham’s original department stores began as local establishments that shaped the downtown landscape.
The Montague & McHugh department store was founded in New Whatcom in 1890 by business partners Bernard Montague and Thomas McHugh. After Montague died in 1923, McHugh relocated the firm to one of Bellingham’s most iconic downtown buildings (114 West Magnolia Street) in 1927. This five-story building in the Neoclassical Commercial Style started with Ford Motor Company’s architect, John Graham Sr.
The store featured clothing and furniture departments, as well as a tearoom and ballroom that McHugh opened to the public at no charge, except for food. It included air conditioning and other modern appliances. The Gatsbyesque splendor ended quickly with the Great Depression, however, as the firm closed by 1932. In 1943, Boeing Aircraft Company transformed the building into a World War II factory for B-17 Flying Fortress parts.
Wahl’s Department Store at Holly, Cornwall, and Commercial started with J.B. Wahl in 1913. His son, Ralph E. Wahl, became manager from his father’s death in 1937 until his own retirement in 1972. The Bellingham Herald describes how “Wahl’s was the highest-caliber store in Bellingham for a long time” for its customer service and variety of women’s clothing. The company owned the Grand Theatre next door, but the National Bank of Commerce purchased the complex in 1972 and demolished it to make way for an office building two years later. US Bank now occupies the original lot.
The Center for Pacific Northwest Studies at Western Washington University includes an expansive collection on Wahl’s. The company bought ads in The Bellingham Herald and other publications showcasing its seasonal fashions and social events.
Bellingham’s Mid-Century Mall Culture
Bellingham saw the rise and fall of nationwide department store chains that swept the nation with the growth of suburbs. Shopping had become a social and leisure experience, and it continued to be so as malls emerged as third places for youths.
In 1959, Woolworth’s (F. W. Woolworth Company) five-and-dime and JCPenney department store became two titans that took Bellingham by storm. Both shared a building at 1304-20 Cornwall Avenue and featured the city’s only escalator in the back.
The Bon Marché, a department store chain originating in Seattle in 1890, expanded to Bellingham before being acquired by Macy’s in 2003. Bellingham’s branch took over the former Montague & McHugh building in 1957 and inspired shoppers to dress formally. Like a modern mall, its draws included clothing, hairdressing, and dining with the “mile-high strawberry pie” that locals remember fondly.
The age of Bellingham’s department stores ended truly as soon as JCPenney, The Bon, and other retailers moved to Bellis Fair Mall at its start in 1988. The mall’s location, with two off-ramps on Interstate 5 at exit 256, would divert commerce from downtown, leaving mainly local establishments to fill the gaps.
Where Are Bellingham’s Original Department Stores Now?
Many of Bellingham’s original department store buildings survive downtown. Crown Plaza Corporation owns the former Montague & McHugh building, which is home to tenants including the Downtown Bellingham Partnership, Chocolate Necessities, The Eureka Room, and Sandalwood Salon and Spa. The Woolworth’s and JCPenney building has often been between tenants, however.
At Bellis Fair Mall, Macy’s and JCPenney have been operating continuously since their respective moves. Although much of Bellingham’s retail has returned to downtown, the mall has remained afloat with over 80 percent occupancy by innovating its tenant choices. Bellingham Public Library opened its Bellis Fair Branch in 2023.
The appeal of in-person shopping may never wane as long as the physical and social environments of malls and department stores remain a part of the cultural imagination. For all that the Web and other technologies have changed the landscape, they can also mythologize and help us rediscover an experience we thought was lost.
