The Bond Store
Is the building above not the coolest thing you have ever seen? Do you know where this building used to be in Downtown Cleveland? It was one of the last art moderne buildings to reside in the City - it is the home of the Bond Clothing Company. And it was located on the northwest corner of East Ninth and Euclid Avenue (think National City Tower today). The Bond Clothing Company was started in the Hickcox Building on the same corner in the 1920’s. Charles Bond founded the firm and it quickly became the largest retail chain for men’s clothing in the United States and was well known for its two piece suit collection for men. Anyway, the Bond Company decided to tear down the Hickox building in 1946 and erected this beautiful monument soon thereafter.
Many stories have been told about the majestic interior including an open terrace and illuminated mirrored columns that extended from the first floor up to the third floor. There was a large curved staircase that allowed patrons to casually walk through the department store and get a great feel about all four floors and the merchandise offered to patrons. I believe that Walker & Weeks was the architect of record. Unfortunately, the store was torn down in 1978 to make way for the National City Tower.
The Bond Store Slideshow
http://www.slide.com/r/rBDV_D134z-Gq4G7lC5HVZNsq0s6ETu4?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original
Tragic
And National City Bank, with Squire, Sanders & Dempsey got this corner cited as a slum to build that awful National City Bank Building with no retail along Euclid Avenue almost from 9th to 14th street. And it got the first tax abatement (20-year) via a law written by Squire-Sanders and passed by the Ohio Legislalture.
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