Because the store grew organically, adding on additional space over the years to the main building, there were interesting quirks in the store, such as escalators that did not go to every floor, walkways connecting different sections, and the fact that you could go “up” to the Basement. It gradually grew to dominate over 57 acres and several city blocks (if you count the annexes and parking garages) at the heart of downtown Columbus. As Look to Lazarus: The Big Store relates, its roots stretched back to 1851 as a small men’s tailoring business. Lazarus was Columbus’ own homegrown store. When the latter was released in the mid-80s, these downtown stories were in their final eclipse.
But the memory of the massive department store as a Christmas mecca survives in movies like Miracle on 34th Street and A Christmas Story. The iconic American downtown department store is now a memory–not just in Columbus but everywhere, as development of the suburban shopping mall (now itself in eclipse) ended the idea of downtown as the the premier shopping destination in all but the very largest cities (and even they have lost some of their stores). And shoppers followed that star to the downtown Columbus retailer’s massive flagship location from 1963 to 1990 at Christmastime, when the store was a wonderland for the Christmas spirit. You could see it from miles away, even from the west side where I-270 meets I-70, shining like the star that guided the Magi in the Christmas story: The Tree of Lights, rising 200 feet from the roof of the downtown Lazarus store, was erected every holiday season by stringing thousands of lights from the store’s water tower. Ohio Historical Society photo of Lazarus in its heyday during the holidays.
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