Art Deco Architecture

G… Greensboro

Kress Building, Greensboro, North Carolina
by Earl Letherberry

Another great old Kress store, facade intact.

From Flickr:

The Kress Store in Greensboro was built in 1930 and Kress closed the store in 1973. The structure has details, including coats-of-arms, metal work, and inlaid artistic embellishments. The colorful Art Deco style building was restored in 2000. In 2010, the structure was known for its fourth floor, roof top, special events rental facility. Other space is for office and other commercial purposes.

Side view, same photographer:

E… El Paso

Kress, El Paso, Texas
by adam.arch

Another one of those amazing old Kress buildings.

Close-up of the top, by same photographer:

C… Columbia

Former Kress, Columbia, South Carolina
Photo by Jason Taylor

Another one of those nice old Kress buildings. 

B… Billings

Former Kress Store, Billings, Montana
by verplanck

Detail of yet another old, lovely Kress department store. Kress brought Deco to towns and cities of all sizes, all across America.

B… Bakersfield

Former Kress Department Store, Bakersfield, California
by Jaspardo

Detail from an old Kress.

Kress Building, Downtown Atlanta, Georgia
by Wendy Darling

Kress, one of the most successful five-and-dimes in retail history, doesn’t survive, but its buildings do. Among them is this one on South Peachtree. I believe the upper stores are vacant, while the bottom story is retail — everything from shoes to gold teeth.

From Atlanta Architecture: Art Deco to Modern Classic, 1929-1959:

The 1936 Kress reflects the ore restrained, monochromatic face of the Depression years and is part of a street of several noteworthy commercial buildings of the period. 

…

Bold and simple, both McCrory’s and the 1936 Kress Building next door acknowledged the restrained spirit of thirties Deco.

In the Kress Building, Deco incisions and a classical orderliness and simplicity were balanced with vertical ribbed piers presenting recognizable features found in Kress Buildings in Durham, North Carolina, Richmond, Virginia and elsewhere through the Southeast.

Elevator, Kress Building, Ft. Worth, Texas
by Lynn Barnett

Gorgeous elevator door. The note on Flickr says “outside elevator” but not sure if that means actually on the street or what.

Kress Building, Ft. Worth, Texas
by Lynn Barnett

Another look at that Kress building, which I featured a day or so ago.

Kress Building, Ft. Worth, Texas
by lapeeler

One of the many former Kress five & dimes remaining in American downtowns.

Kress, 1200 Block of Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, Miami, Florida
Historic photo from the Library of Congress

Another example of a Kress five-and-dime store. Still there today; one tenant is a Starbucks. Check out the Historic American Buildings Survey record for the historic district, including 81 pictures.

From the LoC:

1200 BLOCK WASHINGTON AVENUE, WEST ELEVATION, CORNER VIEW

I’ve spent a lot of time going through the LoC’s photo archives, which make available the Historic American Buildings Survey / Historic American Engineering Record photos. I urge you to check them out yourself!