Echoes of Hay Street 

In 1896, Samuel H. Kress, a one-time former teacher and stationery store owner, was struck by an ingenious notion. 

He’d realized the old wooden structures from America’s Victorian age were coming down. America was rebuilding, and reshaping to fit the new century. F.W. Woolworth’s newest invention, for example, of the five-and-dime store, was prospering. 

Kress wanted in. 

A lover of art and architecture, Kress envisioned his own chain of stores, but stores that were consistent in design and showcased the beauty of neoclassical architecture. 

By 1905, Kress started an architecture firm, spread out a map, and shared his vision with his in-house architect George Mackay. 

The beautification of America’s “Main Street” was happening, and Kress wanted his stores in prime locations. Kress planned for locations across North Carolina, including Asheville, Durham, Salisbury, Goldsboro, Gastonia, Greensboro, and Wilmington. Kress pointed to a strategic city in Cumberland County with a main street named Hay. Just like that, Kress’s new 5-10-25 cent store — later called the Kress store — was coming to Fayetteville and would pen its own chapter in the city’s history. 

Bruce Daws, retired former director of the Fayetteville History Museum and historic property manager, said the Kress building on Hay Street was a big deal for the city as it was Fayetteville’s first department store, and a sign that Fayetteville was growing. 

“It’s at a pivotal location,” Bruce said. “It’s on Hay Street at the intersection of Maxwell Street.” 

According to an article in The Fayetteville Observer, the building was completed in 1914. 

“The early 20th century marked the coming down of a lot of the older buildings and many newer buildings going up, so, the Kress building is caught up in that period and a forerunner of the later 1920s buildings,” Bruce said. 

The Kress 5-10-25 cent store building was strategically placed. Businesses were moving down Hay Street further from the Market House. 

“The location was big for business,” Bruce (pictured left) said. “It was at one time considered to be all-important to be at the Market Square, but by the time the Kress building was built, you had the U.S. Post Office with its neoclassical style opposite of the Kress.”  

The post office was built in 1910. Today, the building houses the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County. The wooden-framed Atlantic Coast Line, now the Amtrak depot, was rebuilt in 1911.

“So, you had a cluster of important buildings right in one spot,” Bruce said. 

1914 was a banner year for Fayetteville: George Herman Ruth Jr. earned his name “Babe” Ruth during Baltimore Orioles’ spring training; and Orange Street School laid its foundation, which then became E.E. Smith High School in 1927. 

As Fayetteville’s main street grew, businesses adjusted to the fluctuation of downtown shoppers. 

“In 1914 the Market House established a lounge, designed so shoppers who traveled up and down Hay Street could stop, put their bags down, and relax,” Bruce said. “By 1915 the national chain Kress department store was in full swing and many of the shoppers [roaming Hay Street] could have come from Kress.”  

Remembering Kress department store as an employee 

Today Pat Hall, former Kress department store employee, is 90 years old, but in 1950 she was 16 years of age when she landed her first job at the department store. 

“Back then Kress was where a lot of teenage girls started their retail careers,” Pat said. “I rode the city bus from Hope Mills to Fayetteville and it took all day.” 

Pat worked the jewelry counter and went through Kress’s retail training before being allowed to run the cash register and her own counter. 

Though the name of her supervisor who trained her slips her mind today, Pat still remembers the manager — “a petite woman with black hair,” as Pat described, who worked there for many years — and her meticulous training. 

“We didn’t have electronics back then, or digital calculators. You had to know how to count change to run that cash register,” Pat said. “My assignment was the jewelry counter and perfume. I particularly remember Blue Waltz Perfume was really popular.” 

Pat said hairnets were also popular because ‘50s hairstyles required them. Hall also remembers that, while the jewelry looked luxurious, they weren’t made from real diamonds, matching today’s style of costume jewelry. She added they were “cheaper” than the ones made nowadays. 

“Regarding hair supplies, we didn’t have the things we have today, like hair dressings, hairspray, and gel,” she said. “It was mainly mirrors, brushes, combs, hairpins, and hairnets.” 

By the 1950s, Fayetteville’s main street was alive with activities and in full shopping mode.  

When Pat took lunch, she would explore, visiting the surrounding stores herself. By then, Hay Street had much to offer shoppers with its department stores, movie theaters, services, cafes, and a variety of food. 

Pat worked only one summer at Kress but can describe the department store well. 

“I remember the floors were polished wood and always very clean,” Pat said. “They impressed on us to dust the counters every morning and keep everything very neat. They were meticulous about that.” 

She recalled there were two entrances, and “when you walked through the door, there were long aisles straight down the building with counters on either side and in the middle,” where employees sold from, she said 

“You could stand at the front and see all the way to the back,” in the shape of an “inverted ‘L,’” she said. “At the back, there were counters that ran parallel with the wall where they kept items like toys and ironing boards.” 

Some in Fayetteville remember the Kress store as a place to get food, especially hot dogs and ice cream. But Pat said at that time they didn’t sell food. 

Over the century, uses for the Kress building have changed and, at one time, came close to being demolished. Samuel H. Kress’s department store empire operated between 1896 and 1955 and peaked at 264 stores spread across 29 states. 

The building today still holds a commanding presence on the corner of 229 Hay St. next to Rude Awakening Coffee House. It houses the Lumbee Guaranty Bank and has been restored and repurposed in the last several years. 

Like Fayetteville, the Kress building has endured gracefully and embodies the timeless elegance of craftsmanship and design. It is rooted deep in a proud history, holding firm through change and whatever may come its way.