The largest department stores of the mid-1960s were Macy's, Hudson's, and Marshall Field. Hudson's was 25 stories high; two of its four basement floors were basement stores, where 60 departments did up to 25% of the store's business. At its mid-century peak, Hudson employed more than 12,000 people and served 100,000 customers per day. Hudson's even had its own telephone exchange (Capitol) and the third largest switchboard in the country, after that of the Pentagon and the Bell system. In every major city, the downtown department stores were enormous, with elevators and escalators. In Chicago, Marshall Field's flagship store took up an entire city block and featured a 13-story sky-lit atrium. Many other cities had their own iconic stores: Dayton's in Minneapolis, Wanamaker's in Philadelphia, Kaufmann's in Pittsburgh, Bamberger's in Newark, The Bon Marche in Seattle, Bullock's in Los Angeles, The Emporium in San Francisco, Famous-Barr in St. Louis , Filene's in Boston, Foley's in Houston, Goldwater's in Phoenix, LS Ayres in Indianapolis, Lazarus in Columbus, Meier and Frank in Portland, Oregon. Eventually, many of these stores came under Macy's Corporation. The department store as we know it today is a large retail establishment that sells a wide variety of personal and household products, which had its beginnings in the 19th century. Downtown department stores dominated the shopping scene throughout the first half of the 20th century. Department stores carried just about everything: clothing, shoes, cosmetics, jewelry, toys, books, sporting goods, gourmet products, appliances and furniture. They had restaurants and services such as photo studios, post offices, while also hosting special events like fashion shows...... middle of paper ... meetups over the next few decades. There are many reasons why Americans often prefer online shopping to in-store browsing: no need to go to the mall, no pressure from salespeople, the lure of deal sites, and fewer distractions. Online shopping helps consumers focus and they can even find better deals on the Internet than they would get at a mall. The benefits of avoiding malls are always greater than shopping in bulky buildings, as some people really prefer shopping online. While about a third of shopping centers (and only the largest and newest of the group) are still in operation in the United States, the once-appealing perks of shopping centers are not only capable of persuading customers to leave their home, not when we can buy items at a discounted price online from home while browsing the internet, using social media or even working.