Rexall was a chain of American drugstores , and the name of their store-branded products. The stores, having roots in the federation of United Drug Stores starting in 1903, licensed the Rexall brand name to as many as 12,000 drug stores across the United States from 1920 to 1977. The " Rex " in the name was derived from the name of Ellen M. Regis—"Regis" being Latin for "of the king"—who developed "Rexall remedies" and from whom the company purchased the mark.
26-690: Liggett Building may refer to: The Liggett Building (Seattle, Washington) , a 1927 building listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Seattle The Liggett Building, a former corporate headquarters building on 42nd Street in Manhattan for Liggett's Drugstores The Liggett Building, a historic building in Marysville, Ohio Topics referred to by
52-544: A $ 30,000 two-story brick commercial building in the Renaissance Revival style to fill the property. This building would soon be dwarfed by surrounding high-rise development. Following Kinnear's death the building and all his other properties would be taken over by the George Kinnear Company, formed by his estate in 1921. In early 1926 after an exhaustive search for a site that provided "in
78-504: A block away in the newly completed Republic Building, whose construction most of the same firms were involved in. Owing to their close proximity and the growing effects of the Great Depression, they would quietly shutter the store in their namesake building in the early 1930s, the space being taken up by Kings discount clothing store. In 1933 the building underwent a $ 50,000 interior remodeling by architect Earl Morrison, refitting
104-458: A branch of Van de Kamp's Holland Dutch Bakeries . The entire second floor, also designed for retail space, was occupied by national men's clothing chain Tilton's beginning in 1929. Upon completion the building was hailed as a monument to commercial stability and demonstrated the confidence that Eastern capitalists had in the city. Towards the end of 1927 Liggett's would open a second store only
130-548: A ten-story Gothic Revival Skyscraper of concrete reinforced steel and clad in terracotta to replace the 1905 Kinnear Building, then mostly occupied by the Tailored Ready Co,, one of Seattle's largest clothing stores at the time. Liggett's would occupy the largest of 6 retail spaces on the ground floor, their first store in Seattle and 380th in the chain overall. The upper floors were class-A office space to let, with
156-506: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Liggett Building (Seattle, Washington) The Liggett Building , also referred to as the Fourth & Pike Building , is a historic 10-story office building at 1424 4th Avenue in downtown Seattle , Washington. It was built in 1927 by the Louis K. Liggett Company , leasing the property from
182-692: The Walgreens drugstore chain, took control of Boston-based United Drug Company in 1943. The chain operated under the Liggett, Owl , Sonta, and Rexall brands, which Dart rebranded under the Rexall name. Rexall gained national exposure through its sponsorship of two famous classic American radio programs of the 1940s and 1950s: Amos and Andy and The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show . Both shows were often opened by an advertisement from an actor ( Griff Barnett ) portraying "your Rexall family druggist", and included
208-667: The 48 contiguous states (omitting Nevada) and parts of Canada. A streamlined steam-powered 4-8-2 Mohawk locomotive (No. 2873) from the New York Central Railroad hauled the similarly streamlined blue-and-white train of twelve air-conditioned Pullman cars. Four of the cars contained displays, four contained convention facilities and one housed a dining car . The train was the million-dollar brainchild of Louis Liggett , who traveled in an observation car at its rear. Justin Whitlock Dart , formerly of
234-644: The 7th, 8th and 9th floors for medical and dental offices and officially changing the building's name to the Fourth and Pike Building. Litigation surrounding the building in the mid-1930s would leave many tenants in the lurch, delaying lease renewals and forcing largest retail tenant Tilton's to move out. Their space and the former Liggett's space would be leased to Los Angeles-based men's clothier Foreman & Clark ; their first Seattle store where they would remain for several decades. Ben Bridge Jeweler , opened at 405 Pike Street in 1928, would eventually take over most of
260-677: The Gothic revival style, it is clad entirely in locally manufactured terracotta. It is an official Seattle City Landmark and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 31, 2011. The site of the Liggett Building was historically owned by Seattle pioneer Captain George Kinnear (1836–1912). In the years immediately after the Great Seattle Fire the predominantly residential Pike Street corridor
286-641: The Pacific Coast Steel Company, was largely complete by March 1927 and the building was ready for occupancy by July 1. Among its early tenants was the offices of both the Goodwin Company and contractors Murdock & Eckman, as well as prominent residential architects J. Lister Holmes and William J. Bain . Joining Liggett's on the ground floor were Ed Oliver's clothing store on Pike and Clement B. Coffin Jewelry on 4th and later
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#1732790133442312-954: The Renfro chain in Texas , and Lane Drug Stores which had 58 stores throughout the Southeast . It also launched the Owl Superstores chain. In 1947, the company held a gala opening for their new headquarters and first store in Los Angeles, California. The new Hollywood Owl was reported in Life as 'the World's Biggest Drugstore'. In 1958, the Rexall Drug Company was the largest U.S. drug store franchise, with 11,158 stores (for comparison, fewer than 12,000 McDonald's restaurants are in
338-463: The Rexall name. These tended to be weaker stores, and few kept the name as time progressed. The company continued to distribute vitamins, health foods, and plastic items. Across the US, some franchise retailers continue to use the Rexall name. Sundown, a maker of sunscreens , acquired the Rexall trademark in 1985, in a hostile takeover , and continued to produce nutritional supplements and remedies under
364-562: The U.S. today). Time noted that two-thirds of its stores were in areas where one-third of the population lived. However, this comprised more than 20% of all drug stores in the United States. Also in 1958, Rexall employee Joe Coulombe was asked to test the launch of Pronto Markets, a store brand to compete against 7-Eleven . After running six Pronto Markets in the Los Angeles area, Rexall asked Coulombe to close them down. Coulombe decided to buy them out instead, and eventually renamed
390-438: The building's name ever since. Rexall In 1903, Louis K. Liggett persuaded 40 independent drug stores to invest $ 4,000 (~$ 108,927 in 2023) in a retailers' cooperative called United Drug Stores, which sold products under the Rexall name. After World War I , the cooperative established a franchise arrangement whereby independently owned retail outlets adopted the Rexall trade name and sold Rexall products. The company
416-550: The catch phrase "Good health to all from Rexall." They also sponsored the Jimmy Durante Show and references are made by the character Mr. Peavey in some of The Great Gildersleeve radio shows. Rexall also sponsored Richard Diamond, Private Detective starring Dick Powell from April 1950 until Camel replaced Rexall as the sponsor after the December 6, 1950, broadcast. In 1946, United-Rexall Drug Inc. purchased
442-482: The chain " Trader Joe's ". Dart sold his stake in Rexall in 1978. Dart had acquired stakes in West Bend , Duracell , Hobart Corporation , Tupperware , Ralph Wilson Plastics , and Archer Glass , which were collectively known as Dart Industries . By the late 1950s, Rexall's business model of unitary franchised stores, with each store owned independently by the local pharmacist, was already coming under attack by
468-649: The design allowing for 5 more floors to be added if needed. All labor and materials used on the building were locally sourced; Builders Murdock & Eckman were awarded the $ 600,000 contract and Steel & Phelps took care of the heating, plumbing and electric work. The terracotta was manufactured by Gladding, McBean & Co. at their branch plant in Renton . Demolition of the Kinnear Building began in September 1926. Structural work, with steel provided by
494-473: The discount chains, such as Thrifty Drug and Eckerd , and later in the 1960s, CVS Pharmacy . These well-financed corporate entities were able to reduce costs with block purchasing, and were focused on growth. By 1977, the value of the Rexall business had deteriorated to the point that it was sold to private investors for $ 16 million (~$ 62.8 million in 2023). The investors divested the company-owned stores, though existing franchise retailers were able to keep
520-481: The estate of local pioneer George Kinnear , to house the first Seattle location of their national drug store chain. Liggett's would break their 99-year lease on the building only a few years later after having opened a second location only a block away proved financially unwise during the Great Depression . The building received its current name after a 1933 renovation. Designed by Lawton & Moldenhour in
546-702: The ground floor and would become one of the Northwest's largest jewelry store chains. The Ben Bridge clock, located outside the building on Pike Street, is separately listed as a Seattle Landmark as well. The building would retain much of its character throughout the years, with only the ground floor seeing numerous remodels for its various tenants. In 1945 the building was purchased from the Kinnear Company by Peoples National Bank who would sell it to 4th & Pike Street Corp. in 1950. The building has been owned by various corporations and LLCs with variations of
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#1732790133442572-505: The highest degree present and permanent centrality with respect to Seattle's business district", the Louis K. Liggett Company , a division of United Drug Stores (later known as Rexall ), signed a 99-year lease on the property from the George Kinnear Company through the Goodwin Real Estate Company. Through Goodwin they commissioned local architects Lawton & Moldenhour (successor to Saunders & Lawton) to design
598-581: The new name Rexall-Sundown, with no relationship to the remaining chain of Rexall drugstores, nor to the Canadian maker of medicines and sundries. Numico acquired Rexall Sundown in 2000. Numico split up the Rexall divisions and divested them in 2003, selling the name Rexall-Sundown to NBTY , a US vitamin company, and the Unicity Network division was to be sold to Activated Holdings, a privately held company. The deal fell through, and Unicity Network
624-428: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Liggett Building . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Liggett_Building&oldid=870471245 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
650-496: Was based in Boston , in an area now occupied by Northeastern University . The Rexall Train of March to November 1936 toured the United States and Canada to promote Rexall drug store products and to provide the equivalent of a national convention for local Rexall druggists without the cost of travel. Free tickets for locals to see displays of Rexall products were available at local Rexall drug stores. The 29,000 mile tour visited 47 of
676-490: Was rapidly transformed into a major commercial arterial lined with denser tenement houses and hotels. Kinnear's lot, previously occupied by several small workingman's cottages by 1893 was packed with a collection of wood-frame shops and lodging houses. In response to the northward expansion of Seattle's business district spurned on by the Yukon Gold Rush , in 1905 he commissioned architects Graham & Myers to design
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