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Overview

New York retailers William and John W. Sloane opened a San Francisco branch of their New York department store by 1875. They erected this fashionable Second Empire building at 641-647 Market Street, in the heart of the commercial business district. It operated until it was destroyed in the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 04/18-19/1906.

Building History

Scottish immigrant William Sloane (1810-1879) opened an imported rug store in New York City in 1843, and was joined in the business by his younger brother, John Sloane, in 1852. (John stayed only 8 years, although William's son, John [d. 1905], took over for his father, guiding the company until 1905.) During the latter half of the nineteenth century it expanded beyond carpets to sell furniture, fabrics and other home decor items, becoming "W. and J. Sloane Interior Decorators and Home Furnishers." The W. and J. Sloane and Company operated a fashionable home furnishings store in New York at Broadway and 19th Street, and expanded to San Francisco by 1875.

In 1891, the firm operated an upholstery shop at 641-647 Market Street. (See Langley's San Francisco Directory, 1891. p. 383.) This location was destroyed in the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 04/18/1906. Subsequently, the firm operated in a "temporary" space from 1906-1911, before opening an eight-story home furnishings store in 03/1911. (See "House of Sloane Celebrates Seventy-Fifth Anniversary," Price's Carpet and Rug News, vol. IV, no. 3, 03/1918, pp. 18-20.)

Building Notes

This location stood next to the Palace Hotel #1.

PCAD id: 20609