Toledo's Three Ls

Reminisce with author Bruce Allen Kopytek about a time when these three great department stores dominated Toledo's retail scene and offered their customers anything they could want.

Remember the days when shopping meant white gloves, suits for men and leisurely lunches in tearooms? Toledo, an industrial powerhouse and Ohio's third-largest city, once had it all, and Lamson's, the Lion Store and Lasalle's were where it all happened. Revisit their downtown competitors like Tiedtke's, B.R. Baker, Milner's and Stein's, which also added their own touch to Toledo's life. Through written history, photographs and personal recollections a lost era comes to light--an era when business was personal and local and shopping was more of a cherished event rather than a chore.