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Lit Brothers was a moderately-priced department store based in Philadelphia. Samuel and Jacob Lit opened the first store at Market and N. 8th streets in 1891. Lits positioned itself well as a more affordable alternate to its upscale competitors Strawbridge and Clothier, John Wanamaker, and Gimbels. The store's slogan was "A Great Store in A Great City," and it was noted for its Hat department.
The Lit Brother Store building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, and is located in the East Center City Commercial Historic District.
From 1895 to 1907, the store continued to expand, with the company taking over the remaining buildings on the North side of the block on Market between 7th and 8th Streets – including the J. M. Maris Dry Goods Store, the Bailey Store, and the J. B. Lippincott publishing house – and adding new buildings on the corners at either end of the block designed to blend in with the existing buildings.
With alterations and additions, the Lit Brothers Store became the only full block of Victorian architecture in Philadelphia, composed of 33 buildings constructed between 1859 and 1918, with a common interior. The new buildings and the alterations were designed by Charles M. Autenrieth and Edward Collins., p.59, p.77
Although the store on Market Street was often called the "cast-iron building", only two of original building's facades at 719-721 Market and 714-718 Arch Street are cast iron. The other buildings are brick, faced with marble or granite. The two end buildings are brick and terra-cotta, with galvanized iron trim and octagonal towers. The uniformity of the entire Renaissance Revival-style facade is supported by the use of a classical arch window in all of the buildings, which are painted the same color.
The company was purchased in 1928 by Albert M. Greenfield's Bankers Securities Corporation and was eventually merged into its City Stores Company – now CSS Industries, Inc. – a retail holding company consisting of stores located in urban centers throughout the south and east, such as the W & J Sloane furniture store, and the Washington, D.C.–based department store chain Lansburgh's. CSS Industries Inc. - Company History (accessed Aug 29, 2008). In 1962, they purchased the suburban locations of Snellenburg's, another Philadelphia department store chain owned by Bankers Securities Corporation, which was closed in 1963. The Lit Brothers chain closed in 1977.
The exhibit itself was bought from liquidators for $35,000 by the Sun Oil Company, who later donated it to the Atwater Kent Museum. It has since been restored, and since 2001 sections are displayed around the holiday season at the Please Touch Museum. The Please Touch Museum donated the entire Lit Brothers Enchanted Colonial Village to the American Treasure Tour Museum in Oaks, Pennsylvania. As of December 2019, the American Treasure Tour Museum is in the process of rebuilding the entire display and featuring it as a permanent part of their collection. History of the Enchanted Colonial Village (accessed Aug 29, 2008).
Faced with growing competition in a changing retail landscape, Lit Brothers closed its doors in April 1977.
The historic building was put on the market in 2007, with an asking price of $70 million (~$ in ). "Landmark Lit Brothers building for sale; might go for $70M", Philadelphia Business Journal, by Natalie Kostelni, Dec. 7, 2007. The main entrance, addressed as 701 Market Street, carried the name Market Place East, but was renamed the Lits Building in June 2013. Five Below moved their headquarters to the Lits Building in 2018.
As of 2020, a Lit Brothers neon sign labels the main entrance. The sign reading "Hats Trimmed Free of Charge" can still be seen today on the façade of the redeveloped flagship building.
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