The story of Cleveland's Higbee's chain began in September 1860. Edwin Converse Higbee and John G. Hower opened the Higbee & Hower Dry Goods Company store. The corporate moniker was shortened to the Higbee Dry Goods Company in 1902. Higbee's narrowly survived The Great Depression, but was on a firm footing by 1961, when these interior snapshots were taken.

Photos from Library of Congress 

The major department store chain in nearby Akron was the M. O'Neil Company (a.k.a. O'Neil's). This concern was  founded in 1877, by Michael O'Neil and Isaac Dyas. Above. we see a sweeping view of the downtown Akron store's main sales floor.

Photo from Library of Congress 

Farther out west was Kansas City, Missouri's Jones Dry Goods Company (later known as The Jones Store). The first unit was opened, by John Logan Jones, in Stafford, Kansas. The operation moved to Kansas City, Missouri in 1895.  By the time of this November 1904 advert, a flagship store stood 7 stories high and encompassed 500,000 square feet.

Advert from the Jones Dry Goods Company

Iowa's Younker Brothers -Lipman, Samuel and Marcus- dedicated a general store in Keokuk, in 1856. Their half-brother Herman started up a general store -in Des Moines- in 1874. The Keokuk store was shuttered in 1879, with the Des Moines location becoming the flagship. By the time of this May 1907 advertisement, the main store had moved to a second capital city location.

Advert from Younker Brothers 

Jonas Leopold Brandeis opened his first Omaha mercantile in December 1883. A new store, known as The Fair, was inaugurated in 1888. A third, operating as The Boston Store, opened in 1894. By 1897, its official name had morphed into the J.L. Brandeis & Sons Boston Store. The Boston Store co-branding was dropped in 1910, with the business renamed Brandeis Stores.

Graphics from J.L Brandeis & Sons