Mercer Tiles – Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Jacob Reed’s and Sons clothing store, 1424 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is an early reinforced concrete structure. It was designed in 1903 by William Lightfoot Price, an influential American architect, for the clothing store that emphasized custom service in an era when impersonal department stores were becoming popular. The building’s design reflects Reed’s preference for individualism.

Price, one of the region’s proponents of the Arts & Crafts movement, utilized reinforced concrete, concrete columns, and a high concrete barrel over the first floor. He borrowed from the urban palaces of northern Italy, explains John Gallery in his book, "Philadelphia Architecture," for the third-story loggia, red tile roof and arched entrance. He decorated the building with mosaic tile work created by Henry Mercer, who ran the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Mercer’s handcrafted decorative tiles were laid in different interlocking designs to complement individual buildings. In the Jacob Reed building, the tiles depicted crafts associated with the garment industry.

In 1983, Jacob Reed’s closed its doors after nearly 160 years in business and the building stood vacant. A controversy erupted over the property late that same year when Rite-Aid Corp. arranged a nine-year lease on the property. Philadelphia’s architectural community as well as other civic groups were upset that a chain store was moving into the historical building. Rite-Aid ended up selling its interest in that lease. In October of that year, Willard Rouse III, in a civic gesture to save an architecturally significant property, bought the building for $2.3 million with plans to put Boyd’s Mens Store in the street level retail space. Rouse’s plans also included renovating the upper floors for office space. As then-chairman of the Foundation for Architecture, Rouse also intended to donate the building to the organization. Under Rouse’s ownership, a Barnes & Noble bookstore moved in and office tenants began to occupy the upper floors. Rouse sold the property in 1986 to Pima Savings & Loan Association of Arizona for $7.85 million. The ground floor space is now occupied by a CVS pharmacy.