You'll Enjoy Shopping at Porteous

For eighty-five years, Porteous, Mitchell & Braun stood guard in the heart of Portland, Maine's Congress Street commercial district.Founded in 1873, the firm spent its first three decades in Norwich, Connecticut, before it took over a failing department store in Maine's largest city and became a beloved shopping tradition. Porteous was home to Portland's Santa Claus, and its elaborate Christmas displays were a holiday destination for northern New Englanders. By the late 1970s, Porteous had expanded and opened branch locations throughout Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. As the retail industry experienced mergers and consolidations, the family-run Porteous bucked the trend and remained in operation longer than many of its former competitors. Although its Portland store closed in 1991, its iconic building has been creatively transformed into the Maine College of Art & Design.Through interviews with residents, dignitaries, and former employees, and dozens of rarely seen photographs, department store historian Michael J. Lisicky recalls the time when the community knew "You'll Enjoy Shopping at Porteous."