The 1935 Kress building on Noble Street, Anniston, with its lit vertical KRESS sign

Historic downtown Anniston · since 1935

Goods for a well kept life.

LunchIce creamApothecaryFlowersKitchen goodsVintage

Happy Halloween from Noble Street. Plan a visit Online store coming soon Book the tea room

The Kress counter dressed for fall, with lanterns, autumn leaves and pumpkins

This October

Kress, dressed for fall.

Autumn leaves, pumpkin garlands and a jack-o'-lantern or two, from the counter to the Kress Flower Market. Come in for lunch, a scoop of ice cream, and a look at what the makers have put out for the season.

Hours & directions

Around twenty-five independent makers and merchants under one roof, a florist, and the original Kress lunch counter back in use — all inside the 1935 S. H. Kress building on Noble Street.

~25Independent vendors

1935The Kress building

11 – 2Lunch, Tue – Sat

65Seats in the tea room

The mercantile

One roof, many makers.

Each vendor keeps their own corner of the shop, so what's on the shelves changes as they do — which is the reason to come back.

ApothecarySoaps, balms, teas and remedies
Kitchen goodsPreserves, pickles, sauces, tools
FlowersA full-time florist in the building
VintageFurniture, glass and finds
Art & giftsWork by the people who made it
Room to startSpace for new small businesses

Hours & directions

The lunch counter

Back in use, made from scratch.

The original Kress lunch counter, restored. Lunch made in the building, baked goods for taking home, and ice cream at a counter that has been serving it, on and off, since 1935. No booking — walk in.

11 – 2Lunch served

Tue – SatWalk in

Call the counter

Eighteen-foot ceilings, dark wood floors and the original Art Deco moldings — brought back rather than replaced.The S. H. Kress building · 1935

The tea room

Your party, our kitchen.

Sixty-five seats under eighteen-foot ceilings, with the kitchen already in the building — so the food doesn't have to travel, and neither do your guests.

Baby & bridal showersBirthdaysClub lunchesMeetingsRecitalsSmall receptions

A round table in the tea room, set with pink linen, flowers and green chairs

The building

On Noble Street since 1935.

S. H. Kress & Co. has had a store on this spot since 1905. The Art Deco front you walk past today has watched over Noble Street for more than ninety years, and it's open again.

The new S. H. Kress & Co. store on Noble Street, photographed November 21, 1935, with the 5-10-25 Cent Store lettering across the front — Then · November 21, 1935

The Kress building today, with its lit KRESS sign — Now · Kress Mercantile

1905The first Kress store opens on this lot.
1917A bigger Kress store goes up on the same spot.
1935The Art Deco store you see today opens in November, designed by Kress architect Edward F. Sibbert.
1980Kress closes its doors after 75 years on Noble Street.
1985The building is added to the National Register of Historic Places.
TodayKress Mercantile: makers, the lunch counter and the tea room.

The old Kress checkout counter, with neon signs, Coca-Cola displays and Christmas trees on the shelves — The checkout counter, dressed for Christmas

The Kress sales floor under rows of pendant lights, with counters of handbags and goods — The sales floor, under the same high ceilings

Close-up of the glazed tile front: the raised KRESS letters and the fleur-de-lis on the pilasters, May 1984

Look up when you visit.

The glazed tile front, the fleur-de-lis on every pilaster and the raised KRESS letters on the parapet are the same ones photographed here in 1984. It's the finest Art Deco front in Anniston, and it's why the building is on the National Register.

1935 and early store photographs courtesy of Kress Mercantile. 1984 photograph by Steve McDaniel for the Alabama Historical Commission, from the building's National Register of Historic Places file.

Inside