Samuel H. Kress began his chain of retail stores around 1900 and soon these “five-and-dime” variety stores dotted downtowns across America. Kress’s own company architects designed stores of high quality and adapted them to fit into the context and scale of each city’s main street. The Moderne-style building designed for Berkeley was built to withstand earthquakes. It features light-brown bricks, terra-cotta ornamentation, and decorative metalwork on the fire escapes. The marquee is original. The Kress name is high above the building entrance and in gold letters above the door. The interior once featured a lunch counter on the main sales floor and a bargain basement.