I worked on the 11th floor in Edgar’s, directly adjacent to Michael’s.
Hello Patricia and all others reading….I also worked as a waiter in Kaufmann’s-Downtown while in college during the late 80s. The clock’s image decorated both the restaurant tables and menus and it became a popular lunch time spot best known for its tasty burgers and desserts. The name paid homage to the famous Kaufmann’s clock. A contemporary article detailing the more than $10,000,000 store expansion mentions a new eatery, the Tic Toc snack bar, which would become a Kaufmann’s staple. New amenities included a smoking lounge, larger rest rooms, “tot-toters” (strollers), and expanded departments. The Tic Toc opened in 1955 as part of a grand expansion that took Kaufmann’s from 753,505 sq. When Macy’s took over in 2006, they kept two of the more iconic establishments open – the Tic Toc restaurant and the Arcade Bakery. There were snack bars in the basement and candy, ice cream, and coffee stands spread throughout the store. On the 11th floor, three restaurants – Michael’s, Edgar’s, and the Forbes Room – shared a central kitchen. The 13th floor housed a large employee cafeteria that fed the staff. Over the years, many eateries came and went at Kaufmann’s, from the white linen Forbes Room to the S.R.O. While Kaufmann’s displayed a vast selection of consumer goods, the store also boasted an impressive array of food services, dedicating significant floor space to this endeavor. Sign that used to hang in the Kaufmann’s Department story employee’s cafeteria. Referred to by the 1890s as, “The Big Store,” Kaufmann’s took up much of the Smithfield block between Fifth and Diamond St. on Pittsburgh’s South Side, Kaufmann’s expanded both in size and in the variety of merchandise it carried after moving downtown a few years later. Started in 1871 as a men’s tailoring and ready-to-wear shop on Carson St.