This extravagance was all part of a plan to outdo a nearby archrival, Printemps, whose own glass-and-ironwork-covered atrium rose six stories, and the feel of a Byzantine bazaar was intended to urge clients into a buying frenzy within a dreamlike environment.
Baseballs are woven throughout the plans, embedded in ironwork along the side of the facade, through terra-cotta balls adorning the top of the stadium, in stitches visible in the tile inlay on the rotunda floor and in its dangling baseball-and-bat chandelier.