Anne Evers Hitz

Author Spotlight

Proud to be a fifth-generation San Franciscan, author Anne Evers Hitz has had a long interest in San Francisco history, its lore, and legends. Anne’s most recent book is Lost Department Stores of San Francisco: Six Bygone Stores That Defined an Era (History Press, 2020). She is also the author of Emporium Department Store (Arcadia, 2014) and San Francisco’s Ferry Building (Arcadia, 2017). Anne is a volunteer guide at the Ferry Building for City Guides, a group of local volunteers who give free walking tours of San Francisco.

A graduate of U.C. Berkeley, Hitz is a writer, editor, and project manager who has had her own communications consulting firm in San Francisco for over 25 years. She worked as publicity director for the University of California Press and as an editorial assistant at publishers Oxford University Press and Farrar, Straus & Giroux in New York.

Featured Work

Lost Department Stores of San Francisco: Six Bygone Stores That Defined an Era

In the late nineteenth-century, San Francisco’s merchant princes built grand stores for a booming city, each with its own niche. For the eager clientele, a trip downtown meant dressing up—hats, gloves, and stockings required—and going to Blum’s for Coffee Crunch Cake or Townsend’s for creamed spinach. The I. Magnin empire catered to a selective upper-class clientele, while middle-class shoppers loved the Emporium department store, with its Bargain Basement and Santa for the kids. Gump’s defined good taste, the City of Paris satisfied desires for anything French and edgy, youth-oriented Joseph Magnin ensnared the younger shoppers with the latest trends. Lost Department Stores of San Francisco looks back at the strong, colorful personalities who created six major stores that defined shopping in San Francisco before the days of the Internet. Native San Franciscans and former employees also share their memories of these beloved institutions.

As a history buff and freelance writer, Hitz is also the author of San Francisco’s Ferry Building (2017) and Emporium Department Store (2014).

You can purchase your very own copy of Lost Department Stores through Arcadia Publishing (and receive a San Francisco History Days 2020 discount with coupon code LOSTSF).

And just for kicks, you can see the promotional video for Lost Department Stores below.

Featured Fun

Sunday, September 27, 2020 at 11:00AM – (Virtual) Ask an Author with Anne Evers Hitz

Join us for an informal Q&A session with Anne Evers Hitz, author of Lost Department Stores of San Francisco: Six Bygone Stores That Defined an Era (History Press, 2017) as well as Emporium Department Store (Arcadia, 2014) and San Francisco’s Ferry Building (Arcadia, 2017). Hitz is a proud fifth-generation San Franciscan with a long interest in San Francisco history, its lores and legends.

This Event is Free but Pre-Registration is Required.