Frederick & Nelson was a department store chain in the northwestern United States, based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891 as a furniture store, it later expanded to sell other types of merchandise. The company was acquired by Marshall Field & Company in 1929. By 1980, the Frederick & Nelson chain had expanded to 10 stores in two states (Washington and Oregon). The company went out of business in 1992. Its former Seattle flagship store building is now occupied by the flagship Nordstrom store. History Frederick & Nelson was the successor to a business founded by two partners, Donald E. Frederick and James Mecham, who had been mining colleagues back in Colorado. They happened to connect shortly after Frederick arrived in Seattle on a steamer in 1890, and they pooled their resources to start a second-hand furniture business. After setting up shop in several locations, the business was named "J. G. Mecham and Co.". Some time later another mining colleague, Nels B. Nelson, arrived also from Colorado. He subsequently purchased a one-third interest in the business. Several months later, due to ill health, Mecham sold his interest to the two remaining partners and the name was changed to "Frederick & Nelson". They vowed to create the largest and finest store west of the Mississippi and north of San Francisco. Early customers included the local Native Americans and a thriving populace invigorated by the news that Seattle would become the western terminus for the Great Northern Railway. In 1891, the partners acquired the Queen City Furniture Company and began selling new furniture. Their motto was, "What our customers want, we will give them. Service is our motto." Their sincerity was tested when just before closing time on a snowy Christmas Eve in 1890, a customer came in to purchase a second-hand rocking chair for his wife for Christmas, requiring it to be delivered that night. Frederick and Nelson sloshed through the snow to the top of Denny Hill to deliver the heavy chair, making the first delivery in the history of Frederick & Nelson. Legend has it that their first credit customer was a Native American woman who coveted a second-hand parlor stove. The stove was hers for weekly payments of berries, a woven mat, and a sweet grass basket. The Klondike Gold Rush around the start of the 20th century fueled further growth of Seattle. There was a growing demand