I was immediately drawn into this wonderful shot because of the photo angle & amount of detail provided - including by other commenters. Love everything vintage, so I appreciate the car, building & location information shared. The personal stories & memories are the icing on the cake.

... is stunning.

Very nice 1954 Lincoln Capri parked at the curb. White, with a dark (black probably?) top, wide white sidewall tires, and a very slick rear-mounted spare tire. The 1950's were a little schizophrenic about car design. Mid-50's were pretty good, but by the time 1959 rolled around, it was all about wildly oversized fins, trunks and hoods you could land a small plane on, and wheelbase that was out of control. But this 1954 model is an example of some of the best mid-decade design there was.

The great clock moved with the store to the north side of town.

Is that Elvis with an electric guitar under the Kress awning performing Blue Christmas?

[Or an acoustic mandolin. - Dave]

My first job out of college was as a reporter at The Columbus Ledger on 12th Street. I must have walked past that Kress's 500 times on the way to the Government Center as the paper's government reporter and for lunch at Spano's. But there was not a tree in sight in the early '70s, so it looked about like it did in the mid-'50s. I've seen Shorpy photos of Augusta, Ga., my home town, and it is a carbon copy of Columbus, only flipped, with the river walk on the east in Augusta and on the west in Columbus. And Augusta's downtown, too, has been taken over by trees in the past 50 years. I guess that was the trend in urban planning then.

Kress was - of course (?) - known for its Art Deco buildings erected during the Depression; but Columbus seems to have had to make do with an older yellow brick storefront.

Jimmy's Jewelers, at 1121 Broadway is where ?mburg Jeweler was in December 1955. The S.H. Kress & Co. storefront is still there; but the building is gone and all that's left is a parking lot assessable from Front Ave, the next street over. Lots of trees line Broadway between 11th and 12th Streets now and there is still a good amount of retail, especially restaurants. It looked nice in 1955 and looks nice now.

[As noted below, the jeweler's name is on the clock. - Dave]
Yes it is - Schomburg. Thanks.

Nice hand alignment, Mr. Schomburg! 10:54:24