9. Lord & Taylor Is an Entirely Fireproof Store

One little known fact about the Fifth Avenue building is that it is completely fireproof. In fact, when it was constructed, the only wood floor in the entire building was located in the Oriental Rug section; wood was also used sparingly on counters, fixtures and and decorative paneling.

The store also took a number of fire preventative measures: there were automatic sprinklers, fireproof doors and stairways, a store fire patrol that drilled under experience firemen, and a vacuum heating system within the building. These features combined with the construction of the building provided it with the lowest insurance rate of any other store in the United States.