The New York Store featured lines of foreign and domestic dry goods as well as upscale merchandise.

In 1889, the store added a ladies' ready-to-wear department which included coats, suits, dresses, and underwear.

[3] The Bon-Ton purchased Watt & Shand in 1992, for about $10 million, and the downtown Lancaster store officially closed in March 1995.

Done in the Beaux Arts style, the building was four stories of buff brick with elaborate terra cotta and marble ornamentation.

The oldest section of the building, facing East King Street, dated from 1898 and was designed by C. Emlen Urban.