 McCurdy's was started as McCurdy and Norwell Co. in 1901 by John Cooke McCurdy, who came to Rochester by way of Philadelphia and Ireland.The store was located at the corner of Main and Elm streets.This location would later would form the basis of a mall at the location when Gilbert McCurdy, along with fellow department store owner Maurice Forman of B. Forman Co., helped found Rochester's Midtown Plaza, where its flagship store would be incorporated in and become the main anchor of the mall.