Broadway originally developed as a haven for dry goods stores, household furnishings and decorating shops, and specialty stores, such as the one that sold goods from the Near East. Sixth Avenue housed most of the department stores. Fifth Avenue, which had been the premiere shopping street, became lined with speculative store and loft buildings, as well as offices. The cross streets’ converted row houses and newer loft buildings housed smaller merchants and firms that serviced the larger stores on the north-south streets. During and following World War I, all of the department stores moved uptown and the buildings were converted for manufacturing use. Today most of the buildings retain their commercial character, though some have been converted for residential use.