Posts Tagged ‘may company’
Saturday, March 26th, 2011
I. Magnin on Union Square - San Francisco
For years, I. Magnin & Company was the leading high fashion/luxury goods chain in the West serving the ‘carriage trade’ customer with exclusive fashion from leading designers. It earned these exclusive relationships by providing a facility and customer service that showcased the brands. She became known for bringing the latest fashions from Paris.
Magnin & Company was started in 1876 by Mary Ann Magnin and she named the company after her husband, Isaac Magnin. She came from the Netherlands and he from England. Her first store carried lotions and high-end clothing for infants. She then expanded into bridal. Her first store was located on Market Street. She later moved to 918-922 Market Street, right across from the Emporium. The new store was 10,000 square feet, two stories, and renowned for its elegant ladies room. In 1906 the company had a second location under construction on Grant Street but it never opened. The earthquake and fire destroyed both the Market Street store and the incipient one. Mrs. Magnin built a new store at the corner of Stockton and Geary Street. In 1948 that building was replaced with a new flagship store, dubbed the ‘White Marble Palace’ by Christian Dior.
Three of the Magnin’s sons (John, Grover, and Sam) joined the company. The fourth son, Joseph Magnin started his own company, J. Magnin.
In 1910, I. Magnin’s began opening boutique shops in luxury hotels in California. Eventually, there were six of these shops. In 1939, the company expanded into Southern California with its first store on Wilshire Boulevard, a block from the Bullock’s Wilshire store.
In 1944, Bullock’s Department Stores bought I. Magnin & Company and formed Bullock’s-I.Magnin. This partnership funded the new I.Magnin flagship store opened in 1948. It also led to the expansion of I. Magnin & Company to Santa Ana, Sherman Oaks, and Del Amo.
In 1964, Bullock’s-I.Magnin was acquired by Federated Department Stores in a hostile takeover. As a result, Bullock’s and I.Magnin’s became separate divisions of Federated. Federated did fund the expansion in the 1970’s of I. Magnin & Co into Chicago and Washington, D.C.
In the late 1970’s and the early 1980’s, Federated Department Stores realized that I. Magnin’s customer base was shrinking as the ‘carriage trade’ passed. The company realized that the younger customers were not shopping at I. Magnin’s. Management changes were made to attract the younger customer. These strategies did not provide the expected results and in fact, often resulted in offending the older customers. Sales continued to decline. High end boutiques were doing a better job of attracting the young and wealthy.
In 1988, Federated was taken over by real estate developer Campeau Corporation. In a settlement with the R. H. Macy Company which was also a bidder, Campeau sold the Bullock’s and I. Magnin’s divisions to Macy’s. The following year, Macy’s combined the Bullock’s Wilshire and I.Magnin’s divisions and started shuttering stores. The 1992 Rodney King riot in Los Angeles made it easy for the original Bullock’s Wilshire store to be closed.
The secret sauce for I. Magnin’s was creating an environment to showcase high fashion and luxury goods. Everyone who visited the San Francisco flagship I. Magnin store will tell you stories about the store, especially the marble ladies room with the gold plated fixtures. The store and all its facilities were elegant. Designers preferred to have their goods showcased at I. Magnin’s versus other retailers. And this set the company apart from all other department stores. In addition, the sales associates developed strong relationships with all the carriage trade customers and would call them to let them know about new goods and would hold those goods until the customer visited the store.
For a while, Rose Marie Bravo ran I. Magnin’s and she set plans in place to rebuild the chain’s image. After she left, the business again lost merchandising direction. In 1994, Federated Department Stores reached an agreement with the creditors of the R. H. Macy Company to buy it out of bankruptcy. Before the deal closed, they shuttered the remainder of the I. Magnin’s stores. Many of the stores were converted to Macy’s. The upper floors of the San Francisco flagship were converted to Macy’s; the lower floors became a duty free store.
What happened????…. For years the I Magnin & Company served the high end customers well. This was while the family was heavily involved in the business. In the 1960’s and 1970’s, the company continued to cater to the carriage trade but missed the growth of the baby boom generation. The company’s executives did not change their strategies, they just focused on the same for far too long until the high end and luxury specialty retailers had captured the younger wealthy customer. By the time Federated Department Stores recognized this, it was too late. I. Magnin & Company was seen by the customers as a store for the past generation. The company had lost its cache. Rose Marie Bravo did implement good strategies, but it was simply too late and the return on a turnaround simply was not a good investment. Many retailers fall into this trap. Federated put in an executive to reduce costs. This executive did not understand the importance of the sales people in the store. He implemented a plan to reduce full-time employees and add more part-time employees. This nearly resulted in the employee’s joining the union and definitely led to the departure of some of the best sales people and a serious decline in morale and customer service.
I knew I. Magnin & Company too well. Harriet, the aunt of a good friend of mine, worked in the candy department on the first floor at the Kearny Street entrance. She would tell us how it was her responsibility to let the management know when someone famous or a well-known customer would come in the door so they could be met and given individual service. Harriet showed us all around the store, including the ladies’ restroom.
Later, when I worked at Bullock’s, I shopped I. Magnin’s at the various stores. I had visited all except the store in Washington D.C. The stores were well maintained, elegant, and the customer service was exemplary. It was evident that the store in Chicago did not get the exclusive designer goods that were in the big stores in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Many of smaller stores (Del Amo, Sherman Oaks) also lacked the breadth of merchandise. At that time it was clear that the younger customer was not going to feel comfortable in that environment.
I had a great relationship with one of I. Magnin’s most delightful carriage trade customers. Mazie Donovan had inherited vast sums. Because she was virtually blind and lived near me, I used to do bookkeeping for her every week. She maintained strong relationships with the San Francisco flagship store even though she lived in Hermosa Beach. Ms. Jolly from the fur department would always call Mazie when she had some fur item she wanted Mazie to consider. I can remember the Russian Sable Bolero that Ms. Jolly sent to Mazie on approval which Mazie purchased. Within a week after a call from Ms. Jolly, Mazie would arrange a trip to San Francisco to see what was being held for her. I knew each trip would end with a new jacket or coat.
I have shared my memories. I trust you will too. Please leave them in the comments section below.
I. Magnin & Co. Union Square -San Francisco - mid 1950's
I. Magnin & Co Collector's Stamp 1930's
I. Magnin & Co -Union Square San Francisco 1950's - Macy's Expanding
I. Magnin & Co Calendar 1912
The following postcards depict the store in Los Angeles at Wilshire Boulevard and New Hampshire, near Bullock’s Wilshire. This store had access to the affluent Hancock Park neighborhood.
Please keep in mind that these postcards are part of the Plummer & Associates collection. Please do not copy or reproduce any of these postcards without permission.
Tags: Allied Stores, Bon Ton, Broadway stores, BULLOCK'S, BULLOCK'S DEPARTMENT STORES, Bullock's Wilshire, bullocks-magnin, California retail history, capwell's, Carter Hawley Hale, CHH, Chicago, City of Paris, City Stores, defunct department stores, defunct retailers, Dillard's, dina lokets, emporium, executive search firms, fashion, fashion careers, Fashion Institute, FEDERATED DEPARTMENT STORES, FIT, grand dames, Grand Dames Retail, heidi plummer, High Fashion, I. Magnin's, I.Magnin & Co, J Magnin, john plummer, la times, los angeles, Los Angeles Retail History, luxury retail, luxury stores, macy's, Magnin's, may company, Merchantile Stores, modesto, NY Times, plummer & associates, plummer and associates, Plummersearch, plummersearch.com, R.H. Macy CO, retail careers, retail executive search, retail executive search firms, retail recruiters, retailexecutivesearch.com, retailexecutivesearchfirms.com, san francisco, San Francisco Retail History, SF Chronicle, Southern California Retail History, Specialty retail, stores magazine, susan gill, USC, Washinton D C, weinstock lubin & co, White House, Womens Wear Daily, wsj, WWD
Posted in CALIFORNIA STORES, Retail Postcards | 7 Comments »
Friday, March 11th, 2011
Emporium - Market Street - San Francisco - 1905 (pre earthquake)
THE EMPORIUM – SAN FRANCISCO – CALIFORNIA’S LARGEST AND AMERICA’S GRANDEST DEPARTMENT STORE…..
The Emporium in San Francisco was the first and later became the largest and for many years the most important department store in San Francisco. The store, because of its size and convenience to transportation, helped turn Market Street into a shopping Mecca. The store offered popular or value priced merchandise. It also had special events to draw customers such as band concerts every Saturday night under the glass dome.
The original store was started in 1872 as the Golden Rule Bazaar. At the time, it was the only large store on the West Coast and was designed to serve those following the gold rush. It grew to operate out of three different buildings. During those years the store was operated by the Davis brothers.
In 1893Adolph Feist leased a building on Market Street with plans to open a major department store through a partnership with one of the major retailers in the East. When the partnership strategy failed he rented out space in the building to various small entrepreneurs. In 1896, the doors opened under the name The Emporium. Soon after, Mr. Frederick W. Dohrmann became involved. He was a German immigrant who had come to the S.F. Bay Area in 1860 and had proven himself successful in flour milling and pottery merchandising. He understood the possibilities of the original department store plan and ended up leading the 1897 merger of the Golden Rule Bazaar and the Emporium into one entity in the space that Adolph Feist had leased. He then brought his son, A.B.C. Dohrmann, in as the president. The younger Dohrmann built the systems and procedures to allow the different departments to work together. The store quickly became successful under his leadership. He remained President until his death in 1914.
The Emporium suffered major damage in the 1906 earthquake and fire. While the store was being rebuilt, a temporary store was opened on Van Ness Avenue. A new building was built on Market Street. The new building had 775,000 square feet of floor space. It had a glass arcade, a glass dome, solid mahogany fixtures, and a new grocery department. The design was intended to make this store as glamorous as anything found in the East.
In 1927, the Emporium merged with H. C. Capwell & Co. based in Oakland. The new holding company was named Emporium-Capwell. The two different divisions operated independently for years only merging their New York and overseas buying offices. The Emporium started to grow with stores on the San Francisco Peninsula, Santa Clara County, Marin County, and Sonoma County. Capwell’s, on the other hand, opened stores in Alameda County and Contra Costa County.
The Emporium-Capwell company was acquired by Broadway Hale Stores in 1969. This put together Broadway (Southern California), Weinstock’s (Sacramento), Emporium (San Francisco) and Capwell’s (Oakland) into one holding company under the name Carter Hawley Hale Stores (CHH). CHH then went on a major acquisition binge which resulted in significant debt. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in 1991. In 1992, the Zell/Chilmark fund bought CHH and renamed it Broadway Stores as the company emerged from bankruptcy protection. In 1996, Broadway Stores was sold to Federated Department Stores and they closed all the various divisions and either converted the stores to Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, or sold the facilities.
The downtown San Francisco store has mostly been converted into a Nordstrom’s anchoring the San Francisco Center mall.
What happened???? The Emporium remained a dominant department store chain in the San Francisco Bay Area until the 1970’s. Then Ed Finkelstein and Phil Schlein led a rejuvenated Macy’s organization which took the market by surprise. The new Cellar department and the fashion forward Juniors and Young Mens departments captured the youth and early adult markets. Macy’s also put money into the look of their stores setting them apart from the Emporium which did not have capital available for the stores as the parent company had to service its debt. By the mid-80’s, Macy’s was clearly the dominant player. Because Emporium was a value priced department store chain, they also faced pressure from Mervyn’s which offered better values and more convenience. The explosion of good specialty retailers also took market share. During the construction of BART, the downtown San Francisco store suffered as Market Street was a mess and this drove shoppers to the Union Square area. In the end, it was the recklessness of the parent company that destroyed the Emporium and all the other divisions of CHH.
I knew the Emporium well both as a young customer and later as a competitor. When I was a young child, I came with my parents to shop in San Francisco. Modesto was just 80 miles away, but in those days it was a major trip. We had our car serviced before we made the drive and we stayed in a hotel for three days while we shopped for back to school, Christmas, and for Spring/Summer. Although we shopped in many stores (White House, City of Paris, Macy’s, and Hale’s), the Emporium was the targeted store. Not only did it have the merchandise we could afford, but it was also a grand place to take children. During the holidays the roof had a children’s playground/amusement park. There was a Ferris wheel ride that hung out over the front of the store looking straight down at Market Street. There was also a small Southern Pacific passenger train that kids could ride. (The last time I saw the train it was at model train store in the Sunset District.) In those days, the store had a pet department with live animals which was also a playground for the kids. We usually ate in the mezzanine cafeteria. In the mid-70’s I shopped the Emporium when I worked at Bullock’s in Los Angeles and later when I was at Mervyn’s. In those days you could see a lack of excitement in fashion apparel, a decline in customer service, and, most importantly, a decline in the maintenance of the facilities.
NOTE: I treasure my memories of this Grand Dame of Retail and hope you will too. Please feel free to leave your memories in the comments section below.
The Emporium - San Francisco - 1904 - Pre Earthquake
Emporium - 1910 - Note Earthquake Reconstruction on Roof Nextdoor
The Emporium - San Francisco - 1910
The Emporium - San Francisco - Holiday Greetings - 1910
The Emporium - 1911
The Emporium - Temporary Store on Van Ness - 1908
Emporium - Entrance Arcade - 1905 - Pre Earthquake
Ekmporium - Entrance Arcade - 1911 - Post Earthquake
Emporium - San Francisco - The Grand Staircase - 1915
The Emporium - Rotunda, Cafe, & Bandstand - 1908 - Pre Earthquake
The Emporium - Bandstand - 1906 - Note Sender's Comments
Emporium - Rotunda - After Earthquake Reconstruction
Emporium - Pre 1906 - Women's Cloaks & Suits
The Emporium - Juvenile Section - Pre 1906
The Emporium - Oriental Section - Pre 1906
Emporium - 1912- Cafe - Note Fire Sprinkler System on Ceiling
Emporium - Cafe - 1915
Emporium - 1908 Calendar - Sent from Temporary Store
The Emporium - 1908 Calendar - Sent from Temporary Store
Emporium - Postcard Calendar - 1909 - Sent From Temporary Store
The Emporium - 1920's - Gloves Trade Card
The Emporium = 1910
The Emporium - 1920's - Trade Stamp
The Emporium - 1906 After Earthquake and Fire
The Emporium - 1906 - Smoldering Fire
The Emporium - 1906 - After the Fire
The Emporium - 1906 - Another View After the Fire
The Emporium - 1906 - After The Fire Looking Through Former Entrance
Emporium - 1907 - Postcard Envelop Containing Earthquake and Fire Postcards
San Francisco City Hall
Emporium - Panorama of the City of San Francisco After Earthquake and Fire.
Emporium - 1906 Earthquake and Fire Burning the Metropolitain Temple
Emporium - 1906 Fire Destroys Concordia Club
Emporium - 1906 - Ruins of St. Ignatius Cathedral and College
Emporium - 1906 - Earthquake and Fire Refugee Camp
Emporium - 1906 - Refugee Camp in Cemetary
The Emporium - 1906 - The Entrance After Fire and Earthquake
These postcards are from the Plummer & Associates Collection. Please do not copy or reproduce without written permission from John Plummer.
Tags: 1906, 1906 earthquake and fire, Allied Stores, big box retail, bloomingdales, Broadway stores, BULLOCK'S, Bullock-I.magnin, carter hawley hale stores, CHH, Cisty Stores, City of Paris, defunct department stores, defunct retailers, Department Store History, DEPARTMENT STORE POSTCARDS, dina lokets, Earthquake, emporium, Emporium Capwell, emporium history, executive search firms, fashion, Fashion Institute, FEDERATED DEPARTMENT STORES, grand dame, Hale Co, Hale Stores, heidi plummer, I MAGNIN, john plummer, la times, Liberty house, Liebes, macy's, Market Street Retail, may company, May Company Department Stores, Merchantile Stores, Mervyn's, modesto, Modesto Bee, national retail federation, New york Times, Nordstrom, Northern california retail history, nrf, NYT, Oakland Tribune, plummer & associates, plummer and assocites, Plummersearch, plummersearch.com, POSTCARDS, postcards of retailers, retail executive recruiters, retail executive search, retail executive search firms, retail lpostcards, retail postcards, retail recruiters, retailexecutivesearch.com, retailexecutivesearchfirms.com, sacramento bee, san francisco, San Francisco Earthquake, San Francisco Retail, San Francisco Retail History, SF Chronicle, Specialty retail, stores, susan gill, USC, Weinstocks, Womens Wear Daily, wsj, WWD
Posted in CALIFORNIA STORES, Retail Postcards | 13 Comments »
Monday, January 31st, 2011
Downtown LA - May Company (after addition)
MAY COMPANY – CALIFORNIA – The Largest Department Store in the West
In 1923, the May Company based in St. Louis, Missouri, bought Hamburger’s in Los Angeles and re-named it May Company California. The May Company itself had started in 1877 in Leadville, Colorado, specifically to serve the silver miners. The May Company Department Stores expanded by moving to Denver and later purchasing Famous Brothers in St. Louis. It then moved to St Louis and merged with William Barr Dry Goods in 1911 to create Famous Barr. With the 1923 acquisition of the large Hamburger store in Los Angeles, it entered the California market.
For the first 15 years, the May Company California division focused on the downtown Los Angeles store. The first branch store was opened in 1939, at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax. Even though the Great Depression did not hit California hard, the May Company remained cautious. They did know that they needed a store in Western Los Angeles as that was where the population growth was happening. In 1947, after WWII, they opened a store in the Crenshaw shopping area where many of the aircraft plant workers lived. In 1952, they opened a large store in Lakewood, near the Douglas plant and airfield. Afterwards, the company began opening a new suburban store every year or two until their stores captured significant market share in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, and San Bernardino counties.
Like Broadway Stores, May Company was a mid-tier department store chain catering to the broad value oriented customer. The company developed strong merchants and, although highly promotional, they were great at following the fashion trends. I remember in the 60’s and 70’s when the juniors revolution was taking place, the May Company – California stores had a junior area that captured the times as well as the best junior specialty retailers. May Company was hot! In those days May Company California was a major profit producer for May Department Stores Company.
In later years, the May Company California expanded outside of California as the parent company bought Goldwater’s (Arizona) and incorporated the Goldwater’s Las Vegas store into a May Company California store.
In the late 1970’s and 1980’s May Company California stores started to show wear as the stores were not well-maintained under the expense control programs being implemented. The company still maintained strong merchandising programs and the May Department Stores Company became known for making money through effective merchandising. However, the California division was hurt by executive turnover and corporate programs that influenced and limited local merchandising.
In 1993, after the May Department Stores Company acquired Associated Dry Goods Company, the Associated’s W.J. Robinson & Company division was merged with the May Company California stores to form Robinsons-May. Robinson’s was an upper-tier department store operation and the merger of these two businesses first created some difficulties. When Bob Mettler became responsible for merchandising the problems seem to end as he differentiated the merchandising for the stores based upon local markets. He also brought a new level of enthusiasm to merchandising and buffered the merchandising team from the corporate merchandising pressures.
In 1984, the original store at 8th and Broadway was closed. The headquarters had moved out of that building years before. This area of downtown Los Angeles had deteriorated significantly.
In 2006, after the May Department Stores Company was acquired by Federated Department Stores, the Robinsons-May division was closed and the stores were converted to Macy’s or sold.
What happened????? Although May Company California was a strong and aggressive merchandising organization, they, like others, had difficulties facing increased competition. Nordstrom, Mervyn’s, Target, a reinvigorated J.C. Penney, Costco, and others were taking market share and operated with lower costs. The May Company reduced expenses in a manner that resulted in a less than pleasant shopping environment. Corporate turnover and control also caused problems and eventually ended local merchandising programs. In the end, the collapse of the parent company ended May Company California.
I have posted postcards of the downtown Los Angeles store, the Wilshire store and the Crenshaw store. Postcards of the downtown LA store are listed under Hamburger’s, the company May Company purchased in 1923. Postcards of the newer May Company California stores are, in my mind, not important for this blog. The newer stores were just big boxes with no architectural importance.
May Company Downtown LA 1930's
May Company California - Store at Fairfax and Wilshire Blvd -1940
May Company Store at Fairfax and Wilshire Blvd. Miracle Mile 1960's
May Company California - Crenshaw Store 1940's
Tags: Allied Stores, Associated Dry Goods, Beaux Arts, big box retailers, Carter Hawley Hale, City Stores, dayton hudson, defunct department stores, defunct retailers, Department Store History, department stores, Downtown Los Angeles History, executive recruiters, executive search, executive search firms, fashion, Fashion Institute, FEDERATED DEPARTMENT STORES, grand dames, grand dames of retail, J.W. Robinson & Co, john plummer, Los Anteles times, macy's, may company, May Company Department Stores, May Company Southern California, Merchantile Stores, modesto, national retail federation, nrf, plummer & associates, plummer and associates, plummer blog, Plummersearch, plummersearch.com, retail, retail executive recruiters, retail executive search, retail executive search firms, Retail History, retail recruiters, retail talent, retailexecutivesearch.com, retailexecutivesearchfirms.com, Robinson's May, skywalker, Specialty retail, susan gill, USC, wholesale, Womens Wear Daily, wsj, WWD
Posted in CALIFORNIA STORES, Retail Postcards | 8 Comments »
Saturday, January 22nd, 2011
The Boston Store - Los Angeles - 1910
J.W. ROBINSON & CO – Los Angeles
James Winchester Robinson opened his first store in 1881 under the banner of The Boston Store. The original store was located at Spring and Temple Streets. In 1914, the name was changed to J.W. Robinson & Company and it moved to a new location at 7th and Grand in a building designed by Noonan and Richards. In 1934 the building was modernized by Edward L. Mayberry. The downtown store had six floors of selling space. On the seventh floor were the restaurants, the beauty salon, and customer service. The women’s rest area and lavatory were reputed to be exquisite.
Robinson’s catered to the carriage trade as did Bullock’s and Coulter’s. The store presented better fashions and offered excellent customer service. For years the store competed well with Bullock’s in the downtown market because it was located west on 7th street in an area attractive to the upper-end customers.
In 1957, the company was acquired by Associated Dry Goods and became their fashion headquarters for the West.
In 1952, the company opened its first branch store in the Beverly Hills market. Robinson’s needed that store to capture the carriage trade: customers that were now shopping at Bullock’s, I. Magnin’s, and Sak’s stores located out on Wilshire and at the specialty shops on Rodeo Drive. Even Coulter’s had closed its downtown store and moved to Wilshire. Later, Robinson’s opened a winter-only store in Palm Springs to serve the customers who wintered there. Other suburban stores opened in Panorama City, Anaheim, Santa Barbara, Glendale, Pasadena, Newport Beach, Cerritos, Woodland Hills and the City of Industry.
In 1986, Associated Dry Goods was acquired by The May Department Stores Company (St. Louis). In 1993, the Robinson’s division of Associated Goods was merged with the May Company Southern California division to form Robinson’s May. This was a difficult marriage as May Company was targeting the moderated market and Robinson’s catered to the carriage trade. In 2005, after the acquisition of The May Company Department Stores by Federated Department Stores, the stores were either renamed Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s or were sold.
What happened???? Although Robinson’s had relatively good positioning in Los Angeles, it relied too long on its one store downtown. It did not have the clout with vendors to develop exclusive relationships. As the customers moved west to Beverly Hills and south to Orange County and when the downtown retail market declined, Robinson’s was slow to expand and gave up market share to Bullock’s, I. Magnin’s, Sak’s, and other retailers. Robinson’s started to rebound when Michael Gould became the CEO, but he did not get full support from the parent, Associated Dry Goods. When it merged with May Company, the company quickly lost the carriage trade customer.
I knew Robinson’s well as a competitor when I worked at Bullock’s. The downtown LA and the Beverly Hills stores were well-maintained and operated at high customer service levels. The management was not known as sophisticated. The management development program was not strong so the company was never able to develop talented merchants. I remember when the Attorney General for California looked into price fixing amongst the Southern California department stores. They found a folder amongst the corporate office files at Robinson’s entitled “Price Fixing Agreements”.
I wish there were postcards showing the interior of this wonderful store. I have only one which shows the women’s restroom. As soon as I locate it I will post it.
New Downtown LA J.W. Robinson Store Drawing
J. W.Robinson & Company - Los Angeles - 1917
J. W. Robinson & Company - Los Angeles - 1920's
J. W. Robinson & Company - Los Angeles - 1920's
J. W. Robinson & Company - Los Angeles - 1940 - After 'Remuddling'
Utopia Yarn/ J.W.Robinson & Co - 1940
Rogers Peet Suits/J.W. Robinson & Co. - 1941
J.W. Robinson & Co. - Beverly Hills Store
J. W. Robinson & Company - Newport
Tags: Allied Stores, apparel retail, Associated Dry Goods, big box retail, big box retailers, Boston Store, BULLOCK'S, Bullock's Wilshire, catalog, department store, Department Store History, department stores, direct marketing, Downtown Los Angeles Retail, Dowtown Los Angeles History, ecommerce, executive search, executive search firms, fashion, fashion careers, Fashion Institute, fast food, FEDERATED DEPARTMENT STORES, FIT, food service, J.W. Robinson & Co, J.W. Robinsons, john plummer, la times, LOS ANGELES RETAIL, LOS ANGELES RETAILERS, Los Angeles Times, macy's, may company, May Company Southern California, May Robinson, MBA, modesto, national retail federation, New york Times, nrf, NYT, plummer & associates, plummer and associates, Plummersearch, plummersearch.com, private companies, retail, retail careers, retail executive recruiters, retail executive search, retail executive search firms, retail recruiters, retailers, retailexecutivesearch.com, retailexecutivesearchfirms.com, retailing, Robinson May, Robinson's, shop TV, skywalker, Southern California History, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RETAIL, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RETAILERS, Specialty retail, stores, Supply Chain, susan gill, USC, wholesale
Posted in CALIFORNIA STORES, Retail Postcards | 10 Comments »
Monday, January 10th, 2011
HAHNE & COMPANY
Downtown Newark 1905
Hahne and Company was founded in 1858 by Julius Hahne. The first store was a specialty store and later grew into an up-scale department store known for catering to the carriage trade and for friendly service.
In 1906 a new store was built on Broad Street in downtown Newark. The 441,000 square foot building had four floors plus a basement. An atrium in the center of the building allowed sunlight into all the floors to compensate for the lack of good electrical lighting.)
To the delight of the children, the basement had a merry-go-round. The Toy department was also located in the basement along with Housewares, Small Electrics, Sporting Goods, Luggage, Televisions, and the Budget Store.
The store had two restaurants. The Pine Room, a wood paneled fine dining area on the street level, was formal and until the late 1970’s had a dress code for patrons. The Maple Room, located in the basement and offering counter service, appealed to downtown workers. It closed in the 1980’s when the basement selling floor was closed.
In 1929, the company opened the first suburban store in Montclair, New Jersey. Later, suburban stores were opened in Westfield, Livingston, Monmouth, Quaker Bridge, Woodbridge, and Rockaway.
Hahne and Company was a founding member of Associated Dry Goods when the company formed in 1916. Other founding members included: H.B. Clafin & Co (NYC), Lord & Taylor (NYC), Stewart & Co (Baltimore), Heneger’s (Buffalo), and J.N. Adam & Co. (Buffalo). This grouping of companies helped each division secure needed financing and also helped combine buying power.
What happened???? The company became too focused on its downtown store in Newark. As a result, when the Newark retail market declined in the 1960’s and 1970’s, the business did not stand out in the New Jersey market. A&S, Lord & Taylor, and Bloomingdale’s moved into the better suburban markets in New Jersey and left little room for Hahne’s. In 1986, the parent, Associated Dry Goods, was sold to The May Company Department Stores. The downtown store closed in 1987 and the corporate headquarters were moved to the newly acquired store in Paramus. Since there was not much difference between a Hahne’s store and the May Company’s Lord & Taylor division, the decision was made to close the Hahne’s stores and replace some with Lord & Taylor stores.
In the late 1970’s while working for A&S, I visited many of the Hahne’s stores. One of my colleagues from Bullock’s had also joined the company. I found the stores to be wonderful up-scale stores with excellent customer service. However, the stores were never full of customers and you could see the facilities were in need of new investment.
Hahne & Co - 1906
Hahne & Co - 1906
Hahne & Co. - 1907
50th Anniversary - 1908
Golden Jubilee/50th Anniversary - 1908
Hahne & Co - 1910
Hahne & Co - Inside Atrium - 1910
Hahne & Co. - Santa Greetings - 1906
NOTE: These postcards are part of the Plummer Collection. You will need permission from John Plummer at Plummer & Associates to reprint or copy any of these postcards.
Tags: A&S, Abraham & Strauss, Assocaited Dry Goods, Bamburger's, bloomingdales, Department Store History, DEPARTMENT STORE POSTCARDS, department stores, executive search firms, fashion, Fashion Department Stores, fashion history, Fashion Institute, Fashion Retail History, FEDERATED DEPARTMENT STORES, Gertz, Hahne & Company, Hahne and Company, Hahne's Department Stores, heidi plummer, Lord & Taylor, macy's, may company, modesto, national retail federationstores, New Jersery Retail History, New Jersey Department Stores, New Jersey Retail, New York Department Stores, New York Retail, New york Times, Newark, Newark New Jersey, Newark Retail, nrf, plummer & associates, Plummersearch, plummersearch.com, POSTCARDS, retail executive recruiters, retail executive search firms, Retail History, retail recruiters, retailexecutivesearch.com, retailexecutivesearchfirms.com, skywalker, Specialty retail, Specialty Retail History, susan gill, USC, WWD
Posted in NEW JERSEY STORES, Retail Postcards | 6 Comments »
Saturday, January 8th, 2011
HAMBURGERS/Peoples Store
Downtown Los Angeles . 1910
Alex Hamberger opened his first store, The People’s Store, on Main Street in Los Angeles. Because of the success of that store, he opened A. Hamburger & Son in 1908 in a new building at 8th & Broadway Streets. The building was Beaux Arts and designed by Alfred F. Rosenheim, a well-regarded architect. The store boasted as having the ‘largest aisle in the West”. The building offered open floors. The Arrow Theatre was located on the fifth floor. The store served the value-oriented customer in Los Angeles. Probably the biggest mistake was to locate the store at 8th and Broadway Streets, one block south of Bullock’s at 7th and Broadway. By then the better stores started to move West on 7th Street. In 1923, the partners of the May Department Stores Company acquired Hamburger’s and converted the store’s name to May Company. Later it became known as May Southern California. The building was closed as a retail store in the 1980′s. Today, the building is the home to the Broadway Trade Center. Hamburger’s claimed the store was the largest in the West. It also boasted about the length of the main aisle and the openess of the construction.
For more history of this retail building, I refer you to our blog on May Company in Southern California.
Postcard of the Hamburger’s store are shown below. If there is anyone around who has memories of Hamburger’s before it became May Company, I hope you will memorialize your experiences in the Comments Section for others to see and enjoy. Obviously, I only knew the downtown building when it was occupied by May Company- Southern California. My family did tell me that the original store was Hamburger’s, but they did not tell me much about the store other than that there was a public library in the building.
Downtown Los Angeles . 1920
Mail Aisle
Dental and Manicure Departments
Women's Shoes/Men's Clothing
Silver & Jewelry/Ladies Restroom/Pictures/Art
Millinery/Trimmed Hats/Coaks/French Gowns
Furniture/Piano/Doll/Drapery/Infant Wear Departments
Soda & Candy/Cigar/Drug/Book Departments
Dinnerware/Cut Glass/Home Decor/Lamp Departments
Broadway and Eighth September 1909 Celebrating Elk's Convention
NOTE: These postcards are part of the Plummer collection. You must have John Plummer’s written permission to copy or reproduce any of these postcards.
Tags: A Hamburger & Sons, Alex Hamburger, Associated Dry Goods, Beaux Arts, defunct department stores, Department Store History, DEPARTMENT STORE POSTCARDS, department stores, Downtown Los Angeles History, executive search firms, fashion, Fashion Institute, FEDERATED DEPARTMENT STORES, Hamburger's Department Store, J.W. Robinson & Co, J.W. Robinsons, john plummer, los angeles, Los Angeles History, Los Angeles Postcards, LOS ANGELES RETAIL, LOS ANGELES RETAILERS, Los Angeles Times, macy's, may company, May Company Department Stores, May Company Los Angeles, May Company Southern California, May Robinson's, modesto, People's Store, plummer & associates, plummer and associaes, Plummersearch, plummersearch.com, POSTCARDS, retail executive recruiters, retail executive search, retail executive search firms, Retail History, retail recruiters, retailexecutivesearchfirms.com, Robinson's Department Stores, Robinson's May, skywalker, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RETAIL, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RETAILERS, USC, Womens Wear Daily
Posted in CALIFORNIA STORES, Retail Postcards | 14 Comments »
