Gimbels

Last updated

Gimbels
IndustryRetail
Founded1842;182 years ago (1842)
Founder Adam Gimbel
Defunct1987;37 years ago (1987)
Fate Liquidation
SuccessorNone
Headquarters New York, New York, United States
Key people
Adam L. Gimbel
Bernard Gimbel
ProductsClothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products and housewares
Parent Formerly Gimbel Brothers Inc.
Subsidiaries Formerly Saks

Gimbel Brothers (known simply as Gimbels) was an American department store corporation that operated for over a century, from 1842 until 1987. Gimbel patriarch Adam Gimbel opened his first store in Vincennes, Indiana, in 1842. In 1887, the company moved its operations to the Gimbel Brothers Department Store in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It became a chain when it opened a second, larger store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1894, moving its headquarters there. At the urging of future company president Bernard Gimbel, grandson of the founder, the company expanded to New York City in 1910.

Contents

The company is known for creating the oldest Thanksgiving parade, the Gimbels Thanksgiving Day Parade, originating in 1920 in Philadelphia. Gimbels was also considered the chief rival of Macy's with their feud popularized in American culture. As of 1930, Gimbels had grown to 20 stores, whose sales revenue made it the largest department store chain in the world. The company expanded to a peak of 53 stores by 1965, and closed in 1987 with 35 stores in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Wisconsin, and Connecticut. [1]

History

Early history

Gimbels Building in Milwaukee Milwaukee July 2022 034 (Gimbels Building).jpg
Gimbels Building in Milwaukee

The company was founded by a young Bavarian Jewish immigrant, Adam Gimbel, who opened a general store in Vincennes, Indiana. [2] [3] After a brief stay in Danville, Illinois, Gimbel relocated in 1887 to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, [2] which was then a boomtown heavily populated by German immigrants. The new store quickly became the leading department store there. However, with seven sons, Adam Gimbel saw the opportunity to expand elsewhere.

In 1894, Gimbels—then led by the founder's son, Isaac Gimbel—acquired the Granville Haines store (originally built and operated by Cooper and Conard) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and in 1910, opened another branch in New York City. [2] With its arrival in New York, Gimbels prospered, and soon became the primary rival to the leading Herald Square retailer, Macy's, whose flagship store was located a block north. This rivalry entered into the American popular argot as "Does Macy's tell Gimbels?", an idiom used to brush off any query about matters the speaker didn't wish to divulge. To distinguish itself from Herald Square neighbors, Gimbels' advertising promised more: "Select, don't settle." [4]

Gimbels became so successful that in 1922 the chain went public, offering shares on the New York Stock Exchange (though the family retained a controlling interest). [5] The stock sales provided capital for expansion, starting with the 1923 purchase of across-the-street rival Saks & Co., [2] which operated under the name Saks-34th Street; with ownership of Saks, Gimbel created an uptown branch called Saks Fifth Avenue. [3] Moving into radio, Gimbels purchased WGBS in New York and WIP in Philadelphia. In 1925, Gimbels entered the Pittsburgh market with the purchase of Kaufmann & Baer's, [6] acquiring WCAE in the deal. Although expansion spurred talk of the stores becoming a nationwide chain, the Great Depression ended that prospect. Gimbel did increase the number of more upscale (and enormously profitable) Saks Fifth Avenue stores in the 1930s, opening branches in Chicago, Boston and San Francisco.

Success

By 1930, Gimbels had seven flagship stores throughout the country and sales of $123 million ($2.2 billion today) across 20 stores; this made Gimbel Brothers Inc. the largest department store corporation in the world. [7] By 1953, sales had risen to $300 million ($3.4 billion today). [8] In 1962, Gimbels acquired Milwaukee competitor Schuster's, and in that region operated stores from both chains for a while as Gimbels Schuster's. [7] [9] By 1965, Gimbel Brothers Inc. consisted of 53 stores throughout the country, which included 22 Gimbels, 27 Saks Fifth Avenue stores, and four Saks 34th St. [7]

Gimbels and the middle class

Gimbels' principles and merchandise sought to reflect the ideals of middle class America. Their principles consisted of "courtesy, reliability, good value, and enlightened management". [8] By using middle class values Gimbels attracted shoppers to a store that also could fit their budgets. Keeping the store plain and less extravagant than some of its competitors, Gimbels used the slogan "the customer pays for fancy frills." [8] Gimbels was about the product, not the aesthetics. By offering a wide range of cutting-edge technology in its merchandise, Gimbels reflected the ideals held by the middle class of staying up to date with technologies and carrying new appliances and merchandise at an affordable price. [10]

Merchandise

Gimbels Department Store offered a variety of merchandise and products, including home appliances, outdoor equipment, furniture, clothing, and much more. With multiple floors in its flagship stores, each floor offered a given category of merchandise. The Philadelphia Gimbels specifically offered fine jewelry, men's clothing, women's clothing, children's clothing, furniture, toys, art supplies, and appliances for the house. This store also contained The Gimbel Auditorium, Television Headquarters, a salon, and music center. With a wide variety of options Gimbels was a one stop shop that made shopping easy and accessible.

Publicity

Despite its limited presence, Gimbels was well-known nationwide, in part because of the carefully cultivated rivalry with Macy's, but also thanks to an endless stream of publicity. The New York store received considerable attention as the site of the 1939–1940 sale of art and antiquities from the William Randolph Hearst collection. [11] Gimbels also gained publicity from the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street , the 1967 film Fitzwilly , and was frequently mentioned as a shopping destination of Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz on the hit 1950s TV series I Love Lucy .

The Slinky made its debut at the northeast Philadelphia Gimbels store. [12] The Philadelphia Gimbels was also the first department store in the world to move customers from floor to floor via the escalator. [13]

Gimbels Thanksgiving Day Parade

The idea of a department-store parade originated in 1920 with Gimbels Department Store in Philadelphia with the parade now known as the 6abc Dunkin' Donuts Thanksgiving Day Parade. The Gimbel family saw the parade as a way to promote holiday shopping at its various store locations. Macy's did not start a parade until 1924. When Gimbels ceased operating in 1986, television station WPVI assumed responsibility for the parade, with sponsorship by Reading, Pennsylvania–based Boscov's. Currently, Dunkin' Donuts is the chief sponsor of the parade. [8]

Acquisition and closure

Brown & Williamson, the American subsidiary of  British American Tobacco, a diversified conglomerate based in Louisville, Kentucky, acquired Gimbels in 1973. [14] Brown & Williamson also owned  Marshall Field's  (purchased in 1982),  Frederick & Nelson,  The Crescent  stores, and  Kohl's  (purchased in 1972). [14] Brown & Williamson later created the  BATUS Retail Group  as a subsidiary company for its retail holdings. [7]

BATUS initially left the Gimbels chain in the four autonomous divisions that had been established under Gimbel family ownership: Gimbels New York, Gimbels Philadelphia, Gimbels Pittsburgh, and Gimbels Milwaukee. Each division operated independently of each other in advertising and buying. Each division offered their own charge card which could only be used at Gimbels stores in the same division. In 1983, Gimbels New York and Gimbels Philadelphia were combined into a single entity, Gimbels East, in an attempt to reduce corporate overhead. [15]

Deciding that Gimbels was a marginal performer with little potential for increased profitability, BATUS in 1986 decided to close its Gimbels division and sell its store properties. [16] Some of the more attractive branches were taken over by Stern's (Allied Stores), Pomeroy's (Allied Stores), Kaufmann's (May Department Stores), or Boston Store. [16] The cornerstone of the chain, the downtown Milwaukee store where Adam Gimbel had first found success (and supposedly the most profitable Gimbel store), was handed to BATUS sister division Marshall Field's, but eventually closed in 1997.

Store divisions

Gimbels flagship stores were located in New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee.

New York flagship store

The Gimbels New York City flagship store was located in the cluster of large department stores that surrounded Herald Square, in Midtown Manhattan. Designed by architect Daniel Burnham, the structure, which once offered 27 acres (110,000 m2) of sales space, has since been modernized and entirely revamped. When this building opened, on September 29, 1910, a major selling point was its many doors leading to the Herald Square New York City Subway station. Due to such easy access, by the time Gimbels closed in 1986, this store had the highest rate of "shrinkage", or shoplifting losses, in the world. [17] Doors also opened to a pedestrian passage under 32nd Street, connecting Penn Station to the 34th Street (New York City Subway) and 33rd Street (PATH) stations. This Gimbels Passageway was closed in the 1990s for security reasons during a period of high crime.

The structure was converted in 1989 to A&S Plaza, a mall named for its anchor department store, a midtown branch of Brooklyn's A&S. The store became a Stern's in 1995, and the mall was renamed Manhattan Mall. The anchor store closed in 2001 and the space was subdivided within the mall, while the upper levels were converted to offices. A new JCPenney anchor store opened in 2009, in the lower two levels. That anchor store closed in 2020 and by 2021 all stores in the mall had closed, and the building served only as office space.

The building that housed a Gimbels branch at 86th Street and Lexington Avenue remains, but has been converted to apartments. [18]

Philadelphia flagship

The Philadelphia flagship opened in 1893 when the Gimbel brothers bought the bankrupt Haines and Company dry goods store at Ninth and Market Streets. The store gradually expanded eastward to Eighth Street. [19] In 1927 an extension south to Chestnut Street was completed and the store now comprised an entire city block, [20] making it for a time the largest department store in the world. [19] In 1977 Gimbels moved to The Gallery mall across Market Street. The original buildings were demolished in 1979-1980 except for the 1927 addition which was converted to professional office spaces. [21] [22] The Gallery location closed in 1986. [19]

Pittsburgh flagship

In Pittsburgh, Starrett & van Vleck designed the downtown flagship of the Gimbels Department Store, which was built in 1914 at 339 Sixth Avenue. After Gimbels ceased operations in the late 1980s, the building sat vacant for several years and was redeveloped in the 1990s for retail, home to, among other shops, the first Barnes & Noble to open in Pittsburgh. [23] In 2002, another redevelopment changed the building to offices, and is now home to the Heinz 57 Center. [24] In 1997, it was added to the list of historic landmarks by the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation. [25]

Relationship to Saks

Saks was founded by Horace Saks in New York City. In 1923, Gimbels purchased Saks, which became a subsidiary of Gimbel Brothers, Incorporated, a publicly traded company. Adam Long Gimbel, grandson of the founder of Gimbels, Adam Gimbel, turned Saks into a national brand. In 1973, Brown & Williamson, who later formed BATUS Inc., acquired Gimbel Bros. and the Saks Fifth Avenue brand. [7] BATUS closed Gimbels in 1986, [7] and subsequently sold Saks to Investcorp S.A. in 1990. [26]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saks Fifth Avenue</span> Multinational department store chain founded in the United States

Saks Fifth Avenue is an American luxury brand associated with Saks, a luxury ecommerce platform, and SFA stores, a chain of high-end department stores in North America. Founded by Andrew Saks, it is headquartered in New York City. The original Saks opened in the F Street shopping district of Washington, D.C. in 1867. Saks expanded into Manhattan with its Herald Square store in 1902 and flagship store on Fifth Avenue in 1924. The chain was acquired by Tennessee-based Proffitt's, Inc. in 1998, and Saks, Inc. was acquired by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macy's</span> American department store chain

Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It has been a sister brand to the Bloomingdale's department store chain since being acquired by holding company Federated Department Stores in 1994, which renamed itself Macy's, Inc. in 2007. It is the largest department store company by retail sales in the United States as of 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicollet Mall</span> Shopping, transit and pedestrian space in Minneapolis

Nicollet Mall is a twelve-block portion of Nicollet Avenue running through Downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is a shopping and dining district of the city, and also a pedestrian mall and transit mall. Along with Hennepin Avenue to the west, Nicollet Mall forms the cultural and commercial center of Minneapolis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stern's</span> Department store chain in the northeast U.S.

Stern's was a regional department store chain serving the U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The chain was in business for more than 130 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manhattan Mall</span> Shopping mall in New York, United States

Manhattan Mall was an indoor shopping mall at 33rd Street and Sixth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. There are entrances to the New York City Subway's 34th Street–Herald Square station and the PATH's 33rd Street station on the second basement level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herald Square</span> Intersection in Manhattan, New York

Herald Square is a major commercial intersection in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, formed by the intersection of Broadway, Sixth Avenue, and 34th Street. Named for the now-defunct New York Herald, a newspaper formerly headquartered there, it also gives its name to the surrounding area. The bow tie-shaped intersection consists of two named sections: Herald Square to the north (uptown) and Greeley Square to the south (downtown).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bloomingdale's</span> American luxury department store chain owned by Macys Inc

Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain founded in 1861 by Joseph Bloomingdale and Lyman Bloomingdale. It was acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1930, which acquired the Macy’s department store chain in 1994, when they became sister brands. Ultimately, Federated itself was renamed Macy’s, Inc. in 2007.

Marshall Field & Company was an upscale department store in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in the 19th century, it grew to become a large chain before Macy's, Inc, acquired it in 2005. Its founder, Marshall Field, was a pioneering retail magnate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monroeville Mall</span> Shopping mall in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, United States

Monroeville Mall is a shopping mall that is located in the municipality of Monroeville, Pennsylvania, east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is situated on heavily traveled U.S. Route 22 Business near the junction of Interstate 376 (I-376) and the Monroeville interchange of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The mall features JCPenney, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Macy's, in addition to a Cinemark Theatres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaufmann's</span> Department store that originated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Kaufmann's was a department store that originated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick & Nelson</span> American department store chain

Frederick & Nelson was a department store chain in the northwestern United States, based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891 as a furniture store, it later expanded to sell other types of merchandise. The company was acquired by Marshall Field & Company in 1929. By 1980, the Frederick & Nelson chain had expanded to 10 stores in two states. The company went out of business in 1992. Its former Seattle flagship store building is now occupied by the flagship Nordstrom store.

Strawbridge's, formerly Strawbridge & Clothier, was a department store in the northeastern United States, with stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. The Center City Philadelphia flagship store was, in its day, a gracious urban emporium. The retailer started adding branch stores starting in the 1930s and, by their zenith in the 1980s, enjoyed annual sales of over a billion dollars By the 1990s, Strawbridge's became part of the May Department Stores conglomerate until May's acquisition by Federated Department Stores on August 30, 2005.

The Beaver Valley Mall is a regional shopping mall located in Center Township, Pennsylvania, serving Beaver County within the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. It is owned by the Namdar Realty Group. The mall features Boscov's, Dick's Sporting Goods, JCPenney, Rural King, and a U-Haul storage center. It is vastly considered by locals to be a dead mall, with many residents opting for the Ross Park Mall in Ross Township or The Mall at Robinson in Robinson Township, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abraham & Straus</span> Former New York City department store

Abraham & Straus, commonly shortened to A&S, was a major New York City department store, based in Brooklyn. Founded in 1865, it became part of Federated Department Stores in 1929. Shortly after Federated's 1994 acquisition of R.H. Macy & Company, it eliminated the A&S brand. Most A&S stores took the Macy's name, although a few became part of Stern's, another Federated division, but one that offered lower-end goods than Macy's or A&S did.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batus Inc.</span> US subsidiary of British American Tobacco

British American Tobacco US, mostly known for its acronym BATUS, was the United States subsidiary of multinational company British American Tobacco (BAT), the world's second largest cigarette manufacturer. BATUS served as the U.S. holding company for BAT. In the 1960s, the company diversified into areas such as insurance, drink, and retail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macy's Herald Square</span> Flagship department store in New York City

Macy's Herald Square is the flagship of Macy's department store, as well as the Macy's, Inc. corporate headquarters, on Herald Square in Manhattan, New York City. The building's 2.5 million square feet (230,000 m2), which includes 1.25 million square feet (116,000 m2) of retail space, makes it the largest department store in the United States and among the largest in the world. The store has an in-store jail, Room 140, where customers suspected of shoplifting are detained.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">6abc Dunkin' Donuts Thanksgiving Day Parade</span> Annual Thanksgiving Day parade in Philadelphia, USA

The 6abc Dunkin' Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual Thanksgiving Day parade held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is currently sponsored and broadcast by ABC owned-and-operated television station WPVI-TV, through a co-sponsorship agreement with restaurant chain Dunkin'. It is currently the oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States, having been held through the Great Depression and World War II, and was created by Gimbels department store in 1920. The Gimbels Thanksgiving Day Parade was held until the department store closed operations in 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Gimbel</span> American businessman (1885–1966)

Bernard Feustman Gimbel was an American businessman and president of the Gimbels department store.

Bruce Alva Gimbel was an American businessman and president of the Gimbels department store.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saks Fifth Avenue flagship store</span> Department store in Manhattan, New York

The Saks Fifth Avenue flagship store is a department store on Fifth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The original 10-story structure at 611 Fifth Avenue has served as the flagship store of Saks Fifth Avenue since its completion in 1924. The store also occupies part of 623 Fifth Avenue, a 36-story tower completed in 1990.

References

  1. ↑ Lentz, Philip (July 24, 1986). "Gimbels Throws In The Discount Towel At Herald Square". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Bender, Marylin (July 23, 1972). "Are Gimbels' Troubles All Wrapped Up?". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  3. 1 2 "Adam Gimbel Dies Here at 75; Headed Saks Fifth Ave. Stores; Adam Gimbel, Ex-Head of Saks, Dead". The New York Times. September 10, 1969. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  4. ↑ Bernheimer, Kathryn (August 28, 2011). "NY Trivia: Would Gimbels Tell Macy's?". Boulder Jewish News.
  5. ↑ "New Gimbel Stock on Market Today; Public Offering of $12,000,000 of Preferred and 50,000 Shares of Common". The New York Times. August 7, 1922. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Store Planned for Pittsburgh". The Vindicator . Youngstown. United Press International. March 13, 1990. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Beutner, Jeff (March 8, 2016). "Yesterday's Milwaukee: Gimbels Department Store, 1925". Urban Milwaukee. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Smith, Scott S. (November 23, 2013). "Bernard Gimbel, A Force Behind Thanksgiving Parade". Investor's Business Daily . Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  9. ↑ Daykin, Tom (November 19, 2019). "Plan to put $15 million in city financing toward redevelopment of former King Drive Schuster's advances". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  10. ↑ Hepp IV, John (July 14, 2003). The Middle Class City: Transforming Space and Time in Philadelphia 1876-1926. University of Pennsylvania. pp. 148–149. ISBN   978-0812237238 . Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  11. ↑ Whitaker, Jan (April 1, 2007). Service and Style: How the American Department Store Fashioned the Middle Class. St. Martin's Press. pp. 192, 308. ISBN   978-1429909914.
  12. ↑ Townsend, Allie (February 16, 2011). "All-Time 100 Greatest Toys". Time . ISSN   0040-781X . Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  13. ↑ Couch, Ernie; Couch, Jill (June 29, 1995). Pennsylvania Trivia. Nashville: Rutledge Hill Press. p. 190. ISBN   978-1558533561.
  14. 1 2 Barmash, Isadore (January 14, 1986). "British Owner is Planning to Sell Gimbel Chain and Others in U.S." The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Company News; 2 Divisions Of Gimbels To Merge". The New York Times. March 22, 1983. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  16. 1 2 Groves, Martha (September 11, 1986). "Batus to Sell Last of Famed Gimbels Stores". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  17. ↑ Shulkin M.D., Mark Weiss (May 19, 2011). 100 Years In America: A History of a Jewish Family a Century After Immigration. Bloomington, Indiana: iUniverse. p. 30. ISBN   978-1462010431 . Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  18. ↑ Scardino, Albert (June 7, 1986). "Gimbels at 86th: A Born Loser". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  19. 1 2 3 Phillippi, Nicholas (November 24, 2014). "The Gilded Mall Of Market Street: Gimbels Had It". Hidden City. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  20. ↑ Jennings, James (May 7, 2015). "Former Gimbels Site at 9th and Chestnut Sold for Big Bucks". Philadelphia . Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  21. ↑ Arrigale, Lawrence M.; Keels, Thomas H. (2012). Philadelphia's Golden Age of Retail. Arcadia Publishing. p. 122.
  22. ↑ Greenberg, Kyrie (November 24, 2014). "We Haven't Forgotten: Gimbels Thanksgiving Parade Was The First". Hidden City. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  23. ↑ Bates, Daniel. "A Class-A Gimbels". Smart Business Magazine. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  24. ↑ "Oxford Development Company". www.oxforddevelopment.com. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  25. ↑ "Protest Against Gimbels Department Store, 1935". Clio. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  26. ↑ "Investcorp Buying Saks for $1.5 Billion : Retail: Luxury stores' British owners accept bid by international investment group". Los Angeles Times . April 25, 1990. ISSN   0458-3035 . Retrieved May 15, 2019.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.