Abraham & Straus
Encyclopedia
Abraham & Straus was a major New York City
department store
, based in Brooklyn
. Founded in 1865, in 1929 it became part of Federated Department Stores
, which eliminated the A&S brand shortly after its 1994 acquisition of R.H. Macy & Company. Most A&S stores took the Macy's name, although a few became part of Stern's
, another Federated division that offered lower-end goods than did Macy's or A&S.
, opened in 1865, was 25 feet by 90 feet. Abraham Abraham
, age 22, and Joseph Wechsler each contributed $5,000 for the purchase. In 1883, the firm bought the recently built Second Empire cast-iron
Wheeler Building at 422 Fulton Street to be their flagship store.
On April 1, 1893, Nathan Straus
, Isidor Straus
and Simon F. Rothschild as partners – the Straus brothers provided the financing, but Rothschild was the active partner – bought out Wechsler, and the firm became Abraham & Straus. At the time, the company had 2,000 employees. Simon F. Rothschild, Abraham's son-in-law, Edward Charles Blum, and son, Lawrence Abraham, became partners in the new firm.
to serve customers.
In 1912, Isidor Straus, along with his wife Ida, perished in the sinking of the Titanic.
Around 1915, after Abraham's daughter married Isidor's son Percy Selden Straus, the Straus family divided up the empire with Nathan's family running A&S and Isidor's family running Macy's.
Beginning in 1928, the company embarked on a $7.8 million expansion of the Fulton Street Store, which included excavating a new basement without disturbing customers above. The renovated store opened October 10, just days before the Wall Street Crash of 1929
. In 1929, the company also joined Filene's
, Lazarus
and Bloomingdale's
to form Federated Department Stores. To economize during the Depression, the company began scheduling employees according to hourly sales. In addition, all employees took a 10 percent pay cut. No employees were laid off.
In 1937, Walter N. Rothschild led the company, and would be president and chairman until 1955. Following Rothschild, Sidney L. Solomon became the company's first non-family president. At the time, the company had 12,000 employees. The company grew after World War II. Its first new branch store opened in 1952 in Hempstead
, following the 1950 purchase of Loeser's Garden City
store. In the following decades, the company expanded throughout the New York metropolitan area. Among its expansions was an anchor store at Paramus Park
in Paramus, New Jersey, which necessitated the building of an access road that, despite the conversion of the store to Macy's, is still today known as A&S Drive.
In 1981 and 1982 the chain opened two stores at malls in the suburban Philadelphia market, The Court at King of Prussia, and Willow Grove Park Mall
. These new stores struggled to find their niche, and the two Pennsylvania stores were closed in 1987, and 1988 and occupied by Philadelphia based Strawbridge and Clothier. The Short Hills, New Jersey store seemed out of place in the very upscale mall, and customers resisted what were seen to be the store's more rigid policies concerning check acceptance, inter-store transfers, and refunds. Eventually A & S would stock the Short Hills location with merchandise that was more befitting the location.
. For their 1928 to 1930 renovations and additions, the company hired architects Starrett & van Vleck
to build an Art Deco
addition that faces Fulton, Hoyt and Livingston Streets. In 2003, the Brooklyn Heights Association and the Municipal Art Society put the building on a list of 28 historic buildings in downtown Brooklyn that needed to be protected.
In the mid 1970s, Abraham & Straus Flagship Store made Mannequin
Modeling famous. Linda Timmins, head of the division, selected one juvenile and ingénue with "The Editorial Look" from each of the High Schools across the Brooklyn and Manhattan area. The schools and its students were also selected for high academic standing; Manhattan's Performing Arts High School Yvette Post and Metropolitan Opera
Juvenile Star Robert Westin and Brooklyn's Abraham Lincoln High School's Alan Jay Kahm and its Head Cheerleader Paula Gallo as well as Maria Russo of Catherine McAuley High School (Brooklyn)
were some of the few selected to represent the youth of New York. These "Mannequin Models" would pose for up to an hour at a time in the windows of the store as "Living Mannequins" wearing Classic Designer Clothes to the fashions of the day designed by Nik Nik and Pierre Cardin
.
The Store had to stop Mannequin Modeling in their store front windows as crowds would stop traffic and became a safety hazard. Abraham & Straus had to restrict their Living Mannequins to Mannequin Model inside their flagship store or face a stiff penalty from the City of New York. The crowds still came. Each season, the young Mannequin Models would actually be allowed to move in order to do an in-store Runway Show for the Designer de Jour. Though it was the 70s, you would never find a polyester suit nor non-designer outfit adorned by any of the models. The Brooklyn Flagship Store was the unrivaled gem of New York City department stores. The cost alone to maintain such an elegant store would be prohibitive in today’s market.
However, unlike countless numbers of downtown Department Stores that have closed throughout the nation, this historic location continues as a Macy's. At 1012000 sq ft (94,017.9 m²), it is the second-largest Macy's in the New York City area. Macy's utilizes the Lower level through 5th floor for retail departments, the 6th floor for seasonal merchandise, and a beauty salon, and upper floors for a number of corporate departments. Display window
s continued to be maintained along Fulton Street, and the elevator bank in the middle of the street floor continues to evoke hints of this building's elegant past. The passenger elevators at this location were among the last in all of New York City to be converted from manual operator to automatic use. Macy's has continued to reaffirm its commitment to this location, and increased residential building in the downtown area should lead to increased utilization.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
, based in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. Founded in 1865, in 1929 it became part of Federated Department Stores
Federated Department Stores
Macy's, Inc. is a department store holding company and owner of Macy's and Bloomingdale's department stores. Macy's Inc.'s stores specialize mostly in retail clothing, jewelery, watches, dinnerware, and furniture....
, which eliminated the A&S brand shortly after its 1994 acquisition of R.H. Macy & Company. Most A&S stores took the Macy's name, although a few became part of Stern's
Stern's
Stern's was a regional department store chain serving the U.S. states of New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. The chain was in business for more than 130 years, prior to its 2001 integration into Macy's and Bloomingdale's...
, another Federated division that offered lower-end goods than did Macy's or A&S.
Timeline
- 1865 - Founded in Brooklyn as Wechsler & Abraham by Abraham AbrahamAbraham AbrahamAbraham Abraham was an American businessman and the founder of the Brooklyn, New York department store Abraham & Straus, founded 1865...
and Joseph Wechsler - 1893 - The Straus family, who acquired a general partnership with Macy's department stores in 1888, buys out Joseph Wechsler's interest in Wechsler & Abraham, changing the store's name to Abraham & Straus. While Abraham & Straus did not become a part of Macy's, the two stores did share an overseas office and maintained close ties.
- 1929 - Federated Department Stores, Inc. is formed as a holding company by several family-owned department stores, including Abraham & Straus and F&R Lazarus & Co.Lazarus (department store)F&R Lazarus & Company — commonly known as Lazarus — was a regional department store retail chain operating primarily in the U.S. Midwest, and based in Columbus, Ohio...
(along with its CincinnatiCincinnati, OhioCincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
-based subsidiary, Shillito's) and Filene's of BostonBostonBoston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. Corporate offices established in ColumbusColumbus, OhioColumbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, OhioOhioOhio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, later moved to Cincinnati. - 1992 - Federated Department Stores, merges with Allied Stores Corporation. A consolidation of the A&S and Jordan MarshJordan MarshJordan Marsh & Company was a department store in Boston, Massachusetts, which grew to be a major regional chain in the New England area of the United States. In 1996, the last of the Jordan Marsh stores were converted to Macy's. The store was formerly part of Allied Stores and then Federated...
divisions results in the A&S/Jordan Marsh division, headquartered in Brooklyn, NY. Early in the new year, Macy's files for protection under Chapter 11. - 1994 - Federated Department Stores acquires the now bankrupt R.H. Macy & Company, and combines Macy's, headquartered in New York City, with A&S/Jordan Marsh.
- 1995 - The name Abraham & Straus is dropped in favor of the more widely known name Macy's, and Macy's EastMacy's EastMacy's East, New York, New York is a division of Macy's, Inc.. It is the operating successor to the original R.H. Macy & Co., Inc. and operates the Macy's department stores in the northeast U.S. and Puerto Rico. Over the years it has been known as Macy's New York and Macy's Northeast...
is formed. Other A&S locations were converted to Stern's. - 2006 - A historic memorial bronze plaque acknowledging Isidor and Ida Straus and their death during the sinking of the Titanic was removed during a 34th Street store renovation and returned to the Straus family.
Founding and early history
The first Brooklyn store, at 285 Fulton StreetFulton Street (Brooklyn)
Fulton Street, named after engineer Robert Fulton, exists mainly in two parts in what are today two boroughs of New York City which Fulton linked by his steam ferries, and each segment has its own distinct identity. This entry deals with Fulton Street in Brooklyn, which now begins at the...
, opened in 1865, was 25 feet by 90 feet. Abraham Abraham
Abraham Abraham
Abraham Abraham was an American businessman and the founder of the Brooklyn, New York department store Abraham & Straus, founded 1865...
, age 22, and Joseph Wechsler each contributed $5,000 for the purchase. In 1883, the firm bought the recently built Second Empire cast-iron
Cast-iron architecture
Cast-iron architecture is a form of architecture where cast iron plays a central role. It was a prominent style in the Industrial Revolution era when cast iron was relatively cheap and modern steel had not yet been developed.-Structural use:...
Wheeler Building at 422 Fulton Street to be their flagship store.
On April 1, 1893, Nathan Straus
Nathan Straus
Nathan Straus was an American merchant and philanthropist who co-owned two of New York City's biggest department stores – R.H...
, Isidor Straus
Isidor Straus
Isidor Straus —a German Jewish American—was co-owner of the Macy's department store with his brother Nathan. He also served briefly as a member of the United States House of Representatives...
and Simon F. Rothschild as partners – the Straus brothers provided the financing, but Rothschild was the active partner – bought out Wechsler, and the firm became Abraham & Straus. At the time, the company had 2,000 employees. Simon F. Rothschild, Abraham's son-in-law, Edward Charles Blum, and son, Lawrence Abraham, became partners in the new firm.
1900–1969
By 1900, the company had 4,650 employees. From the 1890s to the 1920s, A&S utilized a system of catalog store agencies across Long IslandLong Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
to serve customers.
In 1912, Isidor Straus, along with his wife Ida, perished in the sinking of the Titanic.
Around 1915, after Abraham's daughter married Isidor's son Percy Selden Straus, the Straus family divided up the empire with Nathan's family running A&S and Isidor's family running Macy's.
Beginning in 1928, the company embarked on a $7.8 million expansion of the Fulton Street Store, which included excavating a new basement without disturbing customers above. The renovated store opened October 10, just days before the Wall Street Crash of 1929
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...
. In 1929, the company also joined Filene's
Filene's
Filene's was a Boston-based department store owned by Federated Department Stores , and May Department Stores . It operated throughout New England and in New York.-Early years:...
, Lazarus
Lazarus (department store)
F&R Lazarus & Company — commonly known as Lazarus — was a regional department store retail chain operating primarily in the U.S. Midwest, and based in Columbus, Ohio...
and Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's is an American department store owned by Macy's, Inc. .Bloomingdale's started in 1861 when brothers Joseph and Lyman G. Bloomingdale started selling hoop-skirts in their Ladies Notions' Shop on Manhattan's Lower East Side...
to form Federated Department Stores. To economize during the Depression, the company began scheduling employees according to hourly sales. In addition, all employees took a 10 percent pay cut. No employees were laid off.
In 1937, Walter N. Rothschild led the company, and would be president and chairman until 1955. Following Rothschild, Sidney L. Solomon became the company's first non-family president. At the time, the company had 12,000 employees. The company grew after World War II. Its first new branch store opened in 1952 in Hempstead
Hempstead (village), New York
Hempstead is a village located in the town of Hempstead, Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 53,891 at the 2010 census.Hofstra University is located on the border between Hempstead and Uniondale.-Foundation:...
, following the 1950 purchase of Loeser's Garden City
Garden City, New York
Garden City is a village in the town of Hempstead in central Nassau County, New York, in the United States. It was founded by multi-millionaire Alexander Turney Stewart in 1869, and is located on Long Island, to the east of New York City, from mid-town Manhattan, and just south of the town of...
store. In the following decades, the company expanded throughout the New York metropolitan area. Among its expansions was an anchor store at Paramus Park
Paramus Park
Paramus Park is a shopping center located on From Road in Paramus, New Jersey, United States, sandwiched between Route 17 and the Garden State Parkway, a little more than two miles north of Route 4. The mall is owned by General Growth Properties and offers a Gross leasable area of...
in Paramus, New Jersey, which necessitated the building of an access road that, despite the conversion of the store to Macy's, is still today known as A&S Drive.
1970–1995
In the 1970s, Federated attempted to update the image of A & S, and funded the construction of new, more upscale stores. A & S developed a new logo that once again branded the stores Abraham and Straus. The company opened a central Distribution Center which decreased the amount of non-selling space needed in each store. In 1978 the firm opened the first of its more upscale stores at the Monmouth Mall in Eatontown, NJ. This was followed by stores in White Plains in 1980, Mall at Short Hills in 1981, and a replacement for the chain's Babylon, Long Island store at Westfield Sunrise.In 1981 and 1982 the chain opened two stores at malls in the suburban Philadelphia market, The Court at King of Prussia, and Willow Grove Park Mall
Willow Grove Park Mall
Willow Grove Park Mall is a three-story shopping mall located in the unincorporated community of Willow Grove in Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania at the intersection of Easton Road and Moreland Road...
. These new stores struggled to find their niche, and the two Pennsylvania stores were closed in 1987, and 1988 and occupied by Philadelphia based Strawbridge and Clothier. The Short Hills, New Jersey store seemed out of place in the very upscale mall, and customers resisted what were seen to be the store's more rigid policies concerning check acceptance, inter-store transfers, and refunds. Eventually A & S would stock the Short Hills location with merchandise that was more befitting the location.
Fulton Street flagship store
From the beginning, the company had high aspirations. In 1885, the company hired architect George L. Morse to work on the Fulton Street store in Downtown BrooklynDowntown Brooklyn
Downtown Brooklyn is the third largest central business district in New York City , and is located in the northwestern section of the borough of Brooklyn...
. For their 1928 to 1930 renovations and additions, the company hired architects Starrett & van Vleck
Starrett & van Vleck
The architectural firm of Starrett & van Vleck specialized in the design of early 20th century department stores primarily in New York City. The partner Goldwin Starrett had worked for four years in the Chicago office of Daniel Burnham. Included in their designs were the New York City flagship...
to build an Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
addition that faces Fulton, Hoyt and Livingston Streets. In 2003, the Brooklyn Heights Association and the Municipal Art Society put the building on a list of 28 historic buildings in downtown Brooklyn that needed to be protected.
In the mid 1970s, Abraham & Straus Flagship Store made Mannequin
Mannequin
A mannequin is an often articulated doll used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, and others especially to display or fit clothing...
Modeling famous. Linda Timmins, head of the division, selected one juvenile and ingénue with "The Editorial Look" from each of the High Schools across the Brooklyn and Manhattan area. The schools and its students were also selected for high academic standing; Manhattan's Performing Arts High School Yvette Post and Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
Juvenile Star Robert Westin and Brooklyn's Abraham Lincoln High School's Alan Jay Kahm and its Head Cheerleader Paula Gallo as well as Maria Russo of Catherine McAuley High School (Brooklyn)
Catherine McAuley High School (Brooklyn)
Catherine McAuley High School is an all-girls, private, Roman Catholic high school in Brooklyn, New York. Founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1942, it is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn.-Background:...
were some of the few selected to represent the youth of New York. These "Mannequin Models" would pose for up to an hour at a time in the windows of the store as "Living Mannequins" wearing Classic Designer Clothes to the fashions of the day designed by Nik Nik and Pierre Cardin
Pierre Cardin
Pierre Cardin Cardin was known for his avant-garde style and his Space Age designs. He prefers geometric shapes and motifs, often ignoring the female form. He advanced into unisex fashions, sometimes experimental, and not always practical...
.
The Store had to stop Mannequin Modeling in their store front windows as crowds would stop traffic and became a safety hazard. Abraham & Straus had to restrict their Living Mannequins to Mannequin Model inside their flagship store or face a stiff penalty from the City of New York. The crowds still came. Each season, the young Mannequin Models would actually be allowed to move in order to do an in-store Runway Show for the Designer de Jour. Though it was the 70s, you would never find a polyester suit nor non-designer outfit adorned by any of the models. The Brooklyn Flagship Store was the unrivaled gem of New York City department stores. The cost alone to maintain such an elegant store would be prohibitive in today’s market.
However, unlike countless numbers of downtown Department Stores that have closed throughout the nation, this historic location continues as a Macy's. At 1012000 sq ft (94,017.9 m²), it is the second-largest Macy's in the New York City area. Macy's utilizes the Lower level through 5th floor for retail departments, the 6th floor for seasonal merchandise, and a beauty salon, and upper floors for a number of corporate departments. Display window
Display window
A display window is a window in a shop displaying items for sale or otherwise designed to attract customers to the store. Usually, the term refers to larger windows in the front façade of the shop...
s continued to be maintained along Fulton Street, and the elevator bank in the middle of the street floor continues to evoke hints of this building's elegant past. The passenger elevators at this location were among the last in all of New York City to be converted from manual operator to automatic use. Macy's has continued to reaffirm its commitment to this location, and increased residential building in the downtown area should lead to increased utilization.