Gus Mayer
Encyclopedia
Gus Mayer is a Birmingham
, Alabama
based, family-owned, upscale specialty department store that caters to upper-end clientele and is known for its high-end fashions. The two-store chain is owned by the Pizitz Management Group. It has locations at the Colonial Brookwood Village
in the Greater Birmingham area and The Mall at Green Hills
in Nashville
, both of which are known as high-end retail centers.
Typical brands carried include 7 for all Mankind, Juicy Couture
, Dolce & Gabbana
, Roberto Cavalli
, Gianfranco Ferré
, Michael Kors
, Zang Toi
, Zac Posen
, Lela Rose
, St. John, Monique Lhuillier
, and Burberry
.
It was founded in the year 1900; the original Gus Mayer department store was located on Canal Street
in downtown
New Orleans. At one time, there were more than 20 Gus Mayer stores across the Southeast and Southwest.
The first Birmingham location opened in 1922 in the Retail Block behind the Molton Hotel on 5th Avenue North. Later the store was located at 2240 Highland Avenue in the Bottega Favorita location, now home to Bottega Restaurant & Cafe. Two years after the Brookwood Village mall opened in 1973 the store moved there.
In 1975, when the stores were being sold off individually, the Pizitz family purchased the Birmingham operation and later added the Nashville location. These two are the only remaining Gus Mayer stores today.
In 2002 the Colonial Brookwood Village
store was relocated and expanded along with the renovations to the mall. Hambrecht Oleson Design Associates of New York designed the new 21000 square feet (1,951 m²) store with local architects Crawford, McWilliams and Hatcher.
The shoe salons at Gus Mayer, which include a full-line Stuart Weitzman
boutique and a Cole Haan
concept salon, are owned independently by David Kraselsky, who leases the store space.
In 2010 the Gus Mayer at Colonial Brookwood Village
made plans to move to The Summit as part of an updating of the store's merchandising strategy sometime around Valentine's Day, 2011.. The new 15000 square feet (1,393.5 m²) store was also designed by Hambrecht Oleson. Bayer Properties petitioned the City of Birmingham for $500,000 in tax abatement incentives for the deal.
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Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
based, family-owned, upscale specialty department store that caters to upper-end clientele and is known for its high-end fashions. The two-store chain is owned by the Pizitz Management Group. It has locations at the Colonial Brookwood Village
Colonial Brookwood Village
Colonial Brookwood Village is a upscale shopping mall located near Birmingham in "the cities of Mountain Brook and Homewood, Alabama". - History :...
in the Greater Birmingham area and The Mall at Green Hills
Mall at Green Hills
The Mall at Green Hills is a regional shopping mall in the upscale Green Hills commercial and residential district of Nashville. It has over 100 stores on two floors totaling...
in Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, both of which are known as high-end retail centers.
Typical brands carried include 7 for all Mankind, Juicy Couture
Juicy Couture
Juicy Couture is a contemporary line of both casual and dressy apparel based in Arleta, Los Angeles, California founded by Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor in 1996...
, Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana is an Italian luxury industry fashion house. The company was started by the Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana in Milan, Italy. By 2005 their turnover was €597 million....
, Roberto Cavalli
Roberto Cavalli
Roberto Cavalli is an Italian fashion designer from Florence.-Biography:Roberto Cavalli was born in Florence, Tuscany. His grandfather, Giuseppe Rossi, was a member of the Macchiaioli Movement, whose work is exhibited in the Uffizi Gallery. Cavalli decided to enroll at the local Art Institute,...
, Gianfranco Ferré
Gianfranco Ferrè
Gianfranco Ferré was a fashion designer also known as "the architect of fashion" for his background and his original attitude toward creating fashion design....
, Michael Kors
Michael Kors
Michael Kors is an American fashion designer. He is best known for designing classic American sportswear for women.-Personal life:...
, Zang Toi
Zang Toi
-Early life:He was born in the Kuala Krai district in the state of Kelantan on 11 June 1961.Toi left his native Malaysia at the age of eighteen, and via Toronto, landed in New York a year later. There he attended Parsons School of Design and apprenticed with Mary Jane Marcasiano and Ronaldus Shamask...
, Zac Posen
Zac Posen
- Early life :Posen was raised in the SoHo neighborhood of lower Manhattan, the son of artist Stephen Posen and corporate lawyer Susan Posen. His interest in fashion design started early, and as a child he would steal yarmulkes from his grandparents' synagogue to make ball dresses for dolls...
, Lela Rose
Lela Rose
Lela Rose is an American fashion designer.Lela grew up in Dallas, Texas. She attended University of Colorado where she was a painting and sculpture major and graduated in 1991. She had a business in college making vests from vintage scarves and decided to go into fashion...
, St. John, Monique Lhuillier
Monique Lhuillier
Diane Monique Lhuillier is a fashion designer most prominently known for bridal wear. She owns a couture fashion house based in Los Angeles, California....
, and Burberry
Burberry
Burberry Group plc is a British luxury fashion house, manufacturing clothing, fragrance, and fashion accessories. Its distinctive tartan pattern has become one of its most widely copied trademarks. Burberry is most famous for its iconic trench coat, which was invented by founder Thomas Burberry...
.
It was founded in the year 1900; the original Gus Mayer department store was located on Canal Street
Canal Street, New Orleans
Canal Street is a major thoroughfare in the city of New Orleans. Forming the upriver boundary of the city's oldest neighborhood, the French Quarter , it acted as the dividing line between the older French/Spanish Colonial-era city and the newer American Sector, today's Central Business District.The...
in downtown
New Orleans Central Business District
The Central Business District is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the French Quarter/CBD Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Iberville, Decatur and Canal Streets to the north, the Mississippi River to the east, the New Orleans Morial...
New Orleans. At one time, there were more than 20 Gus Mayer stores across the Southeast and Southwest.
The first Birmingham location opened in 1922 in the Retail Block behind the Molton Hotel on 5th Avenue North. Later the store was located at 2240 Highland Avenue in the Bottega Favorita location, now home to Bottega Restaurant & Cafe. Two years after the Brookwood Village mall opened in 1973 the store moved there.
In 1975, when the stores were being sold off individually, the Pizitz family purchased the Birmingham operation and later added the Nashville location. These two are the only remaining Gus Mayer stores today.
In 2002 the Colonial Brookwood Village
Colonial Brookwood Village
Colonial Brookwood Village is a upscale shopping mall located near Birmingham in "the cities of Mountain Brook and Homewood, Alabama". - History :...
store was relocated and expanded along with the renovations to the mall. Hambrecht Oleson Design Associates of New York designed the new 21000 square feet (1,951 m²) store with local architects Crawford, McWilliams and Hatcher.
The shoe salons at Gus Mayer, which include a full-line Stuart Weitzman
Stuart Weitzman
Stuart A. Weitzman is the designer of the international, high-end shoe company, Stuart Weitzman.Stuart Weitzman's trademark use of unique materials , and his attention to detail, garnered him and his company a global following...
boutique and a Cole Haan
Cole Haan
Cole Haan is a fashion label that was founded in Chicago, Illinois, United States, in 1928.The name comes from founders Trafton Cole and Eddie Haan. Originally Cole Haan was a men's footwear label...
concept salon, are owned independently by David Kraselsky, who leases the store space.
In 2010 the Gus Mayer at Colonial Brookwood Village
Colonial Brookwood Village
Colonial Brookwood Village is a upscale shopping mall located near Birmingham in "the cities of Mountain Brook and Homewood, Alabama". - History :...
made plans to move to The Summit as part of an updating of the store's merchandising strategy sometime around Valentine's Day, 2011.. The new 15000 square feet (1,393.5 m²) store was also designed by Hambrecht Oleson. Bayer Properties petitioned the City of Birmingham for $500,000 in tax abatement incentives for the deal.
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