Kresge-Newark
Encyclopedia
Kresge-Newark was an upper-middle market department store
based in Newark, New Jersey
. The firm was started in the 1920s when its founder Sebastian Kresge
purchased the Plautt Department store in downtown Newark and rebranded the business Kresge-Newark. This store had no management connection to the S.S. Kresge
5 & 10 chain based in Detroit, Michigan. Kresge built a handsome flagship store that occupied an entire city block. between Broad and Halsey streets, and Cedar Street and Raymond Boulevard. It contained more than 600000 square feet (55,741.8 m²) of selling space on ten levels (nine stories plus a basement store). Such was the store's prominence in the city that in 1927 it arranged to have a subway platform opened at its basement level, allowing customers to come in directly from streetcars; the only access was through the store.
The firm positioned itself between its popular priced rival, Bamberger's, and its more upscale competitor, Hahne & Company. Kresge was the last of Newark's department stores to remain independent, and its customer loyalty was fierce. During the Christmas selling season, Kresge's operated a monorail ride around its toy department, and its Breakfast With Santa sold out early each season.
Kresge changed with the times by opening a branch in Summit
, and in 1959 when B. Altman & Company moved its store from East Orange to Short Hills, Kresge-Newark took over the East Orange store as its location. Kresge also saw the type of business lines that discount stores were fast becoming dominant in (lawn supplies, hardware, and the like), and in turn leased the top two floors of its flagship store to the Western Electric Company for use as office space.
Kresge-Newark also took a lead in many civic improvements and was active in the early planning of the Gateway Center (which opened long after the stores demise). The store also formed an alliance with Asbury Park based Steinbach.
In 1964 with it clear that his heirs had no desire to take over the family business, the Kresge Foundation sold the stores to David Chase, and they were rebranded Chase-Newark. In 1967 Chase-Newark announced it was closing, and four selling floors of the Newark flagship were leased to the Two Guys
chain. The two branch stores were closed at this time and the downtown Newark location reopened as a Two Guys unit in the fall of 1967.
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 Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
. The firm was started in the 1920s when its founder Sebastian Kresge
S. S. Kresge
Sebastian Spering Kresge , was the founder of the S. S. Kresge Company, one of the 20th century's largest and best-known retail organizations...
purchased the Plautt Department store in downtown Newark and rebranded the business Kresge-Newark. This store had no management connection to the S.S. Kresge
Kmart
Kmart, sometimes styled as "K-Mart," is a chain of discount department stores. The chain acquired Sears in 2005, forming a new corporation under the name Sears Holdings Corporation. The company was founded in 1962 and is the third largest discount store chain in the world, behind Wal-Mart and...
5 & 10 chain based in Detroit, Michigan. Kresge built a handsome flagship store that occupied an entire city block. between Broad and Halsey streets, and Cedar Street and Raymond Boulevard. It contained more than 600000 square feet (55,741.8 m²) of selling space on ten levels (nine stories plus a basement store). Such was the store's prominence in the city that in 1927 it arranged to have a subway platform opened at its basement level, allowing customers to come in directly from streetcars; the only access was through the store.
The firm positioned itself between its popular priced rival, Bamberger's, and its more upscale competitor, Hahne & Company. Kresge was the last of Newark's department stores to remain independent, and its customer loyalty was fierce. During the Christmas selling season, Kresge's operated a monorail ride around its toy department, and its Breakfast With Santa sold out early each season.
Kresge changed with the times by opening a branch in Summit
Summit, New Jersey
Summit is a city in Union County, New Jersey, United States. At the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 21,457. Summit had the 16th-highest per capita income in the state as of the 2000 Census....
, and in 1959 when B. Altman & Company moved its store from East Orange to Short Hills, Kresge-Newark took over the East Orange store as its location. Kresge also saw the type of business lines that discount stores were fast becoming dominant in (lawn supplies, hardware, and the like), and in turn leased the top two floors of its flagship store to the Western Electric Company for use as office space.
Kresge-Newark also took a lead in many civic improvements and was active in the early planning of the Gateway Center (which opened long after the stores demise). The store also formed an alliance with Asbury Park based Steinbach.
In 1964 with it clear that his heirs had no desire to take over the family business, the Kresge Foundation sold the stores to David Chase, and they were rebranded Chase-Newark. In 1967 Chase-Newark announced it was closing, and four selling floors of the Newark flagship were leased to the Two Guys
Two Guys
Two Guys was a discount store primarily operating in the New York City metropolitan area and headquartered in northern New Jersey until the early 1980s. It was founded in 1946 in Harrison, New Jersey by brothers Sidney Hubschman and Herbert Hubschman as Two Guys from Harrison...
chain. The two branch stores were closed at this time and the downtown Newark location reopened as a Two Guys unit in the fall of 1967.