Hedge funds strike again and ruin another business.
59
I can hardly wrap my head around the closing of L&T. It was truly my favorite store as it carried the most amazing line of beautiful, classic clothes, shoes, etc. So I say, “Screw all the people who are too lazy to leave their homes, and shop for everything online. The fall of brick and mortar retailers lay firmly in their laps.”
47
And John Wanamaker and Strawbridges, and Lit Brothers and Filene's and G. Fox and my favorite Garfinkels. Something glamorous and civil is gone and Mr. Trump is only the icing on the cake.
31
I was in Lord & Taylor on December 30. I spent a long moment looking at the plaques inside the front doors with the names of the store’s associates who fought in (died in?) WW2. It made me think of a time, before I was born, when employers valued their employees and cared for them. I read those plaques are to be saved, but I image them meeting a fate like the final scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark. They’ll soon be forgotten.
I also remember the boxes and bags with the Dorothy Shaver Rose decorating them. The rose was sadly “modernized” at some point in the past, then vanished altogether.
Anyone remember all the fabulous artwork on Bloomie’s shopping bags? Usually tied to some exciting theme. Now they’re generic dull Brown Bags.
Sad!
53
@beth, money, it is all money.
8
Stories like this make me glad I was born early enough to experience some of the grandeur of old New York that has been disappearing and is not being replaced with anything that compares. Oh, to be ten years old again, spending a rainy Saturday afternoon in Gimbel’s coin and stamp department!
54
So now we have yet more brick and mortars going out of business, disappearing from the streets that they helped make so vibrant. And as I understand it, more of the city’s streets are filled with empty shops. Glass fronted buildings with nothing inside. On so many streets. This is beyond a shame. I think it’s a sin. Sure I shop on Amazon but when I lived in Manhattan for 30 years, hitting the stores was always an adventure. Change is inevitable. That does not mean that it’s always good.
36
Nothing better than an emporium to fashion..
Ladies Paradise indeed....in Los Angeles there was
Bullocks Wilshire, and I Magnin...with furniture, lounges, and a Tea Room where models showed the latest fashions while you had lunch.......in Westchester County, where I grew up, there was the trip to Lord and Taylor in Eastchester, followed by a lunch at Schraffts......a rite of passage that will never be forgotten....my dear friend Ingrid called it "Fine Service..."
37
I sold clothes at the L&T flagship in 1968 during the Christmas season. One morning a nice woman from the upstairs office took me aside (into one of the dressing rooms so the other sales ladies wouldn't hear) to tell me I had the worst sales record for the previous 30 days in the entire store! She said in a very sad voice that unless I had a good explanation they would have to let me go. I told her truthfully that I was a terrible gift wrapper, and once they started asking us to offer wrapping at the sales counter during the season I passed my sales at the cash register to the women working on commission (I wasn't) as long as they would wrap the sale. They were happy to get the commission. The upstairs office lady smiled and said that made perfect sense to her and walked away. I wasn't fired.
57
I worked at Lord & Taylor in the late '70s for three months: Thursday nights and Saturdays. I had to travel from an Outerborough and the timing was always such that I arrived early and had to kill time at a greasy spoon in the area. I worked in the Juniors Department. It wasn't very exciting and I had lovely moments like the time I returned from my lunch break and a white woman kept insisting that she gave me a skirt to save for her. It turned out she had given it to another black sales assistant who looked nothing like me.
Lord & Taylor was so cheap it kept running drawings in its ads instead of photographs like the other stores.
After quitting, I never ever bought anything at Lord & Taylor.
18
When I was a very young kid in the late 1960s I remember when we would go shopping mom and my sisters who were a few years older than me would wear their hats and white gloves. Seems like a different world or universe.
28
My mother bought me my first 'good shirt' at Lord & Taylor a few months after I moved to New York in 1986. A white Ralph Lauren oxford button down. I wore it until the collar practically fell off. I was very proud of that shirt.
32
My mother bought her wedding dress in a department store. She didn't have much dough, but the dress was exquisite: white satin with a sweetheart neckline, covered satin buttons, medieval pointed sleeves, and a train. My Dad wore his Army uniform, before he shipped out.
Forty years later I had the train cut off and wore it to my wedding. It was. and is, still lovely. My BF thinks today it would be worth $800-$1,000.
29
Growing up in NYC and the metro area in the 950s and 60s, I suffered through long days of shopping with my mother and aunt. I'd usually overhear a telephone conversation on Tuesday or Wednesday. Train trip to Jamaica, which could inky mean a horribly boring day of shopping at a huge department store--Alexander's I think. Or a train trip to lower Manhattan, which could only mean one long day at Macy's. years later when I was living in the City, I ended up working at Gimbal's in the Upper East Side. At Christmastime 1973, I was working g the Trim-a-Tree department. I honestly enjoyed it! I made extra money by renting myself out to customers who paid me $25 plus dinner to set up and trim their Christmas tree. I'd sell them an artificial tree and all the trimmings, which helped with department bonuses, then earn a little more setting everything up. That too was quite a lot of fun; drinking champagne and singing carols. I must have trimmed two dozen trees that year. Before leaving retailing for the West Coast, I worked at Macy's, Gimbal's, Saks, May's, and lastly, the discount TSS chain. I grew to really detest retail work, except around the holidays. It was impossible not to catch the holiday spirit working retail. I would find myself on my days off browsing the competition, especially Macy's Herald Square, Lord & Taylor, Saks, and Bendels. For a few years, I really loved the retail world. It is very different today.
26
Restoration Hardware’s new flagship harkens back to this immersive experiential shopping experience. How is it different? Is it doomed to the same outcome?
7
@WG I haven't seen the new RH store, but so sad that it replaced Pastis which was almost a cafeteria for my old company and the neighborhood. I was surprised when RH announced they were building it - who has apartments large enough to fit their massive furniture! It kind of feels like a Ralph Lauren environment - totally immersive in the design esthetic. But at least I can pick up a tie or scarf at Ralph....
13
At the Lord & Taylor store, they would have some chairs set up right inside the front doors, where people would wait for the store to open. Promptly at 10, there would be a live trumpet fanfare, followed by the Star-Spangled Banner. Then, we could all shop!
As a professional shopper for companies in the Garment Center, I knew all these stores like the back of my hand. I too would take friends shopping when they came to town, as I could navigate the many departments and knew where the best stuff was. These stores lost their romance somewhere in the late ‘90’s, when they started to buy by brand instead of looking for the next new thing for their customers.
What will go into the lovely Henri Bendel space now? Hopefully, not another H&M. Farewell to the era.
41
These NYC department stores are treasures that made the city special. Their loss is our loss. We need to hold tight to the ones that remain: Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy’s at Herald Square, Bergdorf Goodman. A few weeks ago, searching for a small inexpensive cosmetics item we were having trouble finding, we even tried Bergdorf’s. They didn’t have it but their salesclerk told us to go to Bloomingdale’s, and they had it. Almost a scene from Miracle On 34th Street, Macy’s recommending Gimbels.
45
I worked at Lord & Taylor in the 1950's. Was paid for a whole day what people today wan't for an hour. Lunch hour was 30 minutes, 10 minutes out of the store. 10 minutes to eat, and 10 minutes to get back.
Was a stock clerk who tossed around dresses that I didn't know the importance or value of. Found out years later that I should have had more respect for a Traina-Norell dress. The stock clerks played whist upstairs. Some never found their way downstairs to work.
At Christmas time I shook hands with Dorothy Shaver. Stock clerks would be assigned to control the line in front of the Christmas windows. One day they forgot to relieve one and when they brought him in he was an icicle. He was shaking but there was no frostbite.
Do we wish that world to come back, at least then the most important person into world was the customer.
30
Having been a few years distant from NYC and fashion retail, I was surprised to hear this news, but relieved to hear the enchanting space at Fifth Ave and 39th Street survives...
As an OSU marketing major in the Fall of '69, I interned with L&T for 3 months in Ms. Friedman's Lingerie Dept. on the 4th floor. 1969 was the year of the first pantsuit...and there I was amidst the newest fashion statement in years...working for a store renowned for its dresses! Six months later, inspired by the strong intuition of the dress (and now pantsuit) fashion buyers and the management respect for customer service, (OK maybe smitten a bit by NYC magic, too) I returned to begin my 40 year career in retail. Whether store, catalog, or online strategic plans were on my desk, I will never forget those 4 years of buyer training with the best in the business...Harry Larimer, Gerry Blum, and Ellen Swain, and so many others.
Thank you for the memories of a classic era, a past many of us share, and a "grande dame"!
28
The old department stores were designed not just as places to buy things, but as entertainment.
Which is one reason why they had everything from concerts to art exhibits, along with restaurants, hair salons, pet stores, antiques, books, toys, and a lot of other stuff.
Then they all switched to profit per square foot, which devolved into practically nothing but clothes and makeup.
Today we're told that brick and mortar stores won't survive unless they offer something extra, like entertainment.
It will be interesting to see if stores start to evolve into something akin to the department stores of the mid last century.
71
Restoration Hardware’s new flagship, example.
2
How sad that this is happening. I'm in my early 40's but an old soul in many ways, I wish people still shopped in brick and mortar stores. However as much as I try to support actual stores, I always leave frustrated. I went to Lord and Taylor recently and could not find anyone to help me. There was only one salesperson manning 3 jewelry counters. The racks were disheveled, clothes strewn everywhere. I know this is a vicious cycle for the stores; etail is killing them and they pare down their work force - making shopping less pleasant and thus leading to fewer shoppers, and so on. It's just that customer service (and actually seeing and feeling items with your own hands) are one of the few benefits of shopping in stores. A smart store would bite the bullet, invest in hiring more employees, and focus on the one thing they have over Amazon - human assistance and interaction.
126
@Anjou: Nordstrom.
23
@Chris Bamberger the "Tiffany" of customer service...
4
@Anjou Neiman Marcus
8
I'm surprised that no one mentioned the better quality of the garments and goods such as shoes that these stores carried. Today it is difficult to find well-made clothing of fine fabric at an affordable price. Chinese products that are poorly made, poorly fitting and made of blended fabrics (mostly oil-based) with a rough hand inundate the stores that remain. Saks Fifth Avenue may be the exception. There isn't one in my vicinity so it's unfair to judge them. Shopping in these grand old stores was a pleasure now lost forever.
160
@DD
Amen on the fit issue - pick up a garment labeled, for example, "Medium", in three different stores and you are likely to find three different body sizes that they will fit (or not). Shopping is a chore ever more than in the past.
76
@George S That's the main reason I still go to stores to buy clothes. There is no way to judge fit without trying them on. It doesn't matter whether the medium fit that a store featured last year will fit the same this year. I might need a small or I might need a large this year in the same brand. No way to know without trying. Argh.
31
@DD. Boy do I agree with u on that!! Do you know I still have too from The Gap that I bought 25 years ago!!! Basics!! Still in excellent shape. A skirt I bought about 15 years from them that is still good. The Gap! I was in the garment center my whole life , mostly as a buyer. I traveled to Asia. Back then, we did most of our imports from Hong Kong. You got a quality product. However, most merchandise was being made here in the USA. The less expensive merchandise was starting to come out of South Korea. I’m dating myself. We are talking 1979/1980. We started to do business in Bankkok. But very little. Most was HK. And in the late 90’s when I was working for a manufacturer , and was their import coordinator, I did business with HK. I knew I would get a good product.
Unfortunately, when Clinton signed NAFTA in 1996, that is when the entire garment industry went downhill and pretty much everything went overseas. I think only 5% of garments are made domestically. I don’t like bringing politics into it, but I was a buyer at the time and I remember my domestic vendors were so upset. And we all voted for Clinton. Made it even worse.
I hate China! I try so hard not to buy anything from them. It’s hard.
43
In 1948 I was employed by Stern's (42nd and Fifth) as a "contingent. I worked Thursday nights and Saturdays, starting at 59 cents an hour. I also got 20% off on personal items. I was mostly in the hosiery department. This was before panty hose and one measured the hosiery, often pair by pair, to suit the customer. We had a fairly nice employee cafeteria, and we could also get a cream cheese sandwich and a cup of coffee for 25 cents at Chock Full of Nuts up the street.
I was offered a full time job in the Credit Department when I graduated from Hunter. I did not last because I was a terrible bill collector!
53
This is really what it is all about.
4
Oh, for just one day at Marshall Field in Chicago ...
24
@Yitzhak, you mean Macy's right??!
3
I am really sorry to see Bendel's go. Best public bathrooms in the city.
17
Ah, in Boston's Filene's (regular and bargain Basement) in the 1950's, the macaroon cookies (big as saucers) in wax-paper bags....perfect!
15
I moved to New York in the late 1970s so I still remember many of the stores mentioned in the article or by posters here in the comments. Over time I opened and then no longer needed credit cards for B. Altman, Gimbel's and A&S. Now I doubt I will need my Lord & Taylor card again as the only L&T store I ever used it in was the flagship store.
All of my purchases from the long shuttered stores wore out and have been tossed except a B. Altman branded bathrobe that is still in great condition. I rarely wear or wash it, the only reason being the B. Altman label sewn in the neck. It's a reminder of a place where I found men's clothing items I didn't see anywhere else in the city.
22
When Trump demolished Bonwit Teller on 5th & 56th, the Metropolitan Museum of Art convinced Trump to remove portions of the historic facade and donate them to the institution.
He agreed, then demolished it.
Trump in a nutshell.
101
Lovely piece, wonderful writing.
I knew them all. I loved getting into the elevators with my mother and all around were women in their fur coats smelling of loose face powder and Arpege.
All gone the way of the dreary internet shops, but still there are the movies...remember Diane Keaton and Al Pacino coming out of Best and Co where they've been Christmas shopping in the Godfather? Only to see that the Don has been shot! Ah, old New York!
68
Arpege, omg!
20
Ah, the world catches up to NYC. In the other, less-important cities of the US, their beautiful shopping emporiums passed into obscurity long ago. The J L Hudsons, Marshall Fields, Jones Stores, Filenes, Rich’s, Higbees and the rest are nowhere to be found, replaced by a messy Macy’s.
Join the club-no whining allowed!
16
@Liz Roggenbuck totally agree - they're all Macy's which has a terrible shopping experience. Bloomingdale's outside of Manhattan used to be fine, but terrible in California. Nordstrom is the only one passable know.
14
@Liz Roggenbuc Remember Jacobsons, serving old money in the Pointes & the West side Birmingham/Bloomfield crowd-those were the days. And yes, Macy's is a mess!
10
I wasn't in New York when S. Klein's closed, but I remember the hand-wringing when B. Altman's, Alexander's, Gimbel's and especially Abraham and Strauss, oddly left out of the article. Well, it WAS in Brooklyn — and that's the point: Most of these stores were victims of bad geography (which makes it a special shame A and S couldn't hold out in the bad years; it would thrive now in a revived Brooklyn).
Macy's doesn't count, because it's managed to turn itself into a tourist destination. But I have to wonder whether Bloomingdale's isn't the next domino to fall — although a location so near the Queensboro Bridge and, thus, the new Promised Land of Long Island City, may save it.
In the midst of all the bleak news, Ms. Friedman could have noted one bright spot, the continuing success of Ladies' Mile in Chelsea, where the first department stores were opened in the late 1800s.
12
@HKGuy Those names (Abraham and Strauss, Gimbel's, Altman's, Alexanders) bring back memories of shopping with my mother. the excitement of Manhattan, whether making the trip from Brooklyn or later, the suburbs.
15
@cruzer5
Getting 'dressed up' to take the train to 34th Street or the bus to A&S or Martin's on Fulton Street, another gem. With a Choc Full'O'Nuts stop along the way. Lots of great memories.
15
My goodness, this brought back memories! Besides coming from a family that always enjoyed a day of shopping (whether we bought anything or not), I also spent several years after college spraying perfume for a living. I worked in most of the fancy department stores in Manhattan (though was always frustrated at not having been able to crack Bergdorf's!). I always thought B. Altman was the prettiest and Lord & Taylor's the pleasantest; and I still have the necklace I bought (on sale) at Bonwit's while working there (thinking myself very posh indeed). It all does glow in the memory!
24
A priceless memory of Bendel's: I took my daughter there when she was 9 (now 21) to show her the fabled store where her grandmother would shop with her toy poodle in a handbag. While walking through the beautiful cosmetics aisles, on a counter I spied a bowl of what I thought were small round pastel mints. I reached and popped a few in my mouth only to find out--they were small balls of eye-shadow! I covered my mouth and gagged, but like lightening, my daughter summed up the situation, ran and found a tissue box, and held a handful of tissues under my mouth so I could spit out the offending makeup. I was grateful for her quick thinking, and all was done before a salesperson even realized what had happened. We always have a hilarious memory of her first visit to Bendel's!
26
The College Shop at L&T was my go to haven- much of its bounty illustrated in great ads in the NYT! And to treat oneself to lunch at The Birdcage-...then Brentano's next door on 5th.
B.Altman was a shopping sanctuary:my engraved wedding invitations and announcements, antique earrings given to me for my 21st birthday by husband-to-be, the American Express desk that planned a three month trip to Europe for my parents, my hilarious nightgown bought for my wedding night by said parents-beloved B.Altman. Bendel was the store of my adulthood- Lee Bailey's shop, more stationary, divine designers, lunch at Orsini's on 56th St afterward. Brief but a beloved memory.
Saleswomen that you leaned on for advice and compliments even as one grew older and flinched at the "Dearies" and "Honeys".
Sadly, change comes- to oneself and to a city.
And to one's own home- no more table sized Ronson lighters!
29
I worked one summer for Lord & Taylor so the reality that its iconic building is becoming something as useless as a we work is a particular gut punch. So much of NYC is changing and not for the better in my opinion. I blame the Disneyifcation of the city that started under Giuliani who supposedly made the city “better” but for whom??
19
Does anyone remember Saks 34th Street... it was opposite Macy's. Worked there part time when I was a student at Hunter college. Loved it . There was also a tiny lunch diner adjacent to it...had my first BLT there. Just remembering.....
12
Our Mom was so proud of having bought her wedding dress and her chic Claire McCardell “going away” outfit at B. Altman. The year was in 1949, during the post-War return of some luxuries and celebration after rationing and the hard, sad years. Dad was a proud Navy veteran, the son of Irish emigrants (his wedding tux was rented). His aunt bought dresses on sale at Gimbel’s and sent them to her sisters in Ireland - then dutifully returned them when they proved to be too flashy for rural County Clare.
To read of the closing of those once-wonderful Fifth Avenue department stores is to recognize something bigger than a shift in retail trends - it’s the history of millions upon millions of people through generations who shopped, saved, lunched, pondered, splurged, dreamed and browsed. We will miss them.
92
A wonderful article! Sorry to see that you overlooked Franklin Simon, one your largest advertisers in the 20th Century. Mr. Simon set up shop on 5th Avenue well before all the stores you mentioned. L&T snuggled next to Simon's established business on 38th and 5th. Of the aforementioned, Mr. Simon was the only proprietor to be awarded the Legion of Honor Chevalier for doing more than any other fashion pioneer to introduce American women to French couture. His accomplishments in retail and philanthropy are with us long after his passing. Supervising the return to public hands, and the restoration of Jefferson's Monticello stands as one of his most notable civic deeds. You might find my tone a bit jaded. Franklin Simon was my great grandfather. I am an enthusiastic reader of NYT and its fashion segments.
38
You left out the fact, that Trump was granted permission to demolish the store, (Bonwit’s), if his workers carefully preserved the magnificent reliefs adorning the exterior mounding of the store. He promised to do exactly that. They smashed it to smitherines in the dark of night. One remains slightly damaged. Where is it...on the terrace of his one time architect, a woman who now condemns him. Her name escapes me, but she was his architect. She is in her late 70’s now.
Everything Trump is, he was. It was right there in front of everyone to see. Nothing hidden,
46
This is some of the best writing I have read in a long time. Thank you.
16
These stores had class. The chandeliers, the perfume, the way everything was folded and presented, the menus in the restaurants, the gift-wrapping. The staff working in them were trained to treat customers with class and attentiveness. They worked for many years in these stores and took pride in what they knew and what they did. I remember being trained and supervised by them when I worked in Stern's - nothing improperly hung on hangers, all stock displayed in order by size, always be busy on the floor, no standing around slouching, pay attention to customers who need help, how to fold and package all purchases carefully.
People sitting at home in their Chinese-made sweatpants shopping online for more sweatpants to wear while eating out or t-shirts to wear to work have no use for these classy stores and the people who gave their service in them. Quite a lot has been lost in the name of convenience.
53
Watch The Marvelous Mrs Maisel on Amazon Prime to see Midge work the beauty counter at B. Altman's in 1959. Just the names of the lipsticks alone (many of which are still produced) bring back memories of my mother and grandmother: Cherries in the Snow, Fire and Ice! In London and Paris, you can still visit and eat lunch at great department stores like Selfridges and Printemps. They have the architectural detail of a Henri Bendels.
39
I loved the New York Department stores. As a child there was Best & Co., as I grew older my shopping world expanded to B Altman and Lord & Taylor. My mothers’ favorite was Lord & Taylor. And my aunt always went to Henri Bendel and Bonwitt Teller when ever she came to visit.
I remember an article in (I believe) New York magazine the gave you the type of personality who shopped in each of the stores. It was spot on.
24
My first job after arriving in New York for graduate school was at Lord & Taylor. I was hired to work in the boyswear department. I had a supervisor much like Captain Peacock of Are You Being Served. I had very little in the way of training, and labored to write sales checks in quintuplicate. Worst of all was when the customer changed their mind while I was writing it. Lord & Taylor had a wonderful employee's cafeteria with very inexpensive food. It was the only thing in the store I could afford on my minimum-wage pay. No commissions. They complained about my clothing but I couldn't even afford to buy socks there. Not even on sale. I never could understand who would want to shop there. But I was from the Midwest, not New England. But working there gave me great appreciation for Are You Being Served. These stores were an important source of entry-level jobs and part-time jobs.
22
These stores were a symbol of my childhood. A holiday ritual for my family was the obligatory trip downtown to see the Christmas window displays. I loved them for their elegance and how important they made New York seem to me — a child — at the time.
Older, I shopped in them, too. I will miss them.
31
I could barely get through this article, it made me so sad. So much of my past and that of my mother are linked to those Fifth Avenue department stores. As a young girl, my mother took me shopping both for my clothes and her own. Bergdorf’s, Saks, Lord & Taylor, B Altman, Best & Co., and Bonwit Teller. I remember looking down at Fifth Avenue from the dressing rooms while saleswomen brought in clothes to try on. I remember the tea rooms, the gift wrapping departments and the Christmas decorations inside as well as the windows. As a college student I worked at Lord & Taylor during Christmas vacation both to earn money and for the generous discount on merchandise. Later on when I worked in Rockefeller Center I would cross over to Saks to buy gloves just as my mother had. They would fit the gloves on you. The experience of shopping in these stores wasn’t only different from online shopping, but from any other shopping experience.The different departments, the salesperson’s expertise, the customer service, the niceties of human interaction while making a consumer purchase. I also think we purchased less because each purchase meant more and was valued. Twenty, even forty years later, I still have clothes and other items purchased in these stores. I also have the memories associated with them.
55
These stores depart and take with them the art of sales and service that is now a wistful memory. I long for the time when I could go into a department store in need of specific apparel -- for a job, a wedding, a funeral -- knowing I would be assisted by a knowledgeable and eager sales associate who could help me put together the proper attire. I cringe at the thought of going to those same stores now, where mostly ill-trained cashiers stand behind counters and wait to take my money. That sales experience of today is the best incentive I have to e-shop.
25
@Thegooodlife I think you’ve hit on something important here. Either a cause or an effect, many of us want to be left alone to shop, without help from anyone, which leads to less experienced and less interested staff. Although I do like to be left alone when I shop, I’m forever grateful to the Lord and Taylor saleswoman who helped me find suits and have them altered right there for my son’s Bar Mitzvah over 10 years ago. I still have two of them, along with the happy memories of shopping.
20
My mother and I were mainly Alexander's shoppers (Queens Blvd.). We couldn't really afford to shop at the pricier stores, but I have such happy memories of lunches at the Charleston Garden at B Altman's. For dessert we always shared the Strawberry Angel (angel food cake with strawberry ice cream). I also remember that once in a while they had sales on Madame Alexander dolls, and I might be lucky enough to get one at the holidays. Also, strangely enough, in the 1970's they sold small, very affordable decoupage/wood versions of important works of art ... I think I learned something about art history from those! It was magical to me ... I was too young for fashion at the time, but it was a place of treasures and delights, and my troubled mother seemed happier there.
34
It does seem like the passing of an era. I lived in Manhatten for a few years in the 80's, just after college. There were more avant-garde things going on downtown, where college grads to still afford to share cramped apartments, and the orignal, interesting Barney's was, but the department stores were lovely. I still remember my first purchase at Bergdorf's (a khaki green trench, on sale of course, that an admirer said made me look like Marlene Dietrich). And Trump's abomination on 5th, it was vulgar then, still is...
I'm from the SF Bay Area originally, and it makes me think of shopping trips in the 60's with my mom and sister. We'd dress up nicely to go to Union Square and go shopping at The City of Paris and I Magnins. Both those store have been gone a long time. We'd often end up at the Magic Pan and have their crepes for lunch.
Our mother did not have an endless budget, but she carefully bought lovely classics that she would wear for a long time. She taught us to do the same. No one had as many clothes as they do now, but they were so much nicer for the most part. I find the whole fast fashion thing sad and wasteful. We've all gotten so used to cheap stuff from China... It is taking a terrible toll on planet and our souls.
52
This brought back memories for me. Some of my earliest memories as a little girl are of my mother taking me and my sister with her on her shopping expeditions to the elegant department stores in New York. Growing up in Brooklyn, we used to take frequent shopping trips to Abraham and Straus, also known as A&S. I remember the glittering chandeliers, the smells from the perfume counters, the bronze elevators, and the white gloved elevator attendants who announced the departments upon arrival at each floor. Upon stepping out of the elevator, it felt like visiting a museum, but one where you could touch, smell, and feel the items. To this day, I still remember the wonderful smell of the gourmet food shop on the basement floor, where the man who worked behind the counter would always hand my mother two pieces of cheese to give my sister and me. The bland, corporatized and super fast culture that has paralleled the demise of the old department stores may be inevitable, but it’s rather sad that many young people’s experience of shopping these days is devoid of the unique experience that they offered and is largely limited to clicking on a computer screen.
31
@Martha
The frozen malteds at A&S were delicious!
10
Don't forget Martins just a half block down from A&S! Long gone.
11
As a small child in the '50s, I grew up listening to my mother's rapt descriptions of shopping on 5th Avenue as a young "career girl" in the city before she got married. B. Altman, Saks, and Lord & Taylor were spoken of with great reverence in our house. The white box with the elegant script and single red rose held untold delights, which I aspired to discover for myself in New York after college.
The loss of Altman's - where I'd head straight to the home goods department, looking for a lamp, throw pillows, or a tablecloth on sale to brighten up my tiny apartment (and once got scolded by two old ladies in hats for shopping there in my JEANS on a weekend, tsk, tsk!) - was a stake through my heart. I still have the handmade, hand-painted pottery pitcher and tureen from Portugal that I bought there - "made expressly for B. Altman," as the hand-lettered script on the bottom says. Later on, I would browse the sale racks of clothing at Saks on my lunch hour, and I bought my first beautiful wool suit for work at Bonwit's. There is nothing like browsing, fingering, and imagining yourself living in a more sophisticated environment. It is, indeed, a "treasure hunt for identity," a rite of passage "individual and generational" ... and it's sorely missed.
51
I love this - it was certainly true for me and my mother, inveterate window shoppers:
"They didn’t go to stores to buy, necessarily, but to revel in a world that offered sensory delight without judgment. Unlike in the boutiques of today, no one followed you around watching to see if you would buy. You were anonymous until you didn’t want to be."
I hope someone will write about the lovely, bygone restaurants that were in these stores. My mother's first job was at The Bird Cage at Lord & Taylor. (An effortlessly stylish girl from Queens, she said once she discovered Fifth Avenue, there was no going back to shopping on Jamaica Ave. with my grandmother.)
Mom took me to Charleston Gardens at B. Altman, which was just gorgeous. We spent countless evenings having coffee and apple pie with cheddar cheese at the counter on Bloomingdale's 7th floor. I still remember the kindly face of one of the waitresses who probably worked there for decades.
Those restaurants were like private clubs for women. The trend today seems to be to replace the in-store restaurants with "names" - and the prices are just silly - no, no, no!
Someone could write a wonderful book about these stores and their restaurants - hint, hint!
48
@DesertFlowerLV. Why not you?? Hint, hint!
14
Fond memories indeed. Moving to NYC at age 21 and my father, in town on business, taking me to Saks for a 'really good' coat which I can picture now. Taking the M104 from the Upper West Side to 42nd and Fifth for the short walk to Lord & Taylor. Taking the 57th Street Crosstown from my last apartment to 57th and Lexington for a possible spree at Bloomingdales. Walking from the old Met Opera up to Bonwit Teller to follow a particular sale item in the hope it would be further reduced. I miss the grand stores that have closed and nothing in Charlotte, NC compares.
23
The slow steady death of the Department store is the result of multiple factors. A market flooded with cheap and cheaply made goods easily purchased on line, the exorbitant costs of higher quality goods that are unnaffordable for the average consumer, business casual office dress code, the resistance of brick and mortar retailers to offer a range of sizes and fits, ect.
But another major factor is that so few people even get dressed anymore. My husband and I were raised to dress up for business and to socialize. I'm in my 30s and I always feel overdressed when we go out. So many people wear sweats, ripped jeans, and leggings to fancy restaurants. I remember when a man had to wear a blazer and dress shoes to dinner. Women wore dresses or slacks/skirts and blouses. My husband took me to an upscale Mediterranean restaurant in midtown for my birthday and 2 men sat across from us all sweaty, still in gym clothes. I understand restaurants cant afford to turn away paying customers, but it diminishes the experience. At our anniversary dinner last year at one of the most expensive steakhouses in NYC, same thing. $70 steaks and nearly everyone looks like they are going to a fast food joint. Even my cousins wore jeans and sweats to my grandmother's funeral. I often see young people going on job interviews inappropriately dressed.
79
@wcdessertgirl Count me as one of the many men who are delighted we don't have to wear constricting business suits anymore and can work in comfortable clothing.
7
Not just restaurants either. Go to the Kennedy Center for a show or even the opera and no one is dressed up anymore.
22
@wcdessertgirl I'm in the same boat as you, but I take comfort in two things. 1. It makes you look that much classier. 2. It really can't get worse (flannel pyjamas outside are rock bottom).
14
All of these stores also had lovely restaurants. In the sixties, my mother worked as a secretary in the showroom of a slipper manufacturer at 385 Fifth Avenue (the building's elevator operator was a doppelgänger for Jack Lemmon). When I would visit she would take me to lunch at B. Altman's Charleston Garden, a restaurant within a "full-sized facade of a Tara-like mansion." I don't recall the food, but I'll never forget the rite of passage into adulthood of sitting in a restaurant, just me and my mom.
34
@linda Charleston Garden had a delicious danish ring, my mother always bought them. I still remember the bag the were packed in.
11
@beth Altman's had an entire bakery section - my mother would buy the danish on a Saturday shopping trip as a treat for Sunday breakfast. Still think of those fantastic blueberry muffins too! :)
10
The widening of the income gap means that fewer people have more of the money to lavish in these stores. The struggle is hardly Darwinian unless you equate wealth with strength.
13
when I think of Manhattan....It's the met and great department stores. Glorious! They will be missed
24
I grew up in a department store--my father was an executive at Filene's in Boston for many years. The demise of metropolitan emporiums may have been inevitable, but I cannot feel that something valuable is being lost as they close. Shopping at Home Depot or (Heaven forbid) Wal-Mart, or online, is not the same. The end of department stores is one more sign of the decline of civility in our society.
41
What a beautifully-written, evocative piece.
Although I grew up in the UK, some of my most cherished memories are visiting a long-since-closed department store in the centre of Manchester, Lewis's, in Piccadilly Gardens, with my mom when I was a kid half a century ago. As Barbara sang, 'Memories light the corners of my mind...'
20
"...such emporiums are going the way of the glossy magazine, which is going the way of the dodo..."
How about some mention of what business the department stores replaced; smaller stores both general and specialty? In some ways the department store is like the shopping mall and both killed many small businesses and small downtowns.
The stores didn't spring from nothing and their customers didn't materialize from nowhere.
14
@dem10003 Yes, you are correct; the modern department store was as predatory in the early 20th century as are the current virtual omniportals. Still, that critique belongs in another piece, for to say the great stores don’t deserve a dirge is to say John Kennedy’s death didn’t deserve lamentation because his father was a bootlegger. I’m not one to indulge in sentimentality but this article struck a fine balance between clear-eyed reportage and Proustian melancholy.
26
The last time I had fun department store shopping was in London. It's been about ten years, but I think their department store scene is healthier (correct me if I'm wrong). I miss the experience of wandering department stores with friends or relatives. And, no wonder we're all fat--the common experiences we now share are almost exclusively dining or drinking.
16
@Jill It isn't. Marks and Spencer has just announced another round of store closings. High Street chains in Britain are closing far more rapidly than in America.
5
Without much money as a young pregnant upstate social worker, my mom sent me a check and my young med student husband and I visited the Lord and Taylor flagship in Fall of 1966 to shop their lovely maternity section. I spent perhaps $35 on an elegant two piece maternity pantsuit in an army green wool. I always felt fabulous in that outfit and never forgot the beauty of the store and the kindness of the staff.
31
The other side of this is the experience of the employees. My first job was as a salesperson in "Men's Furnishings" at Lord and Taylor. That pretty much meant anything that wouldn't be tailored--pajamas, shirts, ties, scarves, underwear, pocket squares, and more. I learned how to dress for many occasions. I also learned to interact with people from all walks of life. I had my regular customers who tipped me at the holidays. Our orientation (!) included a history of the store including the Shaver rose that was emblematic of the store and the perfume that was sprayed into the air from dispensers in the ceiling. Yes, these stores will be missed; although probably not for very long.
33
I am a child of the fifties, and for the most part these stores were only a dream. We could barely put food on the table but every once in a while my mother, grandmother and I would ride the bus into NYC and walk from the bus terminal to 34th street, usually along 8th Ave. I remember Orbach's, Gimbel's and Macy's. We rarely got past the first floor in any of these buildings so all I knew was the cosmetic areas which fascinated me because my mother bought what makeup she used in the local drug store. This was rarified air for me. I don't recall which store it was that had a street level cafe (or was it the basement I am thinking of?) where we would wait until our number was called to finally have a seat at the counter and we would order an egg cream as a treat. We never walked up 5th Ave. so most of those stores were unknown to me. When the the NJ malls became a "thing" we would go to Bamberger's and I was shocked to learn it was owned by Macy's. It never really held the same appeal for me. As an adult, stepping into Sak's or Bergdorf's for the first time was still a thrill for me. Yes, I shop online like every else today but I will always miss the grand old stores. There will never be anything like them again.
36
Thank you, Ms. Friedman, for a wonderful article. I, too, mourn the loss of L&T (Now we get to sit at our desks and peruse thru our hand-held computers without even venturing outside to see what the world is like anymore. Sad). For many years, after eating lunch, I would walk over to L&T to delight my eyes with their merchandise. The quality of their clothes was wonderful. Unfortunately, the mass produced lower quality items seems to be the thing these days. People no longer know how to dress. All you have to do is look around you. It is no wonder that stores like L&T are dying. Yes, we must evolve, but shouldn’t it be for the better. Thank goodness the building is a landmark!
30
@Snps I realize that old people always bathe their youth in the hazy glow of nostalgia (hey, I'm old, so I do it too!) but I do with people would not bang on so about the faults of the young'uns. When I find myself on Sixth Avenue in Midtown on a weekday, all of the young office workers, male and female, are very well turned out, even if they're not in suits and ties and dresses anymore.
9
They were *department* stores. They had Departments, though some had mostly clothing, including other realms just to justify the name. Macy's had the world's greatest Toy Department (fifth floor? sixth?), for instance.
Some people went only to a specific one or two, some to a specific one just for its specialty or sales (the old Bloomingdale's Bargain Basement, entered directly from 59th street on the Lexington Avenue Local). They had identities, these places: Rich people shopped there, people "like us" (think: religion, race, class, neighborhood) would never think of going to that one, you went to this one for appliances, that one for furniture, and so on.
As a Bronx Boy in the fifties, I remember holding my mother's hand and then being set free (for a fixed time) at Alexander's, first on Third Ave at The Hub, then on Fordham Rd. I have more distant memories of Hearns, Sterns, and Sachs Quality Stores (Melrose Five, Five Three Hundred, the jingle sang). It was always a special treat to go downtown to the big stores, a day's outing with a meal and maybe a movie.
I can smell them even now, I can hear them, I can remember how they felt. I wish I could touch them.
32
Love the article!! The memories just flow when I think of growing up in Manhattan, and frequenting all those stores with my Mom. Once, when I was 7 years old, my Mom and I were in Bendel's when it was on 57th Street, and she said, "pick anything you want." I chose a comb made of tortoise shell in the shape of a fish. I thought it was the most incredible thing ever! I still have it!
37
I started my working life at Bergdorf’s when it was still privately owned. A truly fun, magical experience!
28
The memories of life when I was a child come back to me in this story. I remember in my home that a trip to NYC to go shopping and then see a show on Broadway, have a great meal and see the sights was something that happened every year with those older than I.
The length of our lives has been extended The standard of living has increased now, but, I question that the quality of life has improved.
The descriptions of the Department Store Era have driven that point home. What is more special these days?
17
I loved Lord & Taylor for its civilized atmosphere, and also its large, comfortable changing rooms, where I at one point took refuge to breast-feed my daughter. At a later stage, my young daughter and I occasionally ate lunch in the upper-floor restaurant. Fond memories!
17
@SM All I remember about department store restaurants is that they were uniformly awful.
My first job directly from college, was as a "Management Trainee" in the May Company training program for G. Fox in Hartford. I ended up in their downtown Hartford store, which was one of those "grande dame' places, just like the ones on 5th Ave, originally 11 floors of merchandise, but with a renovation that completed just before I started, they gave up the top 6 floors. It was a gorgeous place, beautiful art deco main floor, very impressive. Now, I think it's either an office building or a condo.
14
The former G. Fox building in downtown Hartford is now home to Hartford Community College, Marquee Events (wedding venue in the ballroom), and several smaller company offices. Here’s a great article with a brief history: https://connecticuthistory.org/g-fox-and-the-golden-age-of-department-stores/
8
When I was 11 my father took me to market with him in NYC. Between showroom appointments in the Garment District we would walk through as many as many of these grand stores as we could, including his favorite, B.Altman. Brisk floorwalkers, we would note and vacuum up ideas for display, promotion, new trends and atmospherics, almost like a Google vehicle's camera mapping a neighborhood. First taste of vichyssoise at Lord & Taylor's soup bar. Heady stuff for a kid from a small Texas city. Retailing may have irrevocably changed, but the experience of seeing all that innovation was invigorating. And New York is still very good at that. Thanks for this story.
24
" housed in a building on 57th Street with Art Deco bas-reliefs " Bonwit Teller was on 56 th street.
Also, Bendels, Lord & Taylor, and others mentioned here were never true Department stores such as Macy's and Bloomingdales, which had household appliances and furniture for example, but Specialty clothing stores. When did this distinction become unimportant?
15
This article reminds me of the flagship Kaufmanns department store in downtown Pittsburgh, which was eventually bought out by Macy’s. The family was famed for also owning “Falling Water”, an architectural gem in western PA. The family and store not only defined style in Pittsburgh in the 20th Century, but gave jobs to my parents in college and my great aunt who worked with them as a buyer for 40 years. Such stores are treasures that will be missed.
35
When I was little back in the 60's and early 70's my mother and I would go to Chicago every year on my birthday and visit these wonderful stores. I especially remember Marshall Fields and their French Onion Soup and chocolate chip cookies they served in the cafeteria and Bonwit Tellers lovely boxes and bags covered in Violets. We would go to Saks, Lord and Taylor and may other stores and shop all day. I remember dresses being boxed with tissue paper in real boxes, not folding ones... the salespersons were classy and well dressed with perfect hair and make up, even the smallest purchase felt important. The customer service was outstanding. There was something a bit magical about the department stores, it was classy and elegant and felt like something very special. Walmart shoppers of today will never know that feeling. It's a shame.
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@MC My mom has saved the very last pages of a Bonwit Teller notepad - with the violets at the top. She did let me take a page, though.
13
@Annie we have a Bonwit's shopping bag with its lovely violets. Seems weird to save it, but it would be awful to toss it, a souvenir of more gracious times.
17
The successful plan was for each counter to be staffed by experienced personnel fully prepared to show a customer requsting a specific items which items in stock or on special ordder could meet his or her needs. The counter staff at the time a customer was ready to pay could have another staff member in the area process the sale to then ask the employee serving the customer to personally return to the customer his or her package and receipt. The upstairs selling floors at Lord and Taylor were recently self serve. The rediced staff, most untrained in the various goods stocked in different corners of th selling floor often gathered a the one or two open registers. They expected customers to unattended sort out often misplaced goods to then walk the floor trying to locate an open register often tied up by a customer request not easily solved. In some cases the customer waiting a quarter hour to discover the open register then realized no staff member would feel inclined to ring up his merchandise until he or she had completed whatever gossip session or side job seemed more important on his or her plate.
15
I was a buyer at Marshall Fields of Chicago and Filenes in Boston, two venerable Department Store dynasties.
When my career began we were pushed to be fashion leaders, take bold chances, delight and entertain our customers. We were happy to do so and traveled the world to find them beautiful merchandise and experiences.
Customers came to us to get fashion advice, mark special occasions, and provide aspirational dreams all within a centuries old community experience.
Slowly the talented merchants of these institutions were replaced by the finance ministers and profits became the priority. It was a slow somber march to the end.
Now I watch new on line retail venues being launched by venture capitalists who look the other way on profits as ‘platforms’ and ‘disrupters’ are built. Consultants preaching how Millennials want an ‘experience’, not just merchandise. AI programs that show hundreds of cheap items for customers to sift through.
And empty storefront and streetscapes across America as consumers go online instead of to marketplaces.
There is no way a chat box can ever replace a well trained sales professional telling you how fabulous you look. Scrolling through a computer screen is not as satisfying as touching an item on display. Getting a cardboard box in the mail will never be as exciting as watching your section get wrapped and presented to you to parade down the aisle of those beautifully designed meccas of commerce.
I hope the cycle swings back quickly.
130
I spent my childhood and my career in the retail fashion business in NYC. Those days are over. What a thrill to shop and browse through these beautifully merchandised stores. Today my daughter shops on line and rarely enters a store. So sad . We are a society drifting towards more isolation and less interaction
62
The writer does not do a particularly stellar job with this article.
Women of a certain age will mourn the sense of a safe and beautiful place, where women roamed free. Sensory delights, respite from the outside world, our own cathedral of sanctuary.
And the sales, divine.
Farewell to a civilized world.
Bonwitt’s too, adieu.
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@Mimi
Beautifully said, moreso than the article cited.
6
Thank you Mr. Bezos.
15
@Jonathan Really, Amazon came along late in the game. Gimbels, Wanamakers, Bonwits, Rich's (Atlanta), Strawbridges (Philadelphia) and many others were gone long before Amazon. In many cases, the family members wanted out of the business and sold them to Federated, which often promised that the family names would be kept. Of course, Federated homogenized them and turned them all into Macy's, which now has its own struggles.
17
@nadinebonner Well said. Perhaps we should give Clothier a nod here as it was Strawbridge and Clothier. Also, at college in upstate NY, I seem to recall friends from the city were surprised there was a John Wanamaker in Philly, it's birthplace by the way, and arguably the model for the American department store.
7
@nadinebonner Agreed - it's more thank you, Macys.
5
That photo of B. Altman's decorated for Christmas brought back a lot of memories of going to New York from the Jersey Shore to see the decorated Christmas windows. We always started with Altman's and worked our way north. At home in Asbury Park, there was a thriving downtown with Steinbach's (my mom's go to store) and for me and my friends The College Shop across the street. There were many others from 5 and dimes to Dainty Apparel (the fanciest store in town) where my mom bought me my wedding dress. Every trip out (whether in New York or back home or in Philadelphia with relatives) ended up with ice cream at one of the stores' genteel restaurants. Great memories. I still like to shop for clothes and miss those old emporiums but, like so many others, I rarely shop in what is left of department stores. Life is less like Nordstrom's and more like Nordstrom's Rack now.
22
@Ceilidth I used to go to Steinbach's in Asbury with my grandmother. Unfortunate but after the riots the fortunes of Asbury Park changed dramatically. The Steinbach Building was renovated about 12-years ago and is now a mix of retail stores and apartments.
2
@Ceilidth So true. For me, Marshall's is the new Bloomie's. Love them both, but can only afford Marshall's these days. Macy's is an occasional splurge.
2
Bendel's was never the same once The Limited bought it. Under Gerry Stutz it often featured designers or pieces that you could not find elsewhere . As a college student in the late 70s and early 80s, my friends and I loved browsing there just for fun.
I still miss that Bendel's. After the change, I bought perhaps five items from its Limited reincarnation. The buying and merchandising was not special. I pine foe the old B. Altman's, and does anyone remember that it was Donald Trump who destroyed the bas relief sculptures on its facade after promising to save them.
Today I can afford some really nice clothes. I shop a lot at Saks. It's near where I work. The selection and merchandising are good, and the sales people are excellent. I also like Bergdorf except for the fifth floor, where they cater to millennials who like clutter.
And yes, I do buy online, and it's probably 35 percent of my purchases right now. But I'll always shop brick-and-mortar. The feel, and weight of a garment, shoe, or bag is not part of the online experience. And neither is the magic of walking through a store with great presentation.
71
@NR True, Bendel’s was never the same when The Limited took over. I adored that store. In college my girlfriends and I would come into the city and run to that store just to look. I loved B. Altman’s main floor. My dad would get his shirts made there. But for you and the writer to bring Trump into this is pretty low. I lived in NYC my whole life and never heard or read about him saving any statues. And if he did, maybe something happened and he couldn’t. As far as Bonwitt Teller, they had it up for sale. They sold it to anyone who was willing to buy it. It could hv been some other rich developer who could have put a bank there with condo’s above. But, no, cheap shots just had to be put in about Trump, when you know this had nothing at all to do with him, but the extinction of Department stores. I was in retail my whole life. Macy’s Executive Training Program under Ed Finklestein’s tutelage. It was The Harvard of training programs back then. I saw the downfall of retail when every store became cookie cutters of each other. The buyers had no say in what they could buy. It was all about how much mark down money the vendor was going to give you at the end of the year. So no matter what department store you went to, they all looked the same. They all lost their identity. The buyer had no say on what they could buy. It was the beginnings of the end.
So many other factors too as why Department stores are failing that the writer missed the mark on.
3
The bas relief sculptures were on the Bonwit Teller building.
The old Altmans is still safe and sound. It is now CUNY's Graduate Center.
15
There are many department stores which have closed which did not cater to the so-called "carriage" trade.
This Manhattan-centric article fails to mention any other stores in NYC. How about Abraham & Strauss or Martin's in Brooklyn, or E.J. Korvette, which had large stores in Manhattan and the Bronx?
Then there's Alexander's, S. Klein on the Square (Union Square), or Stern's on 42nd Street. Or Wanamaker's, the enormous store on lower Broadway.
36
Don’t forget May’s in downtown Brooklyn
5
@Sharon M
My late mother remembered Namm’s and Loge’s, and John Wanamaker.
I personally loved going to Abraham & Straus on a Saturday morning with her. It was always magic, even as I got older. As I remember, there was also a floor where they sold pianos. The salesmen were nice enough to indulge a little girl who loved to play a few keys.
And Martin’s, fine and lovely, one of my Aunt’s favorites. I still have Italian wool gloves she bought me there.
Yes, there are four other boroughs besides Manhattan who suffered the losses of these enchanted mercantile palaces which can never be reclaimed- except through the power of memory.
6
I worked for B. Altman PT as a kid. It catered to the upper middle class and stressed customer service. It was taken out of business because it was owned by a charity and a Federal court ruling against that charity (I don't recall the name) was that a charity could not run a for profit business and thus it quickly closed their doors. Alexanders became a very successful REIT as it's properties were well located and developed for other uses. Lord & Taylor was a low brow B'Altman's competitor with a fine 5th Ave address and it big sister Saks up the Avenue were both bought by Canada's first retailer Hudson Bay to eventually develop both brands as RE plays. The others mentioned that folded are boutique Department stores catering to the gentry with only Bergdorf remaining, it too is struggling in an era where it's luxurious designer clothing is also available, directly by the designers themselves that opened stores to capture clients at major resort and big cities around the world. The Department store era as we know it and especially these grand names have been in a long death spiral due to a fast moving retail landscape and the internet.
20
@realist
I worked at B. Altman in Paramus for about 10 years, right up until it closed. My understanding was that they were purchased by an Investment Company (can't remember the name but I think they were Australia based). That investment company bought up businesses and pooled the profits. It was a semi slow death. The money wasn't reinvested in B. Altman's, meaning that the vendors weren't being paid. Gradually the shelves and the clothing racks became sparser and sparser. Vendors not being paid don't send you merchandise to restock your shelves. It got so bleak, that we moved the entire 3rd floor to the second floor in order to move the furniture department from a separate building as the lease was no longer affordable. You can see the vicious cycle. Never made it out of bankruptcy and there was too much debt for any buyer to seriously consider purchasing. In the end, only the stock boys (I was one of them) and the receiving manager were left to basically gather fixtures for auction and to demolish what was left as the terms of the lease were to basically have a shell upon vacating. 80's Greed and stupidity killed off B. Altman.
13
@Danny
Do you remember the apricot pastries sold in the Altman's bakery in Ridgewood store?
3
What intrigues me is the question what will come in its place. If we don't go out and people-watch, we'll all wither. So will people think of new social landscapes that offer a similar experience? Or will we revert to 19th-century pre-glossy magazine, pre-department store favourites - concert halls, dinner parties, Sunday promenades in the park? (For now, restaurants and bars seem to be filling the gap).
16
@Chris Coffee shops filling the gap too
2
I grew up in the late heyday of signature retailers and worked in an old downtown store that has since been literally imploded. I then worked for a cosmetic brand in late 80's after the bust of junk bond trashed big name retailers. I was able to wander through the remaining buying offices in the ancient downtown homes of Rike's, Shillito's, Lazarus, LS Ayres, Bacon's, even a trip or two to Marshall Field's and Bendel's when they had outposts in Columbus. I would always meet people, who like me, remembers heading downtown to see the Christmas windows in downtowns that were once bustling productive places. Lunch at a counter or in a small dining room eating Chicken in a Pot, which was actually shaped like a chicken. I am not the nostalgic type but it does make me smile remembering those places and all those people.....I hope there is something current that brings such experiences to the current generation. I do doubt it though which is such a shame.....
21
It seems to me that these establishments have a commonality...they came under the uncaring domination of a conglomerate. No special muse to call upon, just the cold eye of the bean counters and stock holders.
95
@cantinad More casualties of hedge funds.
6
A beautifully written article. Wished it would have been longer. Brava, Ms Friedman
22
I recently went to Barnes and noble to buy 2 different children books, they didn’t have any in store but they could order it for me. I told my son (a millennial ) about this, he couldn’t believe why one still go to a store !!! You can’t find anything there he said . Better go online ! After experiencing few clueless salesperson in stores( if you find any at all), I think he’s right , better go online already , you find everything and better yet : delivered at your door ! So long department stores !
12
It's one thing to buy books online, where fit is not a problem. But to buy clothes I want to try them on. Mail ordering clothes is expensive, paying for shipping for both order and return. And I would like to see the quality of both the fabric and the assembly.
31
If you buy children's books online, how can you look through the pages to see the pictures and get an idea of the content? How can you judge the feel of the book in your hands? Maybe if you are buying books for older children, but when selecting picture books, online doesn't do it.
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@Miahona
Here in NYC, I'd highly recommend Books of Wonder, on West 18th and West 84th Street in Manhattan.
11
The demise of the department store has been occurring since all of the mergers of the 1980s. After all of that, they were basically owned by two companies who set their successes on private label merchandise and mind-numbing sameness. Shopping at them used to be special and experiential. They just became glorified warehouses of endless racks of ugly clothes and hideous tchotchkes that they tried to sell with one lone sales associate per floor. They lost sight of what they were, and then they scratched their heads and wondered where all of their customers had gone. Please. Online shopping was just the final nail in the coffin.
73
It is remarkable how the same themes echo through these comments. Here's a piece that really puts Lord & Taylor in perspective on a personal and institutional level. "Leaving Lord & Taylor":
http://www.throughthehourglass.com/2019/01/leaving-lord-taylor.html
8
@Claudia. Thank you for the blog post you shared. Lord & Taylor was my favorite store. I loved that store. It always seemed to have what I needed, and the shopping experience was a pleasure. I'm really mourning it, but have to admit it was not been the same for the last several years
4
Thank you for this!
10
A very well written and true article.
Good job.
10
Similar stories are playing out all across America. In my hometown of Allentown, Pennsylvania, it was a treat to visit Hess's Department Store, shop the sales and dine at The Patio restaurant. Who could forget the models in evening wear gliding about the floor? Or the ice cream sundaes served inside their own toy refrigerators? Sadly, it's all gone now... replaced by the blue glow of our computer screens.
20
@Maureen The cream puffs were out of this world.
4
I'd add G Fox & Co. ( the Hartford store only) as another of those delightful old emporiums, which departed at about the same time than B Altman gave up its ghost. In Germany, the Herties department store in Munich was of the same ilk,, overflowing with goods of every type, and salespersons to wait on you. It did not survive. Part what killed them was discount stores which competed for the women's clothes dollar, an import part of revenue, which attracted most everyone. There was no middle range market to sell to at full price. And we changed in habits, tending to buy more and more at lower prices.
9
I have wonderful memories of lunching at the Birdcage with my mother and grandmother, we often went to Bonwit’s first to buy a hat. Bonwit’s had the best hats according to my grandmother! After she passed away my mother and I continued the tradition for many years. She too has passed and my four daughters and I have continued this tradition but not in the same fashion. We are a bicoastal family now with two in LA and two in CT. I try to keep it going with Nordstrom’s and Bloomingdales on the west coast and my girls in CT. Department store shopping is not in their blood like mine. So I shop alone or with a girl friend. I live near Stamford so as long as that store is still standing, I’m there!
33
An elegant era never to return. My wife, mother, and mother in law loved to walk through these shops and occasionally make a purchase.
20
I worked in NY retail for the better part of 50 years, Macy’s, Gimbels, A&S, Stern’s and finally L&T. Wonderful places to work surrounded by wonderful colleagues (many off beat) and wonderful customers who did come for the experience,for a day out, to touch and feel the merchandise and have lunch at the store’s restaurant. Now we sit home, alone, placing our order. But alas,we move on and these places, filled with nostalgia, like me are retired.
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The department store I always loved to visit, especially during the Christmas season was Wanamaker's in Philadelphia. I can't recall the number of friends I'd meet on the ground floor at the statue of the "Eagle" when I'd be in the city. Closer to home in Newark, during my youth the flagship stores for Hahne and Company on Broad Street and Bamberger's on Market Street were mainstays in my family. Funny, I can still recall the smell of roasting cashews and peanuts in the chocolates and candy departments at Hahne's.
15
Henri Bendel and the flagship Lord and Taylor bring back many memories of my mother taking me shopping in New York City. And as a special treat, having a mother -daughter lunch together at Lord and Taylor. My mother and I were not close at all but we bonded over clothing and regardless of all of the other difficulties - clothes shopping and lunch together bridged some of the more glaring issues. My mother is deceased but the fond memories (which are few and far between) bring up nostalgia and a feeling of appreciation for what she was able to share with me for which I am grateful. I miss - will miss -all of the Fifth Avenue stores - B. Altman, Lord and Taylor and now Henri Bendel. No amount of WeWork office space can ever replace that and - in some respects- it is a very sad commentary of a bygone era!
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@kkm
Department-store shopping has been a big part of my relationship with my mom too, as I suspect it has been for many women. Once on a talk show (Oprah, maybe?) I saw a woman who was mourning the loss of her mom and said she couldn't bear to walk into Bloomingdale's.
I am GUTTED about Lord & Taylor, not only emotionally but practically speaking. Sometimes you just want to buy a swim cover-up or a raincoat without fighting hordes of tourists in a store that you need GPS to navigate.
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As a little girl, I had my hair cut at Best & Company, ate lunch with my mother at The Birdcage at L&T and combed B. Altman for once-a-year sales on cashmere sweaters (Alexander's too). Ah yes, I remember it well.
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@anon Atlanta Thanks for bringing back memories ... my mother and I, who took the LIRR into the city two or three times a year, were probably sitting right next to you at The Birdcage. It was the annual sale of loafers at B.Altman that I loved -- real leather, beautifully crafted.Thanks to the reduced price, I could afford a pair in every color. In my sewing box I still have a Best label cut from a camel hair coat, a coat which I wore for 25 years until it was in shreds. Sigh.
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@anon Atlanta
As a little girl, I had my hair cut at Best & Company on visits to my grandmother ... and they gave you a balloon afterward. How well I remember that!
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@Jane
Yes haircuts at Best & Co...with the balloon of course...I still have a velvet dress with lace collar (albeit yellowed) my mom bought for me to wear to a wedding. sigh.....
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It was part of our identity, as far as communicated by my brooklyn born mom to me - we were Lord and Taylor people. As I endured many overseas assignments and homecomings to the states, with our foreign service officer's family life, Lord and Taylor greeted me in DC again, and always, a connection to our new york roots, and a familiar place, in our stateside visits, between assignments abroad.
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@grace thorsen Ah, your story echoes mine. Mom was a Long Island City girl who married a West Pointer. The rest is history, but we were definitely Lord and Taylor people!
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This brought back many memories. And some introspection. I also embraced online shopping in part for convenience and in part to not have to interact quite that much. But then again, despite my introversion, I have recollections of wandering around a grand old shop with my aunt who was visiting from Argentina. It was built into the fabric of NYC to visit Saks or Bonwit Teller. If the only retail spaces left will be huge, personality-less warehouse shops--we will have long something that can't be measured in profits.
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I enjoyed this article as a lot of my early memories were me with my mother in stores such as these. I did feel that the insertion of the writer's personal anxieties in large busy spaces wasn't really needed.
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@jack It may be a generational thing, but I did find the anxiety mention valid
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