B. Altman and Company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
B. Altman & Co. was a New York City-based department store founded in 1865 by Benjamin Altman. It officially closed on December 31, 1989. The company had opened branch stores in Pennsylvania (St. Davids, 1965, Willow Grove, 1983), New Jersey (SHort Hills, 1958, Ridgewood/Paramus, 1967), and New York state (Manhasset, 1951, White Plains, 1930) as well as its block-long main store at Fifth Avenue 1906-1912 and 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan. A short lived location in Cincinnati, 1988 opened during the LJ Hooker ownership period, and two mall locations in Buffalo and Syracuse New York were physically completed but never occupied by Altman's during that same time.
Benjamin Altman founded his first store on Third Avenue and 10th Street in 1865 which later relocated and expanded to 19th Strret and Sixth Avenue. In 1906, the store relocated to the block long structure on Fifth Avenue running from 34th to 35th Streets which was later expanded to include the Madison Avenue blockfront. In the 1930s, Altman's made one of the early entries in the suburbs with branches opening in East Orange (later relocated to Short Hills), White Plains and Manhasset. The foresight of the organization in geographical selection can be seen in that the Short Hills location is now The Mall at Short Hills, the White Plains location is now The Westchester shopping mall and the Manhasset location is adjacent to the Americana Manhasset, which opened nine years after the Altman's store.
When Benjamin Altman died he left no heirs, and besides his art collection going to the Metropolitan Museum, his stock in the stores was placed in a foundation, the Altman Foundation. In 1985, due to changing IRS laws the Foundation sold the stores to an investor group which included members of the Gucci family and two principals from financial firm, Deloitte & Touche.
In 1987, the Australian shopping center company, L.J. Hooker and its notorious CEO, George Herscu, purchased the controlling interest in the B. Altman stores (as well as Bonwit Teller, Sakowitz and a majority of The Parisian) to utilize these chains as anchors in poorly located, yet extravagant new shopping centers across the country. Knowing virtually nothing about how to operate these various retailing chains and then placing them in locations with no regard to market recognition or demographics, the strategy failed miserably and in August 1989, B. Altman filed for bankruptcy protection, with the last store closing in 1990.
Another less well known, but equally catastrophic venture included building two upstate New York stores that were part of a larger stand-alone expansion that never materialized. These store locations were completed and fully fixtured but never occupied by B. Altman. Both malls are owned by the Pyramid Company and included the huge Walden Galleria in Buffalo and Carousel Mall in Syracuse.
The store culturally was known for its WASP sensibilities, and many regarded it as similar to the renowned Marshall Field's in Chicago. Highlighting its sober reputation, the stores included a satellite location of Colonial Williamsburg's Craft House that sold classic colonial reproductions. Two lost treasures from the store are the famous Christmas windows which rivaled Lord & Taylor's, a few blocks up Fifth Avenue as well as the Charleston Garden Restaurant which housed a full sized facade of a Tara-like Charleston home. The St. David's, Pennsylvania location, also had a 'Charleston Garden' restuarant.
