Ohrbach's
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| Ohrbach's | |
 |
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| Type | Department store |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1923 |
| Headquarters | New York City, New York |
| Industry | Retail |
| Products | Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, and housewares. |
| Website | None |
Ohrbach's was a low-priced clothing chain, with its flagship store located at Union Square in New York City. The company also had home offices in Newark and Los Angeles, but eventually closed the Newark office in the 1970s. Paul Laszlo designed the Union Square store as well as many of their other stores. In 1954 the flagship store was relocated to an existing building on 34th Street.
The chain, which had stores across the country, was open from 1923 until the flagship store went out of business in 1987. Ohrbach's became famous nationwide in the 1960s with low-priced copies of European haute couture, which was modeled in front of millions of viewers on soap operas like Dark Shadows and The Secret Storm and the pioneering sit-com The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
The company was bought by Amcena (renamed American Retail Group in 1994), the U.S. holding company for the Dutch-based Brenninkmeyer family in 1962. In June 1986 Amcena acquired Howland-Steinbach from Supermarkets General Corp. and announced the shuttering of the six California locations and the flagship 34th Street Ohrbach's. The remaining five stores, plus a unit under construction reopened under the Howland-Steinbach banner on February 1, 1987.
Contents |
[edit] Former Ohrbach's locations
[edit] California
- Los Cerritos Center, Cerritos, California (closed 1986, now Mervyn's)
- Glendale Galleria, Glendale, California (closed 1987, converted to mall shops - Escalators still remain in same location)
- Topanga Plaza, Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California (closed 1986)
- Wilshire Boulevard (freestanding), Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California (closed 1986, now Petersen Automotive Museum)
- Panorama City (freestanding), Panorama City, Los Angeles, California (closed 1986, turned into Valley Indoor Swap Meet)
- Del Amo Fashion Center, Torrance, California (closed 1987. Now Marshall's/TJ Maxx)
- Pasadena (freestanding), Lake Street, Pasadena, California
[edit] New Jersey
- Bergen Mall, Paramus, New Jersey (became Steinbach's 1987, Value City 1996 now closed)
- Willowbrook Mall, Wayne, New Jersey (became Steinbach's 1987, location now Lord & Taylor)
- Woodbridge Center, Woodbridge, New Jersey (became Steinbach's 1987, location now Lord & Taylor)
[edit] New York
- 7 W. 34th Street, Manhattan (closed 1987, now New York Gift Mart)
- Queens Center, Rego Park, Queens (became Steinbach's 1987, JCPenney 1990, demolished 2004 in mall expansion)
- Westbury (freestanding), Westbury, Long Island (became Steinbach's 1987)
- Smith Haven Mall, Lake Grove, Long Island (under construction, opened instead as Steinbach's 1986)
