The Bon Marché

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The Bon Marché
Image:Bonmarch.gif
Type department stores
Founded 1890 Seattle, Washington
Headquarters Seattle, Washington
Industry Retail
Products Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, and housewares.
Website None

The Bon Marché, roughly translated as "the good market", was the name chosen for a Seattle, Washington department store launched in 1890 by the Nordhoff family. The name comes from Le Bon Marché, a noted Paris retailer and one of the world's first department stores, founded 40 years earlier.

Familiarly known to Seattleites as The Bon, it was acquired by Allied Stores in 1929. A solid middle-range store, The Bon served largely working-class, boom-and-bust Seattle well; branches were added in several Northwestern cities. Among them were Spokane, Tacoma, Yakima, and Bellingham, Washington and Boise, Idaho.

The Bon is known for their catchy jingles, "Dayo One Day Sale, One Sale at The Bon Marché. Save 10, Save 20, Save 30 percent (example savings)."

Allied Stores was merged into Federated Department Stores in 1989. As part of its national rebranding program, Federated changed the name to Bon-Macy's in 2003. On March 6, 2005, the Bon-Macy's name was eliminated, with the stores renamed as the Macy's Northwest division of Federated.

Contents

[edit] History

Bon Marche flagship, 3rd at Pine, Seattle
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Bon Marche flagship, 3rd at Pine, Seattle

Edward Nordhoff was born in Germany in 1858, and moved to Paris as a young man. In Paris, he worked for the Louvre Department Store, but developed great admiration for its rival, the Maison a Boucieaut au Bon Marché. Nordhoff admired the values of this rival store's owners, who built their business with a foundation in customer service. He dreamed of opening his own store along these lines. In 1881, Edward immigrated to the U.S. While managing a popular Chicago department store he met Josephine Brennan, who worked on the sales floor. They married in 1888, and 2 years later set off for the West Coast with their baby, Eleanor.

Arriving in Seattle the year after the 1889 fire, the Nordhoffs found rental space scarce. They leased a one-story structure at the corner of First and Cedar in Belltown, for $25 a month.

Their entire savings of $1,200 was soon invested on merchandise for their store. Mrs. Nordhoff, not yet 20, stocked shelves, kept the books, cleaned and mopped. She learned the Chinook language so that she could better wait on Native American customers. Though the store was blocks out of the way, townsfolk began to trade with the hardworking young couple.

The panic of the early 1890s struck Seattle hard. Every cent was precious. Returning from his first buying trip east, Ed Nordhoff brought back something new -- sacks of pennies. Until then, change had been made only to the nearest nickel locally. Now customers walked for blocks to save pennies at The Bon Marché's sales.

[edit] Initial Growth

Their growing success allowed the Nordhoffs to relocate their store closer to the business heart of the city in 1896. They chose a one-story L-shaped building at Second and Pike.

In 1899, at age 40, Edward died of an illness his doctor called "phthisis", probably tuberculosis. Josephine remarried two years later. Her new husband, Frank McDermott, joined her and Rudolph Nordhoff, Edward's brother, in operating The Bon Marché.

The store entered a period of rapid growth under the management of this trio. Sales increased from $338,000 in 1900 to $8 million in 1923. The store was enlarged time and time again. In 1929, The Bon Marché opened at its current downtown location at Third and Pine. That year, the store was sold to Hahn Stores of Chicago. Five years later, Allied Stores bought the Hahn chain. Both corporations continued to operate the store under its original name.

[edit] Expansion

The Bon began opening additional stores after World War II. In 1949, it provided the anchor store for one of the world's first modern shopping center, at Northgate Mall. By 1986, when Campeau Corporation acquired Allied Stores, the Bon Marché was one of the best-known retailers in the Northwest, with about 40 stores throughout the region.

In the 1980s The Bon also made a couple of acquisions including Missoula Merchantile of Missoula, Montana and The Paris of Great Falls, Montana.

After yet another change in corporate ownership in 1992, the Bon ended up in the hands of Federated Department Stores, a Cincinnati-based company which also owns the Macy's and Bloomingdales chains.

[edit] Name Changes

In August 2003, Federated "rebranded" the Bon Marché, turning it into Bon-Macy's. Federated also tacked Macy’s onto the names of four other regional chains under its umbrella (Burdines in Florida, Lazarus in the Midwest, Goldsmith's in Tennessee, and Rich's in the Southeast). Customers had about a year to get used to that change when, in September 2004, Federated announced that all its regional chains would be renamed Macy’s.

As of 2004, Bon-Macy’s consisted of 50 stores in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. New store signs, reading simply Macy’s, were in place by January 2005.

[edit] Former Locations

A typical Bon Marché store in Helena, Montana.
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A typical Bon Marché store in Helena, Montana.

[edit] Alaska

  • Ketchikan - Plaza Mall (opened in 1913, relocated in 1990, closed in 2001)

[edit] Idaho

[edit] Montana

  • Bozeman - Gallatin Valley Mall (opened 1980)
  • Helena - The Northside Center (opened 2001)
  • Missoula - Downtown Missoula (freestanding)
  • Great Falls - Downtown Great Falls (freestanding) (Closed in 2003)

[edit] Oregon

  • Eugene - Valley River Center (opened 1990, Macy's closed 2006 in favor of Meier & Frank location)
  • Roseburg - Roseburg Valley Mall (opened 1980)
  • Salem - Lancaster Mall (opened 1980)
  • North Bend - Pony Village Mall (opened 1980)
  • Bend - Bend River Mall (opened 1980)

[edit] Washington

Bon-Macy's
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Bon-Macy's

[edit] Wyoming

  • Casper - Eastridge Mall (opened 1983)

[edit] Sources

[edit] External links

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