Bloomingdales
Founded (1861)
Bloomingdales Great East Side Bazaar was founded in 1861 by brothers Lyman and Joseph Bloomingdales, on East Fifty-Six Street in New York City. They started selling a variety of women's fashions.
In 1929, Bloomingdales moved to its present location on Fifty-Nine street. The store continued to rapidly expand and by 1931, with the completion of its beautiful Art Deco building facing Lexington Avenue, Bloomingdale’s covered the entire city block.The Bloomingdale’s brothers catered to American’s love of international goods, and by the 1880s, they had and extensive European selection. Buyers covered the globe to find exclusive, one-of-a-kind items. When they couldn't find what they wanted, they had it made. In fashion, Bloomingdale's launched new designers and created boutiques for already-famous names. Among the discoveries were: Ralph Lauren, Dolce & Gabanna, Norma Kamali, John Galliano, Sonia Rykiel and Kenzo. Designers opening their first in-store boutiques at Bloomingdale’s, included Calvin Klein, DKNY and Yves Saint Laurent. Bloomingdale's ability to spot new talent first is legendary and the store has played a pivotal role in the development of important young designers from Marc Jacobs to Zac Posen.
In 1973, the store decided to stamp its name on panties to launch an intimate apparel promotion, they chose the company’s nickname, and the "Bloomie's" logo was born. Bloomingdale's promotions were so exciting that the term "Retailing as Theater" was coined to describe the "happenings" at the store. In 1922, years before there were such things as shopping bags, Bloomingdale's printed an anniversary message to thank its customers on the face of its small brown paper bags.
The most famous bag of all, Bloomingdale's iconic Big Brown Bag, first hit the streets in 1973. It was designed when the linen department requested a really big bag to accommodate the increasingly larger and more luxurious pillows and blankets that were becoming popular. The little brown bag, for cosmetics and accessories, followed a year later.
Bloomingdale's began to open stores in 1949, beginning with stores in the Metro New York tri-state area. By mid 1970s, there were Bloomingdale's stores in suburban Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, DC locations. In the 1980s stores were opened in the northeast, in South Florida and a Midwest flagship store in downtown Chicago. In 1996, Bloomingdales opened stores in the west coast debuting four stores in California; and in 2004, Bloomindales opened a second location in Manhattan, in the Soho district. Since then, a west coast flagship location has been added in San Francisco. Today Bloomingdale's has thirty-nine stores in eighteen major markets from coast to coast.
Currently, Bloomingdale’s is America's only nationwide, full-line, upscale department store; and a division of Macy's, Inc. Internationally famous for its reputation for quality, creativity and uniqueness, Bloomingdale's has remained at the forefront of retailing worldwide. Emphasis continues on distinctive products, available only at, or first at Bloomingdale's together with great focus on special customer service.
