Bamberger's facts for kids
 |
|
| Department store | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Fate | Rebranded as/replaced by Macy's |
| Founded | 1893 |
| Founder | Felix Fuld Louis M. Frank Louis Bamberger |
| Defunct | 1986 |
| Headquarters | 131 Market Street Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Products | Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, electronics and housewares. |
| Parent | Macy's (1929-1986) |
Bamberger's was a famous department store chain. It had many stores, mostly in New Jersey, but also in Delaware, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania. The main office for the company was in Newark, New Jersey.
Contents
History of Bamberger's
How it Started (1892-1912)
In the late 1800s, Newark, New Jersey was a very busy city. It was known for making many different products, from leather goods to jewelry. It was also a big train center.
Because of this, three people – Felix Fuld, Louis M. Frank, and Louis Bamberger – decided to open a store. They started Bamberger's on December 13, 1892. It was located on Market Street in Newark, in a building that used to be another store. Felix Fuld and Louis M. Frank were Louis Bamberger's brothers-in-law.
Growing Bigger (1912-1929)
On October 16, 1912, Bamberger's opened its main store in downtown Newark. This huge building was designed by Jarvis Hunt. It became one of the biggest department stores in the country. After it was made even larger in 1929, it was the sixth largest store in the United States.
The massive building took up an entire city block. It was bounded by Market, Washington, Bank, and Halsey Streets. It had 1.2 million square feet of space! The store even had its own special phone number, 565, just for customers to place orders over the phone. This was called "TeleService." The delivery area for trucks was deep underground, four levels below the street. Huge elevators could carry fully loaded trucks down to this area.
The store had more than 200 different sections spread across 9 floors and 2 basement levels. There was even a restaurant on the 10th floor. Over time, the layout of the store changed. Bamberger's also had its own Newark Public Library branch and a U.S. Post Office branch inside the store! They sold special items like custom sheets, engraved jewelry, and fur coats.
Changes and Growth (1929-1959)
In June 1929, Bamberger's was bought by R.H. Macy Co. However, the store kept the Bamberger's name for many years. After World War II, the store was changed to appeal to more people. In 1955, the big restaurant on the tenth floor was rented out to a private club. Customers could still eat at "The Dinette" in the basement or at snack bars on other floors. Later, the basement eating area was changed into a nicer restaurant called the Garden State Tea Room.
Expanding and Renaming (1960-1986)
The 1960s and 1970s saw Bamberger's open many new stores across New Jersey. They also expanded into the areas around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Baltimore, Maryland.
As more people moved to the suburbs of northern New Jersey, Bamberger's opened stores in those areas. Some of these locations included downtown Morristown, Plainfield, and Princeton, New Jersey. Later, more stores were built in places like East Brunswick, Garden State Plaza, Monmouth Mall, Nanuet Mall, Ocean County Mall, and Menlo Park Mall. In 1970, the East Brunswick store became a main store for the Brunswick Square Mall.
Sales at the downtown Newark store were affected by the Newark civil unrest in 1967. Because of this, the store became smaller and focused on selling items at lower prices. By 1979, the downtown store no longer stayed open in the evenings.
On October 5, 1986, all Bamberger's stores officially changed their name to Macy's. Later, in 1988, Macy's New Jersey joined with Macy's New York to form a bigger company called Macy's Northeast.
What Happened Next (1986-Today)
In 1986, all Bamberger's stores became Macy's. The original Newark store operated as Macy's until it closed in 1992.
Today, the old Bamberger's building in Newark is used by companies that deal with phones, computers, and internet services.
WOR Radio Station
Bamberger's also started its own radio station, WOR, in 1922. The radio studio was on the sixth floor of the main store in downtown Newark. WOR was the first radio station on the East Coast to broadcast opera music and even a morning exercise class in the 1920s!
Later, in 1940 or 1941, they started an FM radio station. In 1949, WOR-TV (channel 9) began broadcasting, becoming the last of the New York area's VHF television stations to start. In 1952, Macy's sold its part of the broadcasting company.
See also
In Spanish: Bamberger's para niños
