Bloomingdale's history

By 1879, the new Third Avenue “El” (elevated) Train raced along the East Side from 67th to 129th Streets and with it came the masses from the suburbs.

A combination of Lyman’s inventiveness and creativity as well as the proximity to the “El” Train increased sales to over $851,000 by 1883.

In 1886, the brothers opened a new store with large plate glass display windows and spacious merchandising areas at Third Avenue and 59th Street.

As New York’s transportation system grew, the catchy slogan commissioned by Samuel Bloomingdale in 1902, “All cars transfer to Bloomingdale’s” became a reality.

When Lymen Bloomingdale died in 1905, Bloomingdale's was handling a volume of $5 million per year.

One of Lyman’s pet projects finally came to fruition when the 59th Street Bridge was completed in 1909.

In 1913, the 58th Street Station of the Lexington Avenue subway was constructed in Bloomingdale's basement (further supporting the "All Cars Transfer to Bloomingdale's" message) and business picked up again.

Expansion became inevitable and in 1917, Bloomingdale’s now occupied nearly the entire block from Lexington to Third Avenue and from 59th to 60th Streets.

The store expanded steadily and by the 1920's, Bloomingdale's converted an entire city block.

In 1927, with the purchase of the three remaining small residential parcels in the block, work began on a new Lexington Avenue entrance.

By 1929, sales were $25 million.

In 1931, the Bloomingdale's building, which had grown by spurts and starts to engulf the entire block, was completely redesigned by architects Starret and Van Vleck in the Art Deco style.

Fashion shows and other events were held at the New York store starting in the 1940’s.

The collection was launched with an enormous media event entitled, "Women of the Year, 1947," and paved the road for further, far more elaborate events in the future.

Their first location in Queens hosted more than 25,000 guests when it opened in 1948.

In 1949, Bloomingdale's inaugurated its first branch store in the Fresh Meadows section of Queens.

In the 1950’s Bloomingdale’s began to build stores outside of Manhattan.

When the “El” Train came down, Bloomingdale’s remodeled the Third Avenue entrance in 1955.

A decade later, Bloomingdale's expanded on these two concepts and introduced "Casa Bella," a 1960 promotional campaign that featured in-store cultural exhibits highlighting home furnishings and products from Italy.

In 1962, Marvin S. Traub became merchandising manager at the store.

In 1969, Traub was appointed president of the company.

Bloomingdale’s achieved celebrity status in the 1970’s as actors, royalty and other celebrities frequented the legendary department store.

Model rooms became even more showy, typified by a 1971 display called "The Cave," a multi-level structure wrapped completely in white polyurethane.

By the time Bloomingdale's celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1972, its flagship store had estimated sales of $100 million a year.

Bloomingdale’s famous Big Brown Bag was introduced in 1973.

Bloomingdale’s stores opened in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Boston, to be followed by a flagship store in downtown Chicago and several stores in Florida in the 1980’s.

The Bloomingdale's chain continued to expand, however, and by 1981 12 stores had been built along the East Coast, in Florida, and in California.

In 1987, the Campeau Corporation paid $6.6 billion in a much publicized hostile takeover of Federated Department Stores.

In 1989, Campeau decided to put Bloomingdale's up for sale, and Traub attempted unsuccessfully to buy the store.

In January 1990, Federated filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from its creditors.

Federated filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1991.

In 1992, after two years in court, Federated pulled itself out of bankruptcy.

Campeau then announced plans to open 17 to 18 new Bloomingdale's branches in the United States and his native Canada by 1993.

Another flagship store would be added in San Francisco in 2004 along with a second Bloomingdale’s location in Manhattan that year.

Additional Bloomingdale’s stores were constructed in Washington, D.C.; Santa Monica, California and San Jose, California in 2008.

Their first international franchise was built in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates in 2010.

Bloomingdale’s closed stores in Dunwoody, Georgia; North Bethesda, Maryland and Oak Brook, Illinois in 2012.