posted on June 19, 2006 08:05:06 AM new
All I can find on ebay are post cards. Can anyone tell me when the Saks closed and is it the same as Saks 5th Ave?
Thanks
posted on June 19, 2006 08:10:54 AM new
Saks Fifth Avenue
The retail specialty store, Saks Fifth Avenue, has stood as a symbol of American wealth and prestige for most of the twentieth century. The firm was founded in 1902 when Andrew Saks, a street peddler from Philadelphia, opened Saks & Company, a men's clothing shop in Washington, D.C. Saks soon expanded his store operations to Richmond, Virginia; Indianapolis; and New York City. For his New York store, Saks began actively courting the high-end retail market by stocking quality merchandise and offering first-class service. After Horace Saks became firm president upon his father's death in 1912, Saks made a bid to become the premiere specialty store for New York society. Saks buyers scoured the globe for unique and fashionable merchandise in order to build the store's reputation. With the shift of New York retail uptown during the 1910s, it became apparent to Saks that for the firm to continue its fashionable reputation, it needed a more prestigious address than its present location on 34th Street near Herald Square. The firm entered negotiations to takeover the site of the New York Democratic Club between 49th and 50th Streets on Fifth Avenue, but lacked sufficient capital to meet Tammany Hall's asking price. Therefore, Horace Saks agreed to merge his retail store chain with Gimbel Brothers department store, which operated stores in Philadelphia; Madison, Wisconsin; and New York. The resultant merger in 1923 created one of the earliest regional department store chains in the United States. Saks' old Herald Square store site was leased to Gimbels and combined with their existing store nearby, making it the largest department store in the world at that time.
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posted on June 19, 2006 08:24:34 AM new
Thanks Neglus - did you google that?
So if I have a coat with a Saks on 34th Street label - can I assume that it is from the early 20's??? I didn't think it was that old. Maybe I had a better shopping day than I thought!!
posted on June 19, 2006 08:54:27 AM new
Yes Lady - I googled "saks 34th st store history" and that was actually an excerpt from a book review. I think the next sentence said that the Saks 5th Ave store opened in 1924. Not sure about the label - I assume the 34th st store became Gimbels ?
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Here's an excerp of it
Horace Saks had seen Benjamin Altman make the jump from Sixth to Fifth Avenue in 1906 -- why couldn't Saks? To raise the cash to build a new store between 49th and 50th Streets, Horace Saks sold the entire company to his competitor, Bernard F. Gimbel. The result was Saks Fifth Avenue: Saks' operation, but Gimbel's money.
INSTEAD of closing the old Saks, Gimbel's restyled it "Saks-34th Street" and built a second-floor bridge connecting the two buildings. Although now jointly owned, the two stores operated as separate businesses.
What began in 1924 as a gap between Saks-34th Street and Saks Fifth Avenue eventually became a gulch. In 1938 Fortune described Saks Fifth Avenue's tony merchandise and clientele as completely unlike "the anthill bargain basement tables on Herald Square."
Looks like your coat must be from prior to 1965...hope this helps!
Sue
In 1965 Gimbel's announced that it would close Saks-34th Street. Isadore Barmash, writing in The New York Times, blamed the closing on poor layouts, no escalators, a confused identity and "an archaic front." Saks-34th Street had tried but failed to move near Bloomingdale's, or even remain in place and buy the name of another store like Russek's, Oppenheim-Collins or McCreery's.
