Kaufmann's

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Kaufmann's
Image:KF frontpage logo.gif
Fate Renamed Macy's
Successor Macy's
Founded 1871
Defunct 2006
Location Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Industry Retail
Products Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products and housewares
Key people Jacob Kaufmann, Isaac Kaufmann and Edgar Kaufmann
Parent Formerly May Department Stores

Kaufmann's was a department store that originated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The store became a regional chain in the eastern United States, and was last owned by Federated Department Stores.

Formerly part of May Department Stores prior to that company's acquisition by Federated on Aug. 30, 2005, Kaufmann's operated as part of the Filene's organization in Boston, Massachusetts.[1]

On Feb. 1, 2006, the Filene's/Kaufmann's organization was dissolved and the management of its stores was assumed by Macy's East and the new Macy's Midwest. On Sept 9, 2006, the Kaufmann's name was retired as Federated Department Stores converted the former May Company chains to the Macy's masthead.[2]

Contents

Kaufmann's, at one time, was one of seven department stores in downtown Pittsburgh that included Horne's; Gimbel Brothers; Boggs & Buhl; Kaufmann & Baer, founded by cousins of the original Kaufmann's; Rosenbaum's; and Frank & Seder's.[3]

Kaufmann's was founded in Pittsburgh in 1871 by Jacob and Isaac Kaufmann.[4] In 1877, the brothers moved downtown to a location that became known as "The Big Store."[5]

With Edgar Kaufmann as president, the Kaufmann's chain was acquired by May Company in 1946. The chain operated in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and West Virginia.[6]

The chain dominated its local region, absorbing several other department stores including Strouss, based in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1986; Sibley's, based in Rochester, New York, in 1991 (which had merged with Hengerer's of Buffalo in 1981); May Company Ohio, based in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1992 (which had merged with O'Neil's in Akron, Ohio, in 1989); and remnants of McCurdy's stores of Rochester and Hess's of Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1995.[7]

Ironically, Gimbels Brothers history in Pittsburgh had originated with their purchase of the Kaufmann & Baer department store in 1926, founded by a rival faction of the Kaufmann family.[8]

In 1970, the entire Gimbels chain was purchased by the tobacco comglomerate BATUS. In 1986, after years of declining sales, BATUS announced that Gimbels was on the block. Unable to find a buyer for the entire chain, BATUS closed down the unprofitable Gimbels Pittsburgh division, selling or closing all locations. Some of the more attractive mall locations were taken over by Kaufmann's, which effectively caused the shuttering of the Gimbels Pittsburgh division.[9]

In October 1986, May Company acquired Joseph Horne Co., as part of their merger with Associated Dry Goods. Due to anti-trust concerns and legal action by the City of Pittsburgh, Hornes was promptly sold in December 1986 to a local investor group. After several years of private ownership, it was announced that Dillards would buy the chain to combine it with the Dillard/DeBartolo co-owned Higbee's stores based in Cleveland. The deal collapsed and was not completed. The Joseph Horne Co. was sold off in parts, with Dillard's acquiring its five Ohio stores in 1992 and Federated Department Stores's Lazarus division acquiring its remaining nine Pennsylvania stores in 1995. Federated eventually merged all its divisions (including the former Joseph Horne/Lazarus locations) into Macy's.[10]

In 2002, the store's Pittsburgh business headquarters was closed, and its back-office operations were consolidated into Filene's.[11]

On Sept. 9, 2006, Kaufmann's ceased to exist as the Macy's nameplate replaced the historical name.

Kaufmann's historic clock.
Kaufmann's historic clock.

‎ The flagship store in downtown Pittsburgh (also known as "The Big Store") has a large clock at one corner of the building (at Smithfield Street and Fifth Avenue). This clock became a popular meeting place, and prompted the coining of the phrase "Meet me under Kaufmann's clock." The clock has become a local icon, and is often featured in print materials about the city.

In 2006, USA Today ran an article about the regional chains being merged into Macy's, and the piece featured memories from Pittsburghers about the store and the clock: "As girls in their best dresses and Mary Jane shoes, they rode streetcars downtown to the 11-story Kaufmann's department store here. Jean Wenner, 81 [in 2006], and her friends grew up on Kaufmann's, meeting under the store's ornate clock, lunching at the Tic Toc restaurant and bringing their own children to the Secret Santa." [1]:

  • The phrase "Meet Me Under Kaufmann's Clock" became famous in Pittsburgh, as the meeting place for anyone shopping downtown. Shoppers would meet under Kaufmann's historic clock located at 5th Avenue and Smithfield Street.
  • The phrase "Does Hornes tell Kaufmann's its business?" was once used in Western Pennsylvania as a put-off to inquiring people, the implication being that a company does not give information out to its competitors.
  • Kaufmann's sponsored the first 25 years of the Kaufmann's/WPXI Celebrate the Season Parade.

Edgar Kaufmann was notable for commissioning Frank Lloyd Wright to design his home in Mill Run, Pennsylvania; that home, Fallingwater, became one of the most famous houses of the 20th century.[12]

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This Macy's store located at The Waterfront still has a Kaufmann's sign in front of the store, even though it was converted to a Macy's one year ago. The current Macy's sign can be seen slightly behind the trees. This image was taken in July, 2007.
This Macy's store located at The Waterfront still has a Kaufmann's sign in front of the store, even though it was converted to a Macy's one year ago. The current Macy's sign can be seen slightly behind the trees. This image was taken in July, 2007.

  1. ^ http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2005/07/29/its_official_filenes_brand_will_be_gone/
  2. ^ http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06252/720353-28.stm
  3. ^ http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_308522.html
  4. ^ http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_308522.html
  5. ^ http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:RHeDO6ge6E8J:www.ticketsforkidsfoundation.org/pdf/Macy%27s_article.pdf+Kaufmann%27s+%221871%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=us&client=safari
  6. ^ http://www.fds.com/company/his_3.asp
  7. ^ http://www.federated-fds.com/pressroom/macys/macysmidwest/about.asp?page=2
  8. ^ http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_308522.html
  9. ^ http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_308522.html
  10. ^ http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_308522.html
  11. ^ http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2002/05/13/story3.html
  12. ^ http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/wrightpa/kaufmann.html
v • d • e
Store conversions to Macy's
2006: Famous-Barr | Filene's | Foley's | Hecht's | The Jones Store | Kaufmann's | L. S. Ayres | Marshall Field's | Meier & Frank | Robinsons-May | Strawbridge's
2005: The Bon Marché | Burdines | Goldsmith's | Lazarus | Rich's    2001: Liberty House | Stern's
1996: The Broadway | Bullock's | Emporium-Capwell | The Emporium | Jordan Marsh | Weinstock's
1995: Abraham & Straus    1986: Bamberger's | Davison's    1984: LaSalle & Koch    1949: John Taylor Dry Goods Co.    1947: O'Connor, Moffat & Co.
v • d • e
Store Conversions to Filene's
1994: Steiger's    1993: G. Fox & Co.    
See also: Filene's Basement (associated until 1988) | Kaufmann's (part of division from 2002)
v • d • e
Store Conversions to Kaufmann's
1995: Hess's    1992: May Company Ohio    1991: Sibley's    1986: Strouss
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaufmann%27s"
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