Garfinckel's

History

This retail mercantile business was founded in 1905, as Julius Garfinkel & Co. by Julius Garfinckel (1872–1936), originally employing 10 clerks. In 1946, it acquired the men's specialty retailer, Brooks Brothers and in 1950, De Pinna. It formed the national retail conglomerate, Garfinckel, Brooks Brothers, Miller & Rhoads, Inc., after acquisition of the Miller & Rhoads chain in 1967. In 1977, the conglomerate acquired the Ann Taylor women's fashion store chain. In 1981, the conglomerate consisted of close to 190 stores in seven chains. That same year, Allied Stores acquired Garfinckel, Brooks Brothers, Miller & Rhoads, Inc. for $228 million. In 1986, Campeau Corp. acquired Allied, and in turn sold the Garfinkel's chain to locally owned Raleigh's for $95 million, forming Garfinkel's, Raleigh's & Co.

Garfinkel's grew and expanded into a chain of stores, but was eventually pushed into financial collapse due to a series of mergers and acquisitions. On June 21, 1990, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy by its chairman and CEO George P. Kelly and went out of business.

Flagship store

In 1918, the store was located at 13th and F Streets. An eight-story department store building was erected at the northwest corner of 14th and F Streets, across from the Willard Hotel, and opened in 1929. The $2,000,000 structure was designed by architects Starrett & van Vleck of New York. By 1936, there were more than 500 employees.

In 1995, the historic Garfinckel's flagship store located at 1401 F Street, NW, Washington, which is one block from the Treasury Department and less than two blocks from the White House, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. From 1997 to 1999, the property was redeveloped into a modern office building and shopping center that is referred to as Hamilton Square.

Garfinckel's flagship store reputation was not without controversy. It was both widely known and acknowledged that blacks were not welcome at the flagship store and in fact, were not permitted to try on clothing. This may in fact have hurt the store during the latter part of the 20th century; newly-prosperous blacks may have been inclined to ignore the store.

Branch stores

Unlike its local retail competitors, the Hecht Company, Woodward & Lothrop, and Lord & Taylor, Garfinkel's did not open numerous suburban locations during the heyday of the 1950s and 1960s. The first suburban store was an original anchor at the Seven Corners Shopping Center upon opening in 1956. After that, its Montgomery Mall store opened in 1968. It also operated a 35,000-square-foot (3,300 m²) Spring Valley Shopping Center store in the Spring Valley section of Washington, D.C., at 4820 Massachusetts Avenue. This was followed by store openings in May 1970, a 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m²) location at Tyson's Corner Center; a 90,000-square-foot (8,400 m²) location at Landover Mall on May 11, 1972; and a second hotel location - a 600-square-foot (56 m²) store in the Washington Hilton, opened July 1972. The Springfield Mall store opened in January 1973.

Convinced that the company had expanded enough and that the premiere 170,000-square-foot (16,000 m²) downtown location would continue to prosper, Garfinkel's did not expand again until the early-1980s. Stores opened in the early 1980s at Annapolis Mall, Fair Oaks Mall, and a 16,000-square-foot (1,500 m²) store at The Shops at Georgetown Park. These would be the last new Garfinkel's suburban locations. After allowing its lease to expire at the Tyson's Corner store at the end of 1988, Garfinkel's announced plans to open a second downtown Washington store at 1130 Connecticut Ave, NW; then the site of a temporary Raleigh's location. Nine locations were in operation at the time of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1990.

The Garfinckel's Department Store Records are held at the Library of Congress.