Bonwit Teller & Co. was an American luxury
department store
A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...
in New York City,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, founded by
Paul Bonwit in 1895 at
Sixth Avenue
Sixth Avenue – also known as Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers, p.24 – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown". It is commercial ...
and 18th Street, and later a
chain of department stores.
In 1897, Edmund D. Teller was admitted to the partnership and the store moved to
23rd Street, east of Sixth Avenue.
Bonwit specialized in high-end women's apparel at a time when many of its competitors were diversifying their product lines, and Bonwit Teller became noted within the trade for the quality of its merchandise as well as the above-average salaries paid to both buyers and executives.
The partnership was incorporated in 1907 and the store moved to the corner of
Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...
and
38th Street.
Throughout much of the 20th century, Bonwit was one of a group of upscale department stores on Fifth Avenue that catered to the "carriage trade". Among its most notable peers were
Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor was the oldest brick and mortar department store in the United States, in business from 1826 to 2020. The brand was purchased during former owner Le Tote's 2020 liquidation bankruptcy and relaunched by new owner, Saadia Group, as ...
, and
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; Colloquialism, colloquially Saks) is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street and ...
.
Distinctive features
The Bonwit Teller's flagship uptown building at Fifth Avenue and 56th Street, originally known as Stewart & Company, was a women's clothing store in the "new luxury retailing district",
designed by
Whitney Warren
Whitney Warren (January 29, 1864 – January 24, 1943) was an American Beaux-Arts architect who founded, with Charles Delevan Wetmore, Warren and Wetmore in New York City, one of the most prolific and successful architectural practices in the ...
and
Charles Wetmore, and opened on October 16, 1929, with
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...
in attendance. It was described by ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' as a 12-story emporium of "severe, almost unornamented limestone climbing to a ziggurat of setbacks"—as an "antithesis" of the nearby "conventional 1928
Bergdorf Goodman
Bergdorf Goodman Inc. is a luxury department store based on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York. The company was founded in 1899 by Herman Bergdorf and was later owned and managed by Edwin Goodman, and later his son, Andrew Goodman.
To ...
.
The "stupendously luxurious" entrance sharply contrasted the severity of the building itself. The entrance was "like a spilled casket of gems: platinum, bronze, hammered aluminum, orange and yellow faience, and tinted glass backlighted at night".
The ''American Architect'' magazine described it in 1929 as "a sparkling jewel in keeping with the character of the store."
Originally, the "interior of Stewart & Company was just as opulent as the entrance: murals, decorative painting, and a forest of woods: satinwood, butternut, walnut, cherry, rosewood, bubinga, maple, ebony, red mahogany and Persian oak." But after Bonwit Teller took over the store in April 1930, the architect
Ely Jacques Kahn
Ely Jacques Kahn (June 1, 1884September 5, 1972) was an American commercial architect who designed numerous skyscrapers in New York City in the twentieth century. In addition to buildings intended for commercial use, Kahn's designs ranged throug ...
stripped the interior of its decorations.
Two more floors were added to the main building in 1938 and a twelve-story addition was made to the 56th Street frontage in 1939.
Over time, the 15-foot tall limestone relief panels, depicting nearly nude women dancing, at the top of the Fifth Avenue facade, became a "Bonwit Teller signature".
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
, who purchased the building thanks to Genesco's CEO
John L. Hanigan
John L. Hanigan (1911 – July 1, 1996) was an American businessman. He was the president and chief executive officer and chairman of the Brunswick Corporation in the 1960s and 1970s, and the chief executive officer and chairman of Genesco in ...
,
wanted to begin demolition in 1980. Trump "promised the limestone reliefs" to the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
. When they were "jackhammered" "to bits" the act was condemned.
Through a spokesman named "John Baron"—who turned out to be Trump himself
—Trump said that his company had obtained three independent appraisals of the sculptures, which he claimed had found them to be "without artistic merit."
An official at the Metropolitan Museum of Art disputed the statement, stating: "Can you imagine the museum accepting them if they were not of artistic merit? Architectural sculpture of this quality is rare and would have made definite sense in our collection."
In addition to the relief panels, the huge Art Deco nickel grillwork over the entrance to the store, which had also been promised to the museum, disappeared. Again masquerading as his own spokesman "John Baron," Trump said, "We don't know what happened to it."
History
Founding and early history (1880s–1946)
In the late 1880s,
Paul Bonwit opened a small
millinery
Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter.
Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of g ...
shop at Sixth Avenue and 18th Street in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
's
Ladies' Mile shopping district. In 1895, which the company often referred to as the year it was founded, Bonwit opened another store on
Sixth Avenue
Sixth Avenue – also known as Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers, p.24 – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown". It is commercial ...
just four blocks uptown. When Bonwit's original business failed, Bonwit bought out his partner and opened a new store with Edmund D. Teller in 1898 on 23d Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
The firm was incorporated in 1907 as
Bonwit Teller & Company
Bonwit Teller & Co. was an American luxury department store in New York City, New York, founded by Paul Bonwit in 1895 at Sixth Avenue and 18th Street, and later a chain of department stores.
In 1897, Edmund D. Teller was admitted to the p ...
and in 1911 relocated yet again, this time to the corner of
Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...
and Thirty-eighth Street.
![Old Bonwit Logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Old_Bonwit_Logo.png)
They announced that this new location would provide consumers with:
In 1930, with the retail trade in New York City moving uptown, the store moved again, this time to a new address on Fifth Avenue. Bonwit took up residence in the former Stewart & Co. building at Fifty-sixth Street, which would remain the company's flagship store for nearly fifty years. The building had been designed by the architectural firm
Warren and Wetmore
Warren and Wetmore was an architecture firm in New York City which was a partnership between Whitney Warren (1864–1943) and Charles Delevan Wetmore (June 10, 1866 – May 8, 1941), that had one of the most extensive practices of its time and w ...
in 1929 and redesigned the next year by
Ely Jacques Kahn
Ely Jacques Kahn (June 1, 1884September 5, 1972) was an American commercial architect who designed numerous skyscrapers in New York City in the twentieth century. In addition to buildings intended for commercial use, Kahn's designs ranged throug ...
for Bonwit.
The company, in need of capital, partnered with noted financier
Floyd Odlum
Floyd Bostwick Odlum (March 30, 1892 – June 17, 1976) was an American lawyer and industrialist. He has been described as "possibly the only man in the United States who made a great fortune out of the Depression".
Life and career
After strug ...
. Odlum, who had cashed in his stock holdings just prior to the
stock market crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...
, was investing in firms in financial distress and in 1934 Odlum's
Atlas Corporation
The Atlas Corporation is an American investment firm that was formed in 1928. Atlas invested in and managed a number of major US companies during the 20th century and has a number of investments in natural resources.
History
Atlas corporation wa ...
acquired Bonwit Teller. Odlum's wife,
Hortense, who had already been serving as a consultant, was named president of Bonwit Teller in 1938, making her the first female president of a major department store in the United States. The Odlums also retained a connection to the firm's founding family, naming Paul Bonwit's son Walter Bonwit as vice president and general manager.
For a brief time in 1939–1940, the store owned radio station
WHAT
What or WHAT may refer to:
* What, an interrogative pronoun and adverb
* "What?", one of the Five Ws used in journalism
Film and television
* ''What!'' (film) or ''The Whip and the Body'', a 1963 Italian film directed by Mario Bava
* '' What ...
in Philadelphia.
Changing ownership (1946–1979)
Floyd and
Hortense Odlum would sell their investment in Bonwit Teller to
Walter Hoving
Walter Hoving (December 2, 1897 – November 27, 1989) was a Swedish-born American businessman and writer. He was the chairman of Tiffany & Company from 1955 to 1980.
Early life
Hoving was born in Stockholm on December 2, 1897. He was a son of Jo ...
's
Hoving Corporation
Walter Hoving (December 2, 1897 – November 27, 1989) was a Swedish-born American businessman and writer. He was the chairman of Tiffany & Company from 1955 to 1980.
Early life
Hoving was born in Stockholm on December 2, 1897. He was a son of Jo ...
. With Bonwit Teller, Hoving would establish a strong retail presence on Fifth Avenue that would also include
Tiffany & Co.
According to Fintan O'Toole, writing in ''
The New York Review of Books
''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...
'' in the mid-20th century, the artists
Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns (born May 15, 1930) is an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker whose work is associated with abstract expressionism, Neo-Dada, and pop art. He is well known for his depictions of the American flag and other US-related top ...
,
Robert Rauschenberg
Milton Ernest "Robert" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combines (1954–1964), a group of artwor ...
, and
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...
all worked at Bonwit Teller as
window dressers
A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent materi ...
(creating window displays).
The company would undergo another ownership change just ten years later with the acquisition of Bonwit by
Genesco
Genesco Inc. is an American publicly owned specialty retailer of branded footwear and accessories and is a wholesaler of branded and licensed footwear based in Nashville, Tennessee. Through its various subsidiaries, Genesco operates more than 1,4 ...
in 1956. At the time, Genesco was a large conglomerate operating 64 apparel and retail companies. While Genesco's portfolio included other upscale brands, including
Henri Bendel
Henri Bendel, Inc. (pronounced BEN-del), established in 1895, was a women's department store based in New York City which in its later history sold women's handbags, jewelry, luxury fashion accessories, home fragrances and gifts. Its New York Ci ...
, the company was largely known as a shoe retailer. Bonwit Teller, which had developed a cutting-edge reputation promoting a young
Christian Dior
Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Christian Dior SE, which is now owned by parent company LVMH. His fashion houses a ...
and other prominent American designers, gained momentum in its fashion and sales during the mid-1960s following the acquisition by Genesco.
Branch location years
Bonwit Teller had started to expand as early as 1935 when it opened a "season branch" in Palm Beach, then in 1941 it opened a full-time branch in White Plains. Another notable opening was the Boston store in 1947 in the Back Bay neighborhood. By the 1960s, there were stores operating in New York,
Manhasset
Manhasset is a hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in D ...
,
White Plains,
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
,
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, as well as small resort shops in
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
and
Palm Beach. During the 1960s, the company built a store in
Short Hills and moved its White Plains store next to a large
Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor was the oldest brick and mortar department store in the United States, in business from 1826 to 2020. The brand was purchased during former owner Le Tote's 2020 liquidation bankruptcy and relaunched by new owner, Saadia Group, as ...
in
Scarsdale. In the mid-1980s branches were located in Oak Brook, Illinois; Troy, Michigan; Palm Desert, California; Beverly Hills, Bal Harbour, Kansas City, Buffalo, and Columbia, South Carolina.
From the mid-1970s to late-1980s, Bonwit competed head-on with peer
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; Colloquialism, colloquially Saks) is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street and ...
, retaining a role on the development of fashion and design, most notably helping to launch the career of
Calvin Klein
Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, he also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and ...
.
Growth and later history (1979–2000)
In 1979,
Allied Stores Corporation
Allied Stores was a department store chain in the United States. It was founded in the 1930s as part of a general consolidation in the retail sector by B. E. Puckett. See also Associated Dry Goods. It was the successor to Hahn's Department Stores ...
acquired the company. Its storied flagship Fifth Avenue store was planned to be rebuilt there opposite the new
Trump Tower
Trump Tower is a 58-story, mixed-use skyscraper at 721–725 Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, between East 56th and 57th Streets. The building contains the headquarters for the Trump Organization, as well ...
.
The new flagship would be the centerstone to Trump Tower's indoor mall.
[*Bonwit Teller: Lively Interior on 57th Street"]
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. April 23, 1981.
![Bonwit Teller in Boston](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Bonwit_Teller_in_Boston.jpg)
In 1987,
Allied Stores Corporation
Allied Stores was a department store chain in the United States. It was founded in the 1930s as part of a general consolidation in the retail sector by B. E. Puckett. See also Associated Dry Goods. It was the successor to Hahn's Department Stores ...
sold Bonwit Teller for $101 million to
Hooker Corporation, an Australian business.
["Australians Buy Bonwit Teller"]
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. May 1, 1987. Hooker would expand the company's store base from five to sixteen during the period. In 1990, Bonwit was put on the auction block after the owner filed
Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...
. Under the bankruptcy strategy, Hooker kept five remaining locations.
["Bonwit's Owner Files for Bankruptcy"]
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. August 10, 1989.
Northeastern shopping mall magnet
The Pyramid Company
Pyramid Management Group (also known as The Pyramid Companies) is a development firm formed in 1968 in Upstate New York, by Robert J. Congel. It is the largest privately held shopping mall development firm in the Northeastern United States, with ...
purchased Bonwit Teller from Hooker. They opened a store at the then soon-to-open
Carousel Center
Destiny USA (stylized as destiny usa and also known by its former name Carousel Center) is a six-story, automobile-oriented super-regional shopping, dining, and entertainment complex on the shore of Onondaga Lake in the city of Syracuse, New Yor ...
complex in
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...
. During the mid-1990s, a Manhattan branch was shopped around. The venerable institution filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2000 after heightened debt.
Since 2000
In 2005, River West Brands, a
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
-based brand revitalization company, announced it had formed Avenue Brands LLC to bring back Bonwit Teller.
In June 2008, it was announced that Bonwit Teller would be opening with eventually as many as twenty locations, beginning with New York and Los Angeles. Perhaps due to the subsequent recession, this venture never materialized.
In March 2020, it was announced that NBT Holdings, a subsidiary of Sugar23, had acquired the rights to the brand and announced that it was planning to bring the store back.
Appearances in film and television
* In the film ''
Desk Set
''Desk Set'' (released as ''His Other Woman'' in the UK) is a 1957 American romantic comedy film directed by Walter Lang and starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. The screenplay was written by Phoebe Ephron and Henry Ephron from the 1955 p ...
'' (1957), Bunny Watson, played by
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...
, stopped by "Bonwits" on her way to her job in the reference department at the fictional Federal Broadcasting Company. She purchased a green dress.
* In the film ''
Home Before Dark'' (1958), Charlotte Bronn, played by
Jean Simmons
Jean Merilyn Simmons, (31 January 1929 – 22 January 2010) was a British actress and singer. One of J. Arthur Rank's "well-spoken young starlets", she appeared predominantly in films, beginning with those made in Great Britain during and afte ...
, shops at Bonwit's store in Boston during a Christmas shopping spree. She sees a sparkling gold dress in the store's exterior window display, goes inside, tries it on, and purchases it, despite protests from Bonwit Teller saleswomen who tell her the size is much too large.
* In the opening scene of the film ''
Breakfast at Tiffany's'' (1961), when
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as both a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, t ...
is driving up Fifth Avenue, the Bonwit Teller store next to
Tiffany is clearly visible with a flag in front of it.
* In the film ''
Oliver's Story
''Oliver's Story'' is a 1978 American romantic drama film and a sequel to '' Love Story'' (1970) based on a novel by Erich Segal published a year earlier. It was directed by John Korty and again starred Ryan O'Neal, this time opposite Candice Be ...
'' (1978), starring
Ryan O'Neal
Ryan O'Neal (born April 20, 1941) is an American actor and former boxer. He trained as an amateur boxer before beginning his career in acting in 1960. In 1964, he landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ABC nighttime soap opera '' Peyton Place ...
and
Candice Bergen
Candice Patricia Bergen (born May 9, 1946) is an American actress. She won five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for her portrayal of the title character on the CBS sitcom ''Murphy Brown'' (1988–1998, 2018). She is also know ...
, Bergen plays the role of Marcie Bonwit. Later in the film, it transpires that Marcie Bonwit is an heiress to the Bonwit Teller fortune.
* In the film ''
Rocky II
''Rocky II'' is a 1979 American sports drama film written, directed by, and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the sequel to ''Rocky'' (1976) and is the second installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise. It also stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl We ...
'' (1979),
Rocky Balboa
Robert "Rocky" Balboa (also known by his ring name The Italian Stallion), is a fictional title character and the protagonist of the ''Rocky'' film series. The character was created by Sylvester Stallone, who has also portrayed him in all eigh ...
shops at Bonwit's store in Philadelphia as part of a spending spree sequence. Rocky purchases an expensive jacket (with a tiger design on the back), a fur coat for his wife,
Adrian
Adrian is a form of the Latin language, Latin given name Adrianus (given name), Adrianus or Hadrianus (disambiguation), Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria (river), Adria from the Venetic language, Venetic and ...
, and expensive wristwatches, including one for his brother-in-law Paulie.
* In the opening sequence of the film ''
Die Hard with a Vengeance
''Die Hard with a Vengeance'' is a 1995 American action thriller film directed by John McTiernan (who directed the first installment). It was written by Jonathan Hensleigh, based on the screenplay ''Simon Says'' by Hensleigh and on the charact ...
'' (1995), Bonwit's Fifth Avenue store was resurrected and is bombed by villain
Simon Gruber
''Die Hard with a Vengeance'' is a 1995 American action thriller film directed by John McTiernan (who directed the Die Hard, first installment). It was written by Jonathan Hensleigh, based on the screenplay ''Simon Says'' by Hensleigh and on Lis ...
. Bonwit had been out of business for five years by that time.
* In 2009, Bonwit Teller was written into a scene in ''
Mad Men
''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its fict ...
'', a television series that explores the world of advertising.
Peter Campbell, advertising account executive, returns a Bonwit Teller dress to its Fifth Avenue store, where he discovers that
Joan Holloway
Joan P. Holloway Harris is a fictional character on the AMC television series ''Mad Men'' (2007–15). She is portrayed by Christina Hendricks.
Hendricks has received six consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting A ...
, a former co-worker, is now employed there as a sales clerk.
* In the
Hallmark Channel
The Hallmark Channel is an American television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., which in turn is owned by Hallmark Cards, Inc. The channel's programming is primarily targeted at families, and features a mix of television movies and ...
television film ''
Window Wonderland'' (2013), a
window dresser
Window dressers are retail workers who arrange displays of goods in shop windows or within a shop itself. Such displays are themselves known as "window dressing". They may work for design companies contracted to work for clients or for department s ...
(played by
Chyler Leigh
Chyler Leigh West (pronounced ; ''née'' Potts), known professionally as Chyler Leigh, is an American actress, singer and model. She is known for portraying Janey Briggs in the comedy film ''Not Another Teen Movie'' (2001), Lexie Grey in the ...
) explains how
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarr ...
dressed windows at Bonwit's in his
surrealist
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
style.
References
Quick History of Store ''The New York Times'', April 14, 1990
''The New York Times'', April 1, 1997
* ''The Grand Emporiums: The Illustrated History of America's Great Department Stores''. Robert Hendrickson, Stein & Day, 1980.
The Department Store Museum: Entry on Bonwit Teller
External links
*
{{Authority control
1895 establishments in New York City
1990 disestablishments in New York (state)
1990 mergers and acquisitions
1990 in New York City
American companies disestablished in 1990
American companies established in 1895
Companies based in Manhattan
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1989
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2000
Defunct department stores based in New York City
Former buildings and structures in Manhattan
Defunct companies based in New York City
Sixth Avenue
Retail companies established in 1895
Retail companies disestablished in 1990