Bloomingdale's Inc. is 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 ...

chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the business. It became a division of the

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

-based Federated Department Stores in 1930 under then-president Samuel Bloomingdale. In 1994, the

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

department store chain joined the Federated Department Stores holding company. In 2007, Federated Department Stores was renamed

Macy's, Inc. Macy's, Inc. (originally Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American conglomerate holding company. Upon its establishment, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shillito' ...

As of October 29, 2022, there are 54 stores (56 boxes) including 32 department stores (34 boxes, all full line), 1 Bloomies, 1 furniture/other store and 20 outlet stores (There are a total of 35 stores) with the Bloomingdale's nameplate in operation throughout the United States. Its headquarters and

flagship store A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

are located at 59th Street and Lexington Avenue in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

borough of

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 ...

History

1980s–1990s

The retail market boomed in the 1980s. New stores opened along the East Coast,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

. In 1996, Bloomingdale's expanded to the west coast with the acquisition of some former leases of

The Broadway The Broadway was a mid-level department store chain headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1896 by English-born Arthur Letts Sr., and named after what was once the city's main shopping street, the Broadway became a dominant reta ...

(

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

) and Emporium stores ( Bay Area) which closed early that year due to Macy's and

Bullock's Bullock's was a chain of full-line department stores from 1907 through 1995, headquartered in Los Angeles, growing to operate across California, Arizona and Nevada. Bullock's also operated as many as seven more upscale Bullocks Wilshire specialty ...

(owned by Macy's) already existing in the malls since

Federated Stores Macy's, Inc. (originally Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American conglomerate holding company. Upon its establishment, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shillit ...

acquired Broadway Stores Inc in 1995.

Current operations under Macy's, Inc.

2007–2009

In 2007, Bloomingdale’s expanded into

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

(

Fashion Valley Fashion Valley (also referred to Fashion Valley Mall) is an upscale, open-air shopping mall in Mission Valley in San Diego, California. The shopping center has of leasable floor area, making it the largest mall in San Diego and one of the larges ...

) and

Costa Mesa Costa may refer to: Biology * Rib (Latin: ''costa''), in vertebrate anatomy * Costa (botany), the central strand of a plant leaf or thallus * Costa (coral), a stony rib, part of the skeleton of a coral * Costa (entomology), the leading edge of th ...

(

South Coast Plaza South Coast Plaza is a regional shopping mall in Costa Mesa, California. The largest shopping center on the West Coast of the United States, its pre-COVID sales of over $1.5 billion annually were the highest in the United States. Its 275 retail ...

) by acquiring leases of former

Robinsons-May Robinsons-May was a chain of department stores operating in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada, from 1993 until 2006. It was created when May Department Stores combined two of its chains, May Company California and J. W. Robinson's cha ...

stores which closed in 2006 due to Macy's already existing in the malls since Federated Stores acquired

the May Department Stores Company The May Department Stores Company was an American department store holding company, formerly headquartered in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. It was founded in Leadville, Colorado, by David May in 1877, moving to St. Louis in 1905. After many ...

in 2005. On February 14, 2008, parent company, Macy's, Inc., announced plans to enter the

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

market with a 180,000 square foot store by 2009.

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

would have been the thirteenth state to have a Bloomingdale's store location, with this store being the tenth in the western U.S. and 41st throughout the chain. This store never materialized as a result of the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...

in 2009. On September 10, 2008, Bloomingdale's announced plans to open three stores, two of which will be modeled after the

SoHo Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develo ...

store: a 3-level, anchor store at

The Shops at Georgetown Park Georgetown Park is a mixed use shopping mall and condominium complex in the Georgetown historic district of Washington, D.C. The Shops at Georgetown Park are located at 3222 M Street, NW. In 2014, the complex received an $80 million renovation a ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, by August 2011, a 3-level store at

Westfield Valley Fair Westfield Valley Fair, commonly known as Valley Fair, is a prominent shopping mall in San Jose, California. Valley Fair is the largest mall, by area, in Northern California and has higher sales revenue than all other malls in California, includin ...

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

, by Fall 2011, and a store in

Santa Monica Place Santa Monica Place is an outdoor shopping mall in Santa Monica, California. The mall is located at the south end of Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade shopping district, two blocks from the beach and Santa Monica Pier. The mall spans 3 levels. T ...

, in

Santa Monica, CA Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

(which opened on August 6, 2010). The store is reported to be modeled after the chain's concept store in New York's

neighborhood to carry select contemporary men's and women's apparel. Twelve days later, the first proposed overseas locations for the chain were announced. A September 22, 2008, press release from Macy's Inc. told of plans for two Bloomingdale's locations (a three-level apparel and accessories store, as well as a separate one level home store to open in February 2010 in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

, United Arab Emirates. As is the case for rival

Saks Fifth Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; colloquially Saks) is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street shopping district of Washington ...

, the international presence for Bloomingdale's will be operated under license by a local interest – in this case,

Al Tayer Group Al Tayer Group () is a privately held holding company established in 1979. Currently the group has operations in 6 countries in the Middle East, including nearly 200 stores and 23 showrooms in multiple markets in the Middle East. The company is he ...

LLC, a leading UAE-based conglomerate. Bloomingdale's CEO announced that the Dubai store will most likely be the only store outside of the US since Bloomingdale's has no further plans to expand to other countries.

2010–2019

On November 3, 2011, Bloomingdale's announced it opened a new store in

Glendale Galleria The Glendale Galleria is a large three-story regional shopping center and office complex located in downtown Glendale, California, United States. Opened in 1976 with 1.6 million square feet of retail space, it is the fourth largest mall in Los An ...

in late 2013 as part of the mall's remodeling plan, replacing the mall's former Mervyn's store. On January 4, 2012, Bloomingdale's announced it would close four stores. The most significant closure was at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, where Bloomingdale's was one of the mall's first anchors. Additionally, a home store at

Oakbrook Center Oakbrook Center is a shopping center located near Interstate 88 and Route 83 in Oak Brook, Illinois. It was originally opened in 1962. It is the second largest shopping center in the Chicago metropolitan area by gross leasable area, only surp ...

Oak Brook, Illinois Oak Brook is a village mostly in DuPage County with a small portion in Cook County in Illinois. Per the 2020 census, the population was 8,163. This suburb of Chicago has the headquarters of several companies and organizations including Ace Ha ...

, and full line stores in

Perimeter Mall Perimeter Mall is a shopping mall in Perimeter Center, Dunwoody, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, near the interchange of Interstate 285 (the Perimeter) and Georgia State Route 400. It is the second largest shopping mall in the state of Georgia, ...

in Dunwoody, Georgia, and (former)

White Flint Mall White Flint Mall was a shopping mall, located along Rockville Pike, in Montgomery County, Maryland, that closed in early 2015 and demolished thereafter. Its former anchors were Lord & Taylor, Bloomingdale's, Dave & Buster's, H&M, Loews Theatr ...

North Bethesda, Maryland North Bethesda is an unincorporated, census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, located just north-west of the U.S. capital of Washington, D.C. It had a population of 50,094 as of the 2020 census. Among its neighb ...

, have closed. On January 3, 2013, Bloomingdale's announced that they would close the

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Home store at

Fashion Show Mall Fashion Show is a shopping mall located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It was developed by Summa Corporation and Ernest W. Hahn, the latter also serving as general contractor. Construction began on March 15, 1979, and the project was ...

. Bloomingdale's announced that they had replaced the Bloomingdale's store of in

Stanford Shopping Center Stanford Shopping Center is an upscale open air shopping mall located on Route 82 ( El Camino Real) at Sand Hill Road in Palo Alto, California. It is on the campus of Stanford University although the university only owns the land and not the ac ...

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...

, with a new store. The store opened in 2014. On November 12, 2015, Bloomingdale's opened up their first store in Hawaii at

Ala Moana Center The Ala Moana Center, commonly known simply as Ala Moana, is a large open-air shopping mall in the Ala Moana neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii. Owned by Brookfield Properties, Ala Moana is the eleventh largest shopping mall in the United States an ...

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

. The three-story, store replaced a former

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

store, and includes special services such as smart fitting rooms, charging lounges, and dining services at its 40 Carrots restaurant. In late 2019, Bloomingdale's, along with

Macy’s Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

, announced that fur will no longer be sold in any of its stores, including The Outlet, as of the end of the 2020 fiscal year.

2020s

On February 7, 2020, Macy’s, Inc. announced that they will permanently close one full-line Bloomingdale’s location at The Falls Mall, which is located in South Miami, Florida and was the mall’s first anchor. It was also the oldest Bloomingdale’s department store in Florida. In March 2020, Macy's, Inc. announced that it would temporarily close all Bloomingdale's and Macy's locations until March 31 to help reduce the spread of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

. Its stores remained closed during April when the company announced that locations with less restrictive or relaxed coronavirus measures would reopen in early May. The company expected all its stores to be open over the following six weeks. On January 7, 2021, it was announced that the location in

would be permanently closing. It was one of three anchors at

, the others being

Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, a ...

and the now vacant, Century 21.

Gallery

File:NYC-1981-Bloomingdales.jpg, Close-up of flagship store entrance in 1981 File:BloomingdalesNewYorkHolidayNight.jpg, Flagship store during the Christmas season at night File:Bloomingdales_at_Westfield_Valley_Fair,_San_Jose,_Silicon_Valley_1621_(cropped).jpg, Bloomingdale's at

File:Bloomingdale E60 St jeh.jpg, East 60th St Bloomingdale's in NYC File:Bloomingdales Opening @ Ala Moana Ewa Wing (23715383245).jpg, Bloomingdale's

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

File:Bloomingdale's Millenia Mall.JPG, The Mall at Millenia Bloomingdale's in Orlando, Florida

References

External links

Bloomingdale's Main Website
{{Coord, 40, 45, 43, N, 73, 58, 00, W, region:US_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Commercial buildings in Manhattan Clothing retailers of the United States Companies based in New York City Retail companies established in 1861 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1990 Department stores of the United States Lower East Side Macy's, Inc. Midtown Manhattan 1861 establishments in New York (state)