Haggarty's (also J. J. Haggarty, the New York Cloak and Suit House, the New York Store) was a department store chain founded in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in 1906, which closed in May 1970 due to not keeping up with fashion trends and a resulting $4.4 million in debts. It had more than a dozen branches at its peak.

History

19181116 New York Cloak Brockman Building 7th LAEx

The chain was founded by J. J. Haggarty (1860–1935) who by 1905 had served for three and a half years and department manager and buyer for

Jacoby Bros. Jacoby Bros. (late 1930s, Jacoby's) was one of Los Angeles' largest dry goods retailers in the 1880s and 1890s, developing over the decades into a department store, which closed in the late 1930s. In 1870, Isaac, Nathan, Charles, Abraham, and Les ...

department store, when he decided to open his own store, the New York Cloak and Suit House, occupying what had been the location of the City of London store at 337-339 S. Broadway. The store opened March 6, 1905, and was decidedly upscale, positioning itself as a large specialty store carrying ladies', misses' and children's ready-to-wear. It had four stories, each furnished in a different color scheme; first floor: fancy goods; second floor: evening gowns, opera wraps, cloaks, suits and skirts; third floor: millinery, dressmaking parlors and art; fourth floor: café and restaurant. On September 20, 1917, he opened his "vision", a "large uptown store" at the southeast corner of West Seventh Street, which since 1915 had become the upscale shopping district downtown, at the corner of Grand Avenue, dropping the New York Cloak and Suit name and using simply J. J. Haggarty Inc. The store occupied the ground floor of two buildings: both the main building (now called the

Brockman Building The Brockman Building is a 12-story Beaux-Arts, Classical, and Romanesque Revival style building located on 7th Street in Downtown Los Angeles. History Built in 1912, the Brockman Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places ...

) and an adjacent new four-story structure. The store had a 350-foot-long series of display windows under an arcade, the first such feature of a retail store in Los Angeles. store at 337-9 Broadway was occupied by the self-service New York Dresseteria, then later, Sweet Sixteen. After Mr. Haggarty's death the chain was bought by Clyde H. DeAcres, who had been president of Sherman, Clay and Co. in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, retailers of musical instruments. In 1938, DeAcres opened a four-story branch store in Beverly Hills on

Wilshire Boulevard Wilshire Boulevard is a prominent boulevard in the Los Angeles area of Southern California, extending from Ocean Avenue in the city of Santa Monica east to Grand Avenue in the Financial District of downtown Los Angeles. One of the principal ...

near

Rodeo Drive Rodeo Drive is a street in Beverly Hills, California, with its southern segment in the City of Los Angeles. Its southern terminus is at Beverwil Drive, and its northern terminus is at its intersection with Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills. The ...

. At the time of the chain's demise the principal owner was Mrs. Lila M. Ash, the wife of

Roy Ash Roy Lawrence Ash (October 20, 1918December 14, 2011) was the co-founder and president of the American company Litton Industries and director of the Office of Management and Budget from February 2, 1973 until February 3, 1975, during the administra ...

, the president of

Litton Industries Litton Industries was a large defense contractor in the United States named after inventor Charles Litton Sr. During the 1960s, the company began acquiring many unrelated firms and became one of the largest conglomerates in the United States. ...

, a large defense contractor. She had invested about $9.5 million in Haggarty's.

Branches

Shortly before bankruptcy in 1970, the chain operated locations in

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...

(the lease on which was acquired by Roos-Atkins),

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its ...

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land ...

Downey Downey may refer to: People *Downey (surname) *Robert Downey Jr. Places *Downey, California, US *Downey, Idaho, US *Downey, Iowa, US Businesses *W. & D. Downey, photographic studio *Downey Studios, created out of a former Boeing plant Schools * ...

Canoga Park Canoga Park is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Before the Mexican–American War, the district was part of a rancho, and after the American victory it was converted into wheat farms and t ...

, and four Hafter's-Haggarty's shops in the

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 List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

area. Previous branches in existence were Santa Ana and Bakersfield. The Downtown Seventh and Grand store had closed in 1963.

Other

Mr. Haggarty built a mansion in the West Adams district of Los Angeles at 3330 West Adams Blvd., and a 32-room Mediterranean-style, $750,000 summer home (1928) on the

Palos Verdes Peninsula The Palos Verdes Peninsula (''Palos Verdes'', Spanish for "Green Sticks") is a landform and a geographic sub-region of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, within southwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. Located in the Sou ...

at 415 Paseo del Mar, near

Malaga Cove Palos Verdes Estates (''Palos Verdes'', Spanish for "Green Sticks") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The city was master-planned by the noted American landscape architect and ...

, with lawns and gardens designed by the

Olmsted Brothers The Olmsted Brothers company was a landscape architectural firm in the United States, established in 1898 by brothers John Charles Olmsted (1852–1920) and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (1870–1957), sons of the landscape architect Frederick Law ...

and furnishings from Italy.

References

{{History of Retail in Southern California Defunct department stores based in Greater Los Angeles Retail companies based in California Companies based in Beverly Hills, California Companies based in Los Angeles Defunct clothing retailers of the United States