The William Hengerer Company, known informally as Hengerer's, was a
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...
-based
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, with stores exclusively located in the Western New York region.
History
The company was founded in 1867 as J. C. Barnes & Co., followed by Barnes & Bancroft in 1869, at 259 Main Street, with James K. Bancroft.
In 1873, William Hengerer was admitted as a partner and the company became known as Barnes, Bancroft & Co.
Along with other department stores located in Buffalo including
AM&A's
Adam, Meldrum & Anderson Company (AM&A's) was a chain of department stores based in Buffalo, New York. It was an institution to generations of shoppers in the Buffalo area. The company remained family owned until its sale to The Bon-Ton in 1995. ...
,
Flint and Kent, and the Sweeney Company, Hengerer was very successful in the 1880s and 1890s. The department stores offered cooking classes, beauty parlors, and restaurants and introduced washing and sewing machines, vacuum cleaners, and iceboxes to the public.
In 1889, Hengerer's new department store was built at 268 Main Street and was designed by
Cyrus K. Porter and built of brick with Medina sandstone trim. In 1903, a new store was constructed and by 1907, Hengerer's boasted of being the largest department store between
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 ...
and
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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.
Wm Hengerer Co. was a founding member of the
Associated Dry Goods Corporation in 1916.
Closure
The Hengerer chain was merged into ADG's
Sibley's
Sibley, Lindsay & Curr Company, known informally as Sibley's, was a Rochester, New York-based department store chain with stores located exclusively in the state of New York. Its flagship store, at 228 East Main Street in downtown Rochester, also ...
name in 1981, with its flagship store at 465 Main Street in downtown Buffalo closing by 1987.
See also
*
Associated Dry Goods Corporation
References
;Notes
;Sources
*Rizzo, Michael F. (2007) ''Nine Nine Eight: The Glory Days of Buffalo Shopping'' Lulu Enterprises, Inc.; Morrisville, North Carolina. .
*Elvins, Sarah (2004). ''Sales & Celebrations: Retailing and Regional Identity in Western New York State, 1920-1940.'' .
1867 establishments in New York (state)
Retail companies established in 1867
Retail companies disestablished in 1987
Companies based in Buffalo, New York
Clothing retailers of the United States
History of Buffalo, New York
Defunct companies based in New York (state)
Defunct department stores based in New York State
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