L. L. Berger was a high-end Department Store based in
Buffalo, New York. The family owned store was started by Louis L. Berger in 1905, at 500 Main Street. The company grew through the next two decades and opened its flagship store at 514 Main Street on February 4, 1929. The first suburban branch opened in 1953, at Thruway Plaza (later Thruway Mall) in
Cheektowaga, New York, followed in 1960, with a location at Sheridan Plaza, in
Tonawanda (Town), New York. At the death of its founder in 1967, the L. L. Berger company was "compared in fashion retailing to
Saks Fifth Avenue and
Lord and Taylor in New York,
I. Magnin in
San Francisco, and
Neiman Marcus in Dallas."
[Obituary of Louis L. Berger, Courier Express, June 26, 1967.] Expansion continued with stores opening in 1969, at the
Seneca Mall
Seneca may refer to:
People and language
* Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname
* Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America
** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people
Places Extrat ...
, in
West Seneca, New York and 1970, at the Northtown Plaza in
Amherst, New York. Additional stores opened in 1975, at the
Lockport Mall
Lockport Mall was an enclosed shopping mall in South Lockport, New York located on Transit Road (NY 78
New York State Route 78 (NY 78) is a state highway in western New York in the United States. While it is signed north–south, ...
, in
Lockport, New York; in 1982 at the Transitown Plaza in
Clarence, New York; in 1988 at the
McKinley Mall
McKinley Mall, which opened on October 7, 1985, is a shopping mall in Buffalo, New York, United States. The mall is located in Buffalo, New York at the intersection of McKinley Parkway and Milestrip Road (New York State Route 179) immediately eas ...
, in
Hamburg, New York; and in 1989 at the
Walden Galleria in
Cheektowaga, New York. A second Buffalo location opened at 510 Elmwood Avenue in the early 1980s. The company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1991. In the early 2000s the flagship store was renovated to be upscale apartments and commercial space.
References
*Rizzo, Michael F. (2007) ''Nine Nine Eight: The Glory Days of Buffalo Shopping'' Lulu Enterprises, Inc.; Morrisville, North Carolina. {{ISBN, 978-1-4303-1386-1.
Berger, L. L.
Companies based in Buffalo, New York
American companies established in 1901
Retail companies disestablished in 1991
Retail companies established in 1901