Samuel Joseph Bloomingdale (June 17, 1873 – May 10, 1968) was an American heir to the Bloomingdale's department store fortune and president of

Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. Bloomingdale, Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the bus ...

from 1905 to 1930.

Early life and education

Bloomingdale was born to Lyman Bloomingdale, founder of the

department store, and Hattie Colenberg Bloomingdale, on June 17, 1873, at 938

Third Avenue Third Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare on the East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan, as well as in the center portion of the Bronx. Its southern end is at Astor Place and St. Mark's Place. It transitions into Cooper Square ...

, the first location of the family-owned department store. He was educated at private schools and graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1895, where he studied architecture. However, after consultation with Dean

William Robert Ware William Robert Ware (May 27, 1832 – June 9, 1915), born in Cambridge, Massachusetts into a family of the Unitarian clergy, was an American architect, author, and founder of two important American architectural schools. He received his o ...

of the

Columbia School of Architecture Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) is the architecture school of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. It is regarded as an important and highly prestigious architecture school.

, he decided against becoming an architect and joined the family business.

Career

Upon his father's death, Bloomingdale became president of the department store in 1905. During his 25-year tenure, he oversaw the expansion of the department store and undertook a large scale reconstruction of the store into a modern eight-story structure occupying the entire block from 59th to 60th street between

Lexington Avenue Lexington Avenue, often colloquially abbreviated as "Lex", is an avenue on the East Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City that carries southbound one-way traffic from East 131st Street to Gramercy Park at East 21st Street. Along it ...

and

. As president, Bloomingdale was recognized as a pioneer of advertisement, which helped quintuple the sales volume of

to $25 million annually. The department store was also the first in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to welcome an outside union. In 1930, the store joined the chain of

Federated Department 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 Shillito ...

and Bloomingdale became a director of the company until 1962. He remained a chairman of

until 1943 and became the honorary chairman thereafter.

Philanthropy

Bloomingdale was a trustee of the

Federation of Jewish Philanthropies UJA-Federation of New York (United Jewish Appeal⁣ – ⁣ Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York, Inc.) is the largest local philanthropy in the world. Headquartered in New York City, the organization raises and allocates funds annuall ...

and

Montefiore Medical Center Montefiore Medical Center is a premier academic medical center and the primary teaching hospital of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York City. Its main campus, the Henry and Lucy Moses Division, is located in the Norwoo ...

, and was active in the

American Jewish Committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the dean of American Jewish org ...

Personal life

Bloomingdale died on May 10, 1968. He was a member of the

Century Association The Century Association is a private social, arts, and dining club in New York City, founded in 1847. Its clubhouse is located at 7 West 43rd Street near Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. It is primarily a club for men and women with distinction ...

Harmonie Club The Harmonie Club is a private social club in New York City. Founded in 1852, the club is the second oldest social club in New York. It is located at 4 East 60th Street, in a building designed by Stanford White. History Originally named the ...

Salmagundi Club The Salmagundi Club, sometimes referred to as the Salmagundi Art Club, is a fine arts center founded in 1871 in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan, New York City. Since 1917, it has been located at 47 Fifth Avenue. , its membership roster ...

, Quaker Ridge Golf Club, and

Congregation Emanu-El of New York Congregation Emanu-El of New York is the first Reform Judaism, Reform Jewish congregation in New York City and, because of its size and prominence, has served as a flagship congregation in the Reform branch of Judaism since its founding in 1845 ...

. He married Rita G. Goodman in 1916 and had two daughters: * Susan Bloomingdale, who married investor Richard C. Ernst * Louise Bloomingdale, who married Edgar M. Cullman, president of the

General Cigar Company General Cigar Company is the largest manufacturer of premium cigars in the world. It is a subsidiary of Scandinavian Tobacco Group with North American headquarters located in Richmond, Virginia. Company history In 1961 General Cigar, which was ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloomingdale, Samuel 1873 births 1968 deaths American people of German-Jewish descent American retail chief executives Jews and Judaism in New York City Businesspeople from New York City American chief executives of fashion industry companies 20th-century American businesspeople Columbia College (New York) alumni Bloomingdale family