Garfinckel's was a prominent

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A ...

based in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

that catered to a

clientele In sales, commerce, and economics, a customer (sometimes known as a client, buyer, or purchaser) is the recipient of a good, service, product, or an idea, obtained from a seller, vendor, or supplier via a financial transaction or an exchang ...

of wealthy

consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or use purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. ...

s. Its flagship store at 14th and F in the city's

F Street shopping district Parts of F Street and 7th Street, N.W. and nearby blocks have historically been the heart of the Washington, D.C. Downtown shopping district. In the first half of the 20th century there were numerous upscale large department stores along and ne ...

is listed on the National Register. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 1990 and ceased operations that year.

History

This

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...

mercantile Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cred ...

business was founded in 1905, as Julius Garfinkle & Co. by Julius Garfinckel (1872–1936), originally employing 10 clerks. The store opened on October 2, 1905, at 1226 F St. NW in Washington, D.C. By August 1924, the spelling of the store name was modified to Julius Garfinckel & Co. In 1946, it acquired the men's specialty retailer,

Brooks Brothers Brooks Brothers Inc. is an American clothing brand founded in 1818 which is the oldest apparel brand in continuous operation in the United States. Originally a family business, it is currently owned as a joint venture between Authentic Brands G ...

and in 1950,

De Pinna De Pinna was a high-end clothier for men and women founded in New York City in 1885, by Alfred De Pinna (1831–1915), a Sephardic Jew born in England. They also sold menswear-inspired clothing for women that was finely tailored. The flagship sto ...

. It formed the national retail conglomerate, Garfinckel, Brooks Brothers, Miller & Rhoads, Inc., after acquisition of the

Miller & Rhoads Miller & Rhoads was a Virginia-based department store chain. Throughout its 105-year lifespan, the store played an active role in the Richmond, Virginia, community, along with its friendly cross-street rival Thalhimers. The Richmond flagship loca ...

chain in 1967. In 1977, the conglomerate acquired the Ann Taylor women's fashion store chain. In 1981, the conglomerate consisted of close to 190 stores in seven chains. That same year,

Allied Stores Allied Stores was a holding company of department store chains in the United States. It was founded in the 1930s as part of a general consolidation in the retail sector by B. E. Puckett. See also Associated Dry Goods. It was the successor to Hahn ...

acquired Garfinckel, Brooks Brothers, Miller & Rhoads, Inc. for $228 million. In 1986, Campeau Corp. acquired Allied, and in turn sold the Garfinckel's chain to locally owned Raleigh's for $95 million (~$ in ), forming Garfinckel's, Raleigh's & Co. Garfinckel's grew and expanded into a chain of stores, but was eventually pushed into financial collapse due to a series of

mergers and acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

. On June 21, 1990, the company filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

by its

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

George P. Kelly and went out of business.

Flagship store

In 1918, the store was located at 13th and F Streets at the western end of the city's downtown shopping district. An eight-story department store building was erected at the northwest corner of 14th and F Streets, across from the

Willard Hotel The Willard InterContinental Washington, commonly known as the Willard Hotel, is a historic luxury Beaux-Arts hotel located at 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Downtown Washington, D.C. It is currently a member of Historic Hotels of America, th ...

, and opened in 1929. The $2,000,000 structure was designed by architects

Starrett & van Vleck Starrett & van Vleck (often spelled Starrett & Van Vleck) was an American architectural firm based in New York City which specialized in the design of department stores, primarily in the early 20th century. It was active from 1908 until at least ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. By 1936, there were more than 500 employees. After Garfinckel's bankruptcy in 1990, the store remained vacant for several years until it was redeveloped in 1999. In 1995, it was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. From 1997 to 1999, the property was redeveloped into a modern office building and shopping center name
Hamilton Square

Borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

was a street level tenant until it closed in 2010. The building owner considered a restaurant and retail store to occupy the space.

Branch stores

Unlike its local retail competitors, the Hecht Company,

Woodward & Lothrop Woodward & Lothrop was a department store chain headquartered in Washington, D.C. that began as the capital's first department store in 1887. Woodies, as it was often nicknamed, maintained stores in the Mid-Atlantic states, Mid-Atlantic United St ...

, and

Lord & Taylor Lord & Taylor was an American department store chain founded in 1826 by Samuel Lord. It had 86 full-line stores in the Northeastern United States at its peak in the 2000s, and 38 locations at the time of its liquidation in 2021. The Lord & Tay ...

, Garfinckel's did not open numerous suburban locations during the heyday of the 1950s and 1960s. The first suburban store was an original anchor at the Seven Corners Shopping Center upon opening in 1956. After that, its Montgomery Mall store opened in 1968. It also operated a Spring Valley Shopping Center store in the Spring Valley section of Washington, D.C., at 4820 Massachusetts Avenue. This was followed by store openings in May 1970, a location at Tyson's Corner Center; a location at Landover Mall on May 11, 1972; and a second hotel location - a store in the

Washington Hilton The Washington Hilton is a Hilton hotel in Washington, D.C. It is located at 1919 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., roughly at the boundaries of the Kalorama, Dupont Circle, and Adams Morgan neighborhoods. History The Washington Hilton, located on ...

, opened July 1972. The Springfield Mall store opened in January 1973. Convinced that the company had expanded enough and that the premiere downtown location would continue to prosper, Garfinckel's did not expand again until the early-1980s. Stores opened in the early 1980s at Annapolis Mall, Fair Oaks Mall, and a store at The Shops at Georgetown Park. These would be the last new Garfinckel's suburban locations. After allowing its lease to expire at the Tyson's Corner store at the end of 1988, Garfinckel's announced plans to open a second downtown Washington store at 1130 Connecticut Ave, NW; then the site of a temporary Raleigh's location. Nine locations were in operation at the time of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1990. The Garfinckel's Department Store Records are held at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

References

External links

"Garfinckel's (Department store)"
''Library of Congress''
Garfinckels.com - America's House of Fashion Lives OnHamilton Square, Washington, D.C.
{{Authority control Streamline Moderne architecture in Washington, D.C. Commercial buildings completed in 1929 Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C. Department stores on the National Register of Historic Places Defunct department stores based in Washington, D.C. Retail companies established in 1905 Retail companies disestablished in 1990 Clothing retailers of the United States Defunct companies based in Washington, D.C. Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1990 1905 establishments in Washington, D.C. 1990 disestablishments in Washington, D.C.