Ohrbach's was a moderate-priced department store with a merchandising focus primarily on apparel and accessories. From its modest start in 1923 until the chain's demise in 1987, Ohrbach's expanded dramatically after World War II, and opened numerous branch locations in the metro areas of New York, New Jersey and Los Angeles. Its original flagship store was located on Union Square in New York City, and they maintained home and administrative offices in Newark as well as in Los Angeles. The retailer would eventually close the Newark offices in the 1970s. Paul Laszlo designed the Union Square store as well as many of their other stores.

Early History

Ohrbach?s first store opened on October 4, 1923 in the fire-damaged building that Adolph Zukor operated the world?s first nickelodeon.^[1] Founder Nathan M. Ohrbach launched his store with partner Max Wiesen, a dress manufacturer. After a time there was a falling-out between the partners. Weisen refused to sell out so Ohrbach leased quarters nearby to open a second store. This move forced Wiesen to sell out.^[2]

Sale Policies

When Ohrbach opened his store, he believed in cutting service to the bare essentials and sharing the savings with his customers. He also priced his goods in even numbers, while most of his competitors priced their goods in odd prices. Wiesen brought women?s ready-to-wear in the form of job lots, seconds, manufacturer?s overstocks, and irregulars. Ohrbach sold these in large volume and at low prices. After buying out Weisen in 1928, he added men?s and children?s furnishings and accessories. He started to ?trade up? his women?s wear and offer higher style garments. Other policies formalized at this time were no price advertising, minimum sales force, no alterations, no deliveries, cash and carry, and no special sales periods.^[3]

Expansion to California

The growth of the fashion industry in California encouraged the company?s expansion to California. The firm employed the services of a buying office in Los Angeles as early as 1939 and by 1945 opened its own. In 1948, it leased three floors and the mezzanine in a wing of the Welton Becket–William Wurdeman designed Prudential Insurance Company building on Wilshire Boulevard?s Miracle Mile. The success of the Miracle Mile store led the firm in 1953 to open another branch in Downtown Los Angeles when it acquired the twelve-story Milliron's building at 5th and Broadway. The success at this branch was short lived, however; it first closed five floors as an economic move, but finally in 1959 closed the branch because of poor results. In the 1960s, additional branches were opened in La Mirada and Panorama City.^[4] In 1965, the Miracle Mile store was relocated in the former Seibu Department Store at Wilshire and Fairfax Avenue. This is the current location of the Petersen Automotive Museum.^[5]

Later History

In 1954, Ohrbach's moved from its Union Square location to West 34th Street between Fifth and Sixth (now Avenue of the Americas) Avenues across from the Empire State Building. The eleven-story building was formerly occupied by McCreery's Department Stores. In 1962, the Netherlands based Brenninkmeyer Company started buying into the firm until by Nathan Ohrbach's retirement in 1965 it had complete control.^[6]

In June 1986 Amcena (renamed American Retail Group in 1994) acquired Howland-Steinbach from Supermarkets General Corp and announced the shuttering of all six California locations as well as Ohrbach's flagship store on 34th Street. The remaining five stores, plus one unit under construction reopened under the Steinbach banner on February 1, 1987.

Trivia

Ohrbach's became famous nationwide in the 1960s with low-priced copies of European haute couture, which was modeled in front of millions of viewers on soap operas like Dark Shadows and The Secret Storm and situation comedies such as The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and I Love Lucy.

Former Ohrbach's locations

California

• Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area
  • Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Metropolitan Division
    • Los Cerritos Center, Cerritos (closed 1986, now Mervyn's)
    • Glendale Galleria, Glendale, (opened 1976, closed 1987, converted to mall shops - Escalators still remain in same location)
    • La Mirada Shopping Center, (now La Mirada Theatre Center), La Mirada, (opened November 1960, closed 1970s?)^[7]
    • Topanga Plaza, (now Westfield Topanga) Los Angeles (Canoga Park) (opened in former Joseph Magnin, closed 1986. Divided into mall shops.)
    • Broadway and 5th Street (freestanding), (opened 1953 in former Milliron's, closed in 1959, now condos)
    • Wilshire Boulevard (freestanding), Los Angeles (Miracle Mile) (opened 1948 in Prudential Insurance Building, now Museum Square, move to former Seibu Department Store in 1965)
    • Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue (freestanding), Los Angeles (Miracle Mile) (opened 1965 in former Seibu Department Store (opened in 1962), closed 1986, now Petersen Automotive Museum)
    • Panorama City (freestanding), Los Angeles (Panorama City) (closed 1986. Now Valley Indoor Swap Meet.)
    • Del Amo Fashion Square, (now Del Amo Fashion Center), Torrance (closed 1987. Now Marshall's/TJ Maxx)

New Jersey

• New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island Metropolitan Statistical Area
  • New York-White Plains-Wayne Metropolitan Division
    • Market and Halsey Streets (freestanding), Downtown Newark(closed in 1974, later Miracle 21, now subdivided as retail space)^[8]
    • Bergen Mall, Paramus: Became Steinbach, then Value City. It was then razed for a Target.
    • Willowbrook Mall, Wayne location became Steinbach now an expanded building is Lord & Taylor and additional mall space)
  • Edison Metropolitan Division
    • Woodbridge Center, Woodbridge Location became Steinbach now an expanded building is Lord & Taylor)

New York

• New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island Metropolitan Statistical Area
  • New York-White Plains-Wayne Metropolitan Division
    • 7 W. 34th Street, Manhattan (freestanding) flagship(Originally James McCreery Co. flagship store, opened 1954, closed 1987, now New York Gift Mart)
    • Queens Center, Rego Park, Queens (became Steinbach 1987, JCPenney 1990, demolished 2004 in mall expansion)
  • Nassau-Suffolk, NY Metropolitan Division
    • Westbury (freestanding), Westbury, Long Island at Post Ave\Old Country Road] (store demolished; the former site is now incorporated in to the Source Mall, a Fortunoff anchored, Simon managed, shopping Mall)
    • Smith Haven Mall, Lake Grove, Long Island (under construction, opened instead as Steinbach 1986)

References

1. ↑ Ferry, John William. A History of the Department Store. Pages 80-81. New York: The MacMillian Company, 1960 AISN B000E1B216
2. ↑ Mahoney, Tom, and Leonard Sloane. The Great Merchants: America's Foremost Retail Institutions and the People Who Made Them Great. Page 312. New York, NY: Harper & Row, 1974 ISBN 0-06-012739-2
3. ↑ Mahoney, Tom, and Leonard Sloane. The Great Merchants: America's Foremost Retail Institutions and the People Who Made Them Great. Pages 312-314. New York: Harper & Row, 1974 ISBN 0-06-012739-2
4. ↑ Mahoney, Tom, and Leonard Sloane. The Great Merchants: America's Foremost Retail Institutions and the People Who Made Them Great. Page 320. New York: Harper & Row, 1974 ISBN 0-06-012739-2
5. ↑ Roderick, Kevin, and Lynxwiler, J. Eric. Wilshire Boulevard: Grand Concourse of Los Angeles, Pages 140,143. Santa Monica, CA: Angel City Press, 2005 ISBN 1-883318-55-6
6. ↑ Hendrickson, Robert. The Grand Emporiums: The Illustrated History of American?s Great Department Stores. Page 445. New York, NY: Stein and Day, 1979, ISBN 0-8128-2516-0
7. ↑
8. ↑