Stern's - Chronology

Chronology

• 1867: Sterns Brothers' Department Store is founded in Buffalo, New York. by the Stern brothers, recent immigrants from Ziegenhain, (Schwalm-Eder-Kreis), Germany.
• 1867: Stern Brothers relocates to New York City and operates a one room store at 367 Sixth Ave
• 1877: Moves to larger quarters at 111 West 23rd Street.
• 1878: Erected it's 23rd Street flagship, noted for its cast-iron facade.
• 1913: New flagship erected near Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street.
• 1914: Arthur D. Brandeis joins firm as Senior Vice President.
• 1922: Louis Stern, founder dies in Paris while visiting his daughter.
• 1925: Company fell out of family hands, and common stock was issued by new owner,a banking conglomerate.
• 1951: Stern Brothers is acquired by Allied Stores Corporation.
• 1969: Flagship Store on 42nd Street is closed, Bergen Mall location designated new Headquarters, and Flagship
• 1982: Allied Stores Corporation's Gertz division on Long Island was merged into Stern's which by then operated primarily in New Jersey.
• 1986: Stern's acquires several stores from the defunct Gimbels, and enters the Philadelphia Market.
• 1986: Campeau Corporation acquires Allied.
• 1988: Campeau acquires Federated Department Stores (FDS). Beginning of Allied/FDS "tandem" operations. Five of the seven locations in the Philadelphia market are closed (all former Gimbels).
• 1989: Remaining 2 locations in the Philadelphia market are closed.
• 1992: Allied is fully merged into FDS.
• 1994: With the purchase of RH Macy by FDS, the Manhattan Mall location of Abraham & Straus is converted to Stern's and serves as the flagship for the chain, which re-enters the Manhattan Market.
• 2001: FDS closes its Stern's division. Most of the Stern's locations are converted to Macy's immediately. Others are liquidated, with these stores either becoming Bloomingdale's or closing altogether (Manhattan Mall location is one of these, and laid vacant, until it was redeveloped into office space, the lower floors now house a JC Penney ).