Gimbels Has It! (23 page)
Authors: Michael J. Lisicky
35
.
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
, “Wyoming Woman Governor Dedicates New Gimbel Store,” November 23, 1926.
36
.
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
, “Bernard Gimbel of Retail Family Empire Dies at 81,” September 30, 1966.
37
. Leslie Gimbel, interview with the author, February 28, 2011.
38
. Kay Cushing Neuhausen, interview with the author, January 31, 2011.
39
.
Milwaukee Journal
, “Gimbel Sights Bright Future,” November 30, 1936.
40
. Richard Leon Harris,
Merchant Princes
(New York: Kodansha International, 1977), 81.
41
. Joseph Risen, “Shut Richards Stores, Parent Firm [City Stores] to Urge,”
Miami Herald
, January 10, 1980.
42
. Bernice Fitz-Gibbon,
Macys, Gimbels, and Me
(New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967), 25.
D
OES
M
ACY
’
S
T
ELL
G
IMBELS
?
43
. Maureen O’Hara, correspondence with the author, April 8, 2011.
44
. Fitz-Gibbon,
Macys, Gimbels, and Me
, 200.
45
. Ibid., 97.
46
. Barbara Gimbel, interview with the author, January 23, 2011.
47
. Fitz-Gibbon,
Macys, Gimbels, and Me
, 212.
48
.
It All Began with Adam…
, part VI.
49
. Richard Day, interview with the author, February 28, 2011.
50
.
Milwaukee Journal
, “Hitler Presents Ready for Hitler; Put Your Name on the Gifts,” April 18, 1943.
51
. Gimbels training video, circa July 1944.
52
. Ibid.
53
. Gordon MacQuarrie,
The Story of “Gertie”
(Milwaukee, WI: Journal Company, 1945).
54
.
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
, Gimbels advertisement, June 13, 1945.
55
. Associated Press, Hedda Hopper column, April 27, 1948.
56
.
New York Times
, “Price War,” June 1, 1951.
S
TIFF
C
OMPETITION
57
. Isadore Barmash, “B&W Takes on Problems in Bidding for Gimbels,”
New York Times
, February 13, 1973.
58
.
New York Times
, “Bloomingdale’s Suddenly Becomes Interested in Fashion,” September 13, 1955.
59
. Associated Press, “10,000 Riot for Bargains in New York, Women Fight, Stores Jubilant,” February 23, 1954.
60
. Joel Spivak, interview with the author, February 5, 2010.
61
. John Caccese, interview with author, March 8, 2011.
62
. Roseann Rubinstein, interview with the author, February 12, 2011.
63
. Stanley Abelson, interview with the author, January 13, 2011.
64
. Bob Di Benedetto, interview.
65
. Barbara Cloud, correspondence with the author, January 15, 2011.
66
. Gus Gnorski, interview with the author, May 24, 2011.
67
. Barbara Markoff, interview with the author, January 31, 2011.
68
. Ron Elving, “Final Chapter—Closing Like the End of a Good Book,”
Milwaukee Journal
, September 24, 1980.
69
. Samuel Feinberg,
What Makes Shopping Centers Tick
(New York: Fairchild Publications, 1960), 83.
70
. Steve Daily, interview with the author, January 24, 2011.
G
ROWING
P
AINS
71
. Private correspondence with Liz Smith, February 18, 2011.
72
. Jan Whitaker,
Service and Style: How the American Department Store Fashioned the Middle Class
(New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2006), 45.
73
.
Milwaukee Sentinel
, “Gimbel Still Optimistic about Business,” June 25, 1954.
74
. Diane Curley Balenti, interview with the author, February 21, 2011.
75
.
New York Times
, “$10 Million Yonkers Store One of the Last Major New York Stores to Tap Suburban Trade,” September 4, 1955.
76
.
New York Times
, Gimbels advertisement, October 11, 1956.
77
. Peter D’Ambrosio, correspondence with the author, April 3, 2011.
78
.
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
, Gimbels advertisement, February 21, 1957.
79
.
Milwaukee Sentinel
, “New Greater Gimbels,” September 19, 1958.
80
. John Caccese, interview.
81
. Isadore Barmash, “Closing of Saks–34
th
Store Linked to Lack of a New Name,”
New York Times
, June 7, 1965.
82
. Isadore Barmash, “Gimbels to Weigh Suburban Growth,”
New York Times
, June 15, 1965.
83
. Cary Silverstein, correspondence with the author, February 4, 2011.
84
.
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
, “Bernard Gimbel of Retail Family Empire Dies at 81,” September 30, 1966.
85
. Stanley Abelson, interview.
86
. John Caccese, interview.
87
. Cary Silverstein, correspondence.
88
.
Milwaukee Journal
, “Retailing Will End at 3
rd
Street Gimbels,” August 7, 1970.
89
. Albert Scardino, “Gimbels at 86
th
Street: A Born Loser,”
New York Times
, June 7, 1986.
E
AST
S
IDE
S
TORY
90
. Leslie Gimbel, interview.
91
. John Corry, “Gimbels East Officially Opens for Business,”
New York Times
, February 25, 1972.
92
.
Women’s Wear Daily
, “Gimbels East Is a Dramatic 14-Story Windowless Building,” February 17, 1972.
93
. Barbara Gimbel, interview.
94
.
Philadelphia Bulletin
, “Gimbels Plans New Store at 9
th
and Market Streets,” August 16, 1969.
95
. Ray Holton, “Padlocked Market Street Stores Reopen,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, November 16, 1973.
96
. Marilyn Bender, “Wrapped Up? After Two Lean Years, Chain Sees an Upturn,”
New York Times
, July 23, 1972.
T
HE
B
RITISH
A
RE
C
OMING
97
. Bruce Gimbel, letter to associates, June 11, 1973.
98
. Diane Curley Balenti, interview.
99
. Denise Ayoob, correspondence with the author, February 23, 2011.
100
. Isadore Barmash, “Controls Tightened on Gimbels East; Executives Shifted,”
New York Times
, June 23, 1976.
T
RYING TO
M
AKE
C
HANGE
101
. Bob Di Benedetto, interview.
102
. Diane Curley Balenti, interview.
103
. Nessa Forman, “For Motorists…New Gimbels—What’s Wrong, What’s Right,”
Philadelphia Bulletin
, August 7, 1977.
104
. Isadore Barmash, “Bridgeport Looks to Shift in Stores,”
New York Times
, August 9, 1981.
105
. Mark Gimbel, interview with the author, January 22, 2011.
106
. Gloria LaRue, “Gimbels Opens New Store with Festivity and Feathers,”
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
, August 1, 1980.
107
. Stanley Abelson, interview.
108
.
Milwaukee Sentinel
, “Sale of Gimbels, Kohl’s May Speak to Climate,” January 18, 1986.
A
LL
S
ALES
F
INAL
109
. Barbara Pizer, interview with the author, November 27, 2010.
110
.
New York Times
, “Late Shoppers Boost Christmas Sales for Retailers,” December 24, 1985.
111
. Isadore Barmash, “What to Do about Herald Square’s Dowdy Old Retailer?”
New York Times
, March 13, 1986.
112
. Jennifer Lin, “Illness Afflicting Gimbels Chain Is a Common One,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, January 19, 1986.
113
.
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
, “Gimbels Prepares for Sale,” June 11, 1986.
114
. Elizabeth Kolbert, “A Bittersweet Finale for Gimbels,”
New York Times
, September 28, 1986.
115
. David W. Dunlap, “At Herald Square, Gimbels Nears a Bitter End,”
New York Times
, June 19, 1986.
116
. Patricia Barbara Smith, “Gimbels Gives Up the Ghost,”
Milwaukee Sentinel
, August 19, 1986.
117
. Wendy Zellner, “So Long, Gimbels,”
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
, September 12, 1986.
118
. Associated Press, “Gimbels Out of Miracles,” September 27, 1986.
F
OR A
L
IMITED
T
IME
O
NLY
119
. Barbara Pizer, interview.
120
. Wendy Zellner, “A ‘New’ Gimbels, Liquidators Reopen Unit as ‘Off-Priced’ Department Store,”
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
, October 15, 1986.
121
.
Pittsburgh Press
, “Lost Our Lease” advertisement, December 1, 1987.
G
IFT
W
RAP
122
. Bud Selig, correspondence with the author, May 20, 2011.
123
.
A Little History of the Gimbel Business
(Philadelphia: Gimbel Brothers, 1967).
A
BOUT THE
A
UTHOR
Named the “Official Historian of East Coast Department Stores” by Philadelphia’s
City Paper
, author Michael J. Lisicky is a native of southern New Jersey. In demand as a department store historian, he has given lectures at such institutions as the New York Public Library, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Center for Architecture, the Enoch Pratt Free Library, the Baltimore Book Festival and the Jewish Museum of Maryland. Mr. Lisicky is the author of the bestselling books
Wanamaker’s: Meet Me at the Eagle
and
Hutzler’s: Where Baltimore Shops
, both of which are published by The History Press. His books have received critical acclaim by the
Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Magazine
and the
Wilmington News Journal
. He helps run an “Ask the Expert” column with author Jan Whitaker at
www.departmentstorehistory.net
. Mr. Lisicky resides in Baltimore, where he is an oboist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
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