Strawbridge's

Infobox Defunct Company
company_name = Strawbridge's
company_
fate = Renamed Macy's or shuttered
successor = Macy's
foundation = 1868 (as Strawbridge & Clothier
defunct = 2006
location = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
industry = Retail
key_people =
products = Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, and housewares.
num_employees =
parent = Formerly May Department Stores
subsid =

Strawbridge's (formerly Strawbridge & Clothier) was a department store found in the northeastern United States with stores in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It was part of May Department Stores until that company's August 30, 2005 acquisition by Macy's Inc.. May had operated it under its Arlington County, Virginia-based Hecht's division. The historical flagship store was located in downtown Philadelphia at The Gallery at Market East. It was announced March 10, 2006 that this store would close on June 1, but it actually shut its doors on May 23. [http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=local&id=3981527]

On February 1, 2006, the former May Company division were dissolved and operating control of the Strawbridge's stores was assumed by Macy's East. On September 9, 2006, the Strawbridge's and Hecht's nameplates were completely phased out in favor of Macy's.

History

The store began as a dry goods store and was founded by Quakers Justus Clayton Strawbridge (1838-1911) and Isaac Hallowell Clothier (1838-1911) in Philadelphia in 1862. In 1868 Strawbridge & Clothier purchased a 3-story brick building on the northeast corner of Market and 8th Streets in Center City Philadelphia, which had been Thomas Jefferson's office in 1790 while he served as Secretary of State, and opened their first store. But soon the old building was replaced by a new 5-story department store offering a variety of fixed price merchandise under one roof. In 1928, this building was replaced by a new store and became one of the anchors in 1977 of The Gallery, an urban mall connecting Strawbridge & Clothier with Gimbels, which had relocated from across Market Street. In 1971 S&C founded the Clover chain which were located in strip centers rather than malls for the most part. Clover grew to have many more locations than the full-service S&C stores until closing all stores in winter 1997.

The 13 Strawbridge & Clothier department stores were bought by May Department Stores Company in 1996 when the Strawbridge & Clothier corporation elected to liquidate its operations (it also operated the Clover discount department store chain). At the time of the May acquisition, the Strawbridge's name was retained, and the Philadelphia area Hecht's stores (the former John Wanamaker locations, which May had acquired in a bankruptcy sale in 1995) also adopted the name. However, the Strawbridge & Clothier head office was closed and its operations were consolidated with Hecht's in Arlington, Virginia. After the sale the stores operated simply as "Strawbridge's", although exterior signage reading "Strawbridge & Clothier" remained in place at many locations until the stores became Macy's in 2006.

In July, 2006, The Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT), owners of The Gallery at Market East, agreed to purchase the lower floors of the flagship Strawbridge's store. It is anticipated that PREIT will seek retail tenants for the areas of the building closest to street level but may convert some higher floors to office space. The uppermost floors had previously been sold and converted to offices; they are currently owned by American Financial Realty Trust of Jenkintown.

Former Locations

New Jersey

*Philadelphia MSA/Burlington - Burlington Center Mall "(opened 1982, converted to Macy's 2006)"
*Philadelphia MSA/Cherry Hill - Cherry Hill Mall This was Strawbridge & Clothier's 4th branch location and its first in New Jersey ...and its first in an enclosed mall."(opened 1961, closed 2006, site sold to Pennsylvania REIT, building being demolished 2007, and replaced by Nordstrom)"
*Philadelphia MSA/Deptford - Deptford Mall "(former John Wanamaker and Hecht's location, converted to Strawbridge's 1997, closed 2006, re-opened as Boscov's)"
*Philadelphia MSA/Moorestown - Moorestown Mall "(former John Wanamaker location, building demolished 1998 and rebuilt and reopened as Strawbridge's 1999, converted to Macy's 2006)"
*Philadelphia MSA/Voorhees Township - Echelon Mall (now Voorhees Town Center) "(opened 1970, converted to Macy's 2006)"

Pennsylvania

*Allentown MSA/Whitehall - Lehigh Valley Mall "(former John Wanamaker and Hecht's location, opened 1997, closed 2006, reopened as Boscov's)"
*Philadelphia - The Gallery at Market East "(opened 1868, current location opened 1928, closed 2006, sold to Pennsylvania REIT)"
*Philadelphia - Roosevelt Mall "(former S. Klein, John Wanamaker, and Hecht's location, opened 1997, converted to Macy's 2006)"
*Philadelphia MSA/Ardmore - Suburban Square "(The first branch location, opened 1930, converted to Macy's 2006)"
*Philadelphia MSA/Bensalem - Neshaminy Mall "(opened 1968, converted to Macy's 2006)"
*Philadelphia MSA/Exton - Exton Square "(opened 1973, converted to Macy's 2006)"
*Philadelphia MSA/King of Prussia - The Plaza at King of Prussia "(former John Wanamaker and Hecht's location, opened 1997, converted to Macy's 2006, closed 2007, site to be redeveloped by mall, possibly containing a new JC Penney and another anchor" [http://www.simon.com/mall/LeasingSheet/KingOfPrussia.pdf]
*Philadelphia MSA/Langhorne - Oxford Valley Mall "(former John Wanamaker and Hecht's location, opened 1997, closed 2006, reopened as Boscov's)"
*Philadelphia MSA/North Wales - Montgomery Mall "(former John Wanamaker and Hecht's location, opened 1997, closed 2006, reopened as Boscov's)"
*Philadelphia MSA/Plymouth Meeting - Plymouth Meeting Mall "(opened 1966, converted to Macy's 2006)" [http://www.shopplymouthmeetingmall.com/directory/lower_level]
*Philadelphia MSA/Springfield - Springfield Mall "(former John Wanamaker and Hecht's location, opened 1997, closed 2006, site sold to Target)"
*Philadelphia MSA/Willow Grove - Willow Grove Park Mall "(former Abraham & Straus location, opened 1988 as the last branch store under the Strawbridge & Clothier name, closed 2006, site reopened in 2007 with The Cheesecake Factory on third floor and Boscov's coming in future on lower two floors)"

Delaware

*Dover - Dover Mall "(opened 1997 in former Leggett, converted to Macy's 2006)"
*Philadelphia MSA/Newark - Christiana Mall "(opened 1978, closed 2006, site sold to General Growth Properties, building being demolished and replaced with convert|200000|sqft|m2|-4|abbr=on of new mall space, plus a Nordstrom Store, opening 2011 [http://www.philly.com/inquirer/breaking/business_breaking/20071004_Christiana_Mall_to_expand__add_Nordstrom.html] )"
*Philadelphia MSA/Wilmington - Concord Mall (2 locations) "(opened 1983, home store opened 1994, both stores converted to Macy's 2006)"

Former Locations closed prior to December 2005

Delaware

*Philadelphia MSA/Wilmington - Merchandise Mart (now Merchants Square). This was Strawbridge & Clothier's 3rd branch store and its first outside of Pennsylvania "(opened 1950's, replaced by the store at Concord Mall in 1983, now vacant)"

Pennsylvania

*Philadelphia MSA/Springfield - Springfield (part of Springfield Park) "(closed 1997, relocated to nearby Springfield Mall in a former John Wanamaker location. Springfield Park store now Bed Bath and Beyond and Target, which subsequently also bought the Springfield Mall store in 2006"
*Philadelphia MSA/King of Prussia - The Court at King of Prussia "(former Abraham & Straus location, opened 1988, closed 1997 in lieu of former John Wanamaker's / Hecht's location in the Plaza, converted to mall space "the Pavilion at King of Prussia")"
*Philadelphia MSA/Jenkintown - Freestanding (Strawbridge & Clothier's 2nd branch store" (opened 1934, closed 1988 and replaced by the Willow Grove Park Mall store. Outstanding art deco building, now houses an Outback Steakhouse and office space)"
*Reading, Pennsylvania - Berkshire Mall "(opened 1997 in former John Wanamaker location, closed and sold to Boscov's 2002)"

References

* [http://plainfieldfriends.tripod.com/VT/carls07.html Carl's Corner]
* [http://www.agencyconsulting.com/show_article.asp?articleID=57 The Tale of Two Family Businesses]