Kaufmann's
Kaufmann's was a regional
department store chain in the
USA last owned by
Federated Department Stores. Formerly a part of
May Department Stores prior to that company's acquisition by
Federated on August 30, 2005, it operated as part of the
Filene's organization in
Boston, Massachusetts.
On February 1, 2006 the Filene's/Kaufmann's organization was dissolved and the management of its stores was assumed by
Macy's East and the new
Macy's Midwest. The store's website was largely consolidated into macys.com during the spring of 2006. By autumn of the same year, the Kaufmann's name will be retired as
Federated Department Stores converts the former
May Company chains to the
Macy's masthead.
Kaufmann's was founded in
Pittsburgh in 1871 as Kaufmann Brothers, and was acquired by
May Company in 1946. The chain operated in
Pennsylvania,
New York,
Ohio and
West Virginia. Over the years it absorbed several other chains, including Strouss, based in Youngstown, Ohio in 1986, Sibley's, based in Rochester, New York in 1991 (which had merged with Hengerer's of Buffalo in 1981), May Company Ohio, based in Cleveland, Ohio in 1992 (which had merged with O'Neil's in Akron in 1989), as well as remnants of the McCurdy's stores of Rochester and Hess's of Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1995. In 2002 its Pittsburgh headquarters was closed and its operations were consolidated into
Filene's.
Interesting Fact:Edgar Kaufmann, owner of Kaufmann's, commissioned
Frank Lloyd Wright to design a contemporary home in
Fayette County, Pennsylvania. The result was
Fallingwater, one of the most famous houses of the 20th century.
At one time or another, the May Department Stores Company owned all three major department store chains in the greater Pittsburgh area: Kaufmann's, Gimbel's, and the Joseph Horne Company. All three chains were cross-town rivals for decades.
May's Purchase of Kaufmann's: May purchased Kaufmann's in 1946 from Edgar Kaufmann and other members of the Kaufmann family.
May's purchase of Gimbel's: Ironically, Gimbels Brothers history in Pittsburgh had originated with their purchase of the Kaufmann & Baer department store in 1926, founded by a rival faction of the Kaufmann family. In 1970, the entire Gimbel's chain was purchased by the tobacco comglomerate BATUS. In 1986, after years of declining sales, BATUS announced that Gimbels was on the block. Unable to find a buyer for the entire chain, BATUS closed down the unprofitable Gimbel's Pittsburgh division selling or closing all locations. Some of the more attractive mall locations were taken over by Kaufmann's (May Department Stores), which effectively caused the shuttering of the Gimbel's Pittsburgh division. (So, although Kaufmann's never officially owned the Gimbel's Pittsburgh division, it did purchase its most desirable locations and contributed significantly to closure).
May's purchase of the Joseph Horne Co.: Joseph Horne Co., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was a division of Associated Dry Goods who had acquired it in 1972. It was historically the carriage-trade department store of Pittsburgh. Hornes was eventually acquired by May Department Stores in October 1986 as part of the May/ADG merger. Due to anti-trust concerns and legal action by the City of Pittsburgh, Hornes was promptly sold in December 1986 to a local investor group. After several years of private ownership, it was announced the Dillards would be buying the chain to combine it with the Dillard/DeBartolo co-owned Higbee's stores based in Cleveland. However, the deal collasped and was not completed. Eventually the Joseph Horne Co. was sold off in parts, with Dillard's acquiring its three Ohio stores in 1992 and Federated Department Stores's Lazarus division acquiring its remaining nine Pennsylvania stores in 1995. Federated eventually merged all its divisions (including the former Joseph Horne/Lazarus locations) into Macy's.
At
Pittsburgh's downtown location stands a famous clock on the corner of Smithfield Street and Fifth Avenue. The popularity of this clock prompted the coining of the phrase "I'll meet you under Kaufmann's clock."
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Binghamton MSA/
Johnson City -
Oakdale Mall (opened 2000)*
Buffalo -
McKinley Mall (2 locations)
(opened 1989 as Sibley's)*
Buffalo MSA/
Amherst -
Boulevard Mall (2 locations)
(opened 1983 as Sibley's)*
Buffalo MSA/
Cheektoawaga -
Walden Galleria (opened 1988 as Sibley's)*
Buffalo MSA/
Williamsville -
Eastern Hills Mall (opened 1971 as Hengerer's)*
Elmira MSA MSA/
Horseheads -
Arnot Mall (former Hess's location, opened 1995)*
Rochester -
Greece Ridge Center (2 locations)
(Kaufmann's had two locations in this mall because it was formed from the 1995 merger of two malls which each had a store. The Kaufmann's in Long Ridge Mall was a former McCurdy's; the one in Greece Towne Mall was a former Sibley's and became a Bon-Ton after the merger. A Kaufmann's Home Store opened in 1998 in the former B. Forman's location.)*
Rochester -
Marketplace Mall (opened 1982 as Sibley's)*
Rochester -
Medley Centre (formerly Irondequoit Mall) (opened 1990)*
Rochester MSA/
Victor -
Eastview Mall (opened 1971 as Sibley's)*
Syracuse -
Carousel Center (opened 1990)*
Syracuse MSA/
Clay -
Great Northern Mall (opened 1989 as Sibley's)*
Syracuse MSA/
De Witt -
Shoppingtown Mall (opened 1993)*
Utica-Rome MSA MSA/
New Hartford -
Sangertown Square (former Hess's locations, opened 1995)*
Akron -
Chapel Hill Mall (open 1967 as O'Neil's)*
Akron -
Summit Mall (opened 1965 as O'Neil's)*
Akron MSA/
Stow -
Stow-Kent Shopping Center (opened 1965 as O'Neil's)*
Canton -
Canton Centre Mall (formerly Mellet Mall) (opened 1968 as O'Neil's)*
Canton MSA/
North Canton -
Westfield Belden Village (formerly Belden Village Mall) (opened 1971 as O'Neil's)*
Cleveland MSA/
Elyria -
Westfield Midway (formerly Midway Mall) (opened 1990 as May Company)*
Cleveland MSA/
Mentor -
Great Lakes Mall (opened 1964 as May Company)*
Cleveland MSA/
North Olmsted -
Westfield Great Northern (formerly Great Northern Mall) (opened 1965 as May Company)*
Cleveland MSA/
North Randall -
Randall Park Mall (opened 1976 as May Company)*
Cleveland MSA/
Parma -
Parmatown Mall (opened 1960 as May Company)*
Cleveland MSA/
Richmond Heights -
Richmond Town Square (opened 1998)*
Cleveland MSA/
Strongsville -
Westfield SouthPark (formerly SouthPark Center) (opened 1996)*
Cleveland MSA/
University Heights -
University Square (opened 2002, replacing 1956 May Company)*
Columbus -
Columbus City Center (opened 2003 in former Marshall Field's location)*
Columbus -
Eastland Mall (opened November, 2005; closed March, 2006 and reopened as Macy's April, 2006)*
Columbus -
Polaris Fashion Place (opened 2001)*
Columbus MSA/
Dublin -
The Mall at Tuttle Crossing (opened 2003 in former Marshall Field's location)*
Mansfield MSA/
Ontario -
Westfield Richland (formerly Richland Mall) (opened 1969 as O'Neil's)*
Sandusky -
Sandusky Mall (opened 1979 as May Company)*
Youngstown-Warren MSA/
Boardman -
Southern Park Mall (opened 1970 as Strouss)*
Youngstown-Warren MSA/
Niles -
Eastwood Mall (opened 1969 as Strouss)*
Weirton, West Virginia MSA/
Steubenville -
Fort Steuben Mall (opened 1974)*
Wheeling, West Virginia MSA/
St. Clairsville -
Ohio Valley Mall (opened 1979)*
Altoona -
Logan Valley Mall (former Hess's location, opened 1995)*
Erie -
Millcreek Mall (opened 1975)*
Pittsburgh - Smithfield Street at Fifth Avenue (flagship)
(current location built 1913)*
Pittsburgh -
Ross Park Mall (opened 1986)*
Pittsburgh -
South Hills Village (former Gimbels location, opened 1987, closed 3/2006)*
Pittsburgh -
The Mall at Robinson (opened 1998)*
Pittsburgh -
The Waterfront (opened 2003)*
Pittsburgh MSA/
Greensburg -
Westmoreland Mall (opened 1976)*
Pittsburgh MSA/
Monaca -
Beaver Valley Mall (former Gimbels location, opened 1987)*
Pittsburgh MSA/
Monroeville -
Monroeville Mall (former Gimbels location, opened 1987, closed 3/2006)*
Pittsburgh MSA/
Tarentum -
The Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills (opened 2005)*
Pittsburgh MSA/
Washington -
Washington Crown Center (opened 1999)*
Pittsburgh MSA/
West Mifflin -
Century III Mall (2 locations)
(opened 1979, furniture gallery opened 2001)*
Scranton-Wilkes-Barre MSA/
Scranton -
Viewmont Mall (former Hess's location, opened 1995)*
Scranton-Wilkes-Barre MSA/
Wilkes-Barre -
Wyoming Valley Mall (2 locations)
(former Hess's location, opened 1995)*
State College -
Nittany Mall (opened 1999)*
Williamsport -
Lycoming Mall (former Hess's location, opened 1995)*
Youngstown-Warren, Ohio MSA/
Hermitage -
Shenango Valley Mall (opened as Strouss 1976)*
Charleston, West Virginia -
Charleston Town Center (opened 1983)
