Steinbach (store)

Steinbach

Company type	Department store
Founded	1936
Defunct	1999
Fate	Liquidation
Headquarters	Asbury Park, New Jersey , USA
Parent	Amcena

Steinbach was a department store chain based in Asbury Park, New Jersey.

History

Steinbach was founded in Asbury Park, New Jersey, and maintained branch stores along the New Jersey shore, and in the central part of New Jersey. The company was at one time affiliated with the Kresge-Newark department store in downtown Newark. In the 1960s, the chain was purchased by Supermarkets General Corporation (SGC), and continued to operate as a standalone company. SGC also purchased the Howland chain in Bridgeport, Connecticut (which had previously merged the Genung's chain of stores into itself), along with the two-store Goerke's department store based in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Howland also continued to run as a stand-alone chain, while the Goerke's stores became part of the Steinbach chain, and in turn were rebranded Steinbach. In the 1970s, the chain opened three full line branches at shopping mall locations along the growing Jersey shore, including the chain's largest, a unit at the Shore Mall near Atlantic City. In 1976, a fourth mall location was opened at the Seaview Square Mall, near its downtown Asbury Park store.

The Seaview Square location was opened as the chain's most upscale store, and a number of departments were originally not part of the merchandise mix. This changed when the downtown Asbury Park location was closed in 1979, and Seaview Square was modified to include all departments that were carried at the former downtown store.

Ownership changes

In the late 1970s, SGC merged the two chains together under the corporate name Howland-Steinbach. Each chain retained its original name, but were operated by a single corporate office. SGC sold the chain the 1980s to Netherlands-based Amcena Corporation, the owners of the New York City-based Ohrbach's chain.

Amcena in turn converted most of its Ohrbach's stores to Steinbach stores. The parent company also converted all of the former Howland stores to the Steinbach nameplate, and closed the former Ohrbach's flagship location in New York. By the late 1980s, Amcena opted to sell the chain, Value City purchased some of the stores, and Detroit based Crowley Milner and Company purchased some others. The chain was liquidated with the rest of Crowley Milner in 1999.

Former locations

Connecticut

• Bridgeport, downtown. Former Howland flagship, closed as Steinbach, 1988
• Danbury - downtown
• Fairfield - Black Rock Turnpike, closed as Steinbach, late 1990s.
• Hamden - Hamden Mart (closed late 1990s, now Bon-Ton)
• Norwalk - downtown
• Trumbull - Hawley Lane Mall, now Best Buy
• Waterford - Shopping Center, now Sav-A-Lot

Massachusetts

• Methuen, Massachusetts - Methuen Mall (Opened as a Howland's)

New Hampshire

• Concord - Steeplegate Mall (opened 1990, closed 1999. Now Bon-Ton)

New Jersey

• Asbury Park (Former Flagship closed in 1979, being developed as condos and retail)
• Brick Township ( later Bon-Ton, now closed )
• Egg Harbor Township - Shore Mall (opened 1974, Value City in 1996 store closing in 2008)
• Elizabeth (former Goerke's, now Shoppers' World)
• Manalapan - Manalapan Mall/Manalapan Epicenter (now Value City; rest of mall torn down)
• Ocean - Seaview Square Mall (now Value City; rest of mall torn down)
• Paramus, New Jersey - Bergen Mall - Former Ohrbach's; after Steinbach's, became Value City; currently being demolished for redevelopment
• Plainfield (former Goerke's, now closed)
• Red Bank (later Bon-Ton, now closed)
• Wayne, New Jersey - Willowbrook Mall - Former Ohrbach's; Now Lord & Taylor
• Woodbridge, New Jersey - Woodbridge Center Mall - Former Ohrbach's; Now Lord & Taylor

New York

• Albany - Colonie Center (opened 1992, closed 1995, now Boscov's)
• Cicero - Penn-Can Mall (opened 1988 in former Sears, closed 1994. Mall converted to an auto mall)
• Clifton Park - Clifton Park Center (opened 1991 in former Price Chopper, closed 1999, vacant)
• Cortlandt Manor - Cortlandt Towne Center (mall torn down)
• DeWitt - Shoppingtown Mall (opened 1991 on one level of former Addis & Dey's, closed 1995. Both levels of former Addis & Dey's are now Sears)
• Glens Falls - Northway Plaza (closed 1999)
• Ithaca - Pyramid Mall (Opened in 1976, Closed in 1986, now several storefronts and part of Regal Cinemas)
• Johnson City - Oakdale Mall (Opened as Howland, became Howland-Steinbach.) (Now Abercrombie & Fitch, and Hollister Co.)
• Lake Grove - Smith Haven Mall (late 1980s to mid 1990s, presently a J.C. Penney)
• Middletown - Galleria at Crystal Run (opened 1992, closed 1995, now Dick's Sporting Goods)
• Middletown - Orange Plaza (moved to Galleria in 1992; now Kohl's)
• Newburgh - Newburgh Mall (opened 1980, closed 1999, now Old Navy)
• New Hartford - New Hartford Shopping Center, now Joann Fabrics
• Plattsburgh - Champlain Centre North (opened 1988, closed 1999, now Dick's Sporting Goods)
• Poughkeepsie - Poughkeepsie Galleria (after closing, was Dick's Sporting Goods, now Target)
• Saratoga - Wilton Mall (opened 1990, closed 1996, now Dick's Sporting Goods)
• Syracuse - Carousel Center (opened 1990, closed 1996, now Circuit City)
• Tarrytown, downtown. Former Howland unit, now Pay Half .
• Utica - Riverside Mall (mall torn down, now a strip mall)
• Watertown - Salmon Run Mall (opened 1988, closed 1999, now Dick's Sporting Goods)
• Watertown, downtown. Former Howland store, replaced in 1988 by Salmon Run Mall.
• Queens, New York - Queens Center Mall - was Ohrbach's, then JC Penney's which was demolished in mall expansion

Vermont

• South Burlington - University Mall (opened 1992, closed 1999, now Bon-Ton)

Flagship store

Steinbach flagship store following its 1979 closure

Steinbach had been a fixture in Asbury Park since the late 19th century, and by the turn of the 20th century, a new flagship store was planned and built on Cookman Avenue, billed as "The world's largest resort department store." This building initially contained five floors (basement level through fourth floor), and by the 1930s, a fifth floor and clock tower were added. As the Northern sections of the New Jersey shore started to suburbanize, Asbury Park and Steinbach became a focal point. The downtown Steinbach remained popular even after several nearby shopping centers opened, but the race riots during July 1970 cast a shadow over downtown, and shoppers started to avoid the area. Ownership changes also affected Steinbach, and in 1978, Steinbach's then-corporate parent, SGC, opened a new consolidated office building in White Plains, New York to serve as the headquarters for its department store holdings. This cost downtown Asbury Park over 100 jobs, and diminished the role of the downtown building. SGC also refocused Steinbach as a more value-oriented chain.

In spring 1979, it was announced that the downtown Steinbach would close after a liquidation sale, with the store's closing on July 14, 1979. The public entrances were padlocked, and the remaining display windows were boarded up. Steinbach continued to use the building as a base for its maintenance staff for a few years, before abandoning the building entirely. In the late 1980s, an arson fire nearly destroyed the entire building, but did result in the removal of the clock tower and fifth floor.

Sackman Enterprises, which purchased the building in 2001, announced on March 1, 2007 that the first of 63 apartments was ready for rent following a complete renovation of the building. The ground floor now contains 22,000 sq ft (2,000 m²) of retail space. The four floors above are loft-style apartments.

External links

• Steinbach Building
• asburyboardwalk.com History of Asbury Park and the Boardwalk
• The Steinbach building at side o' lamb