Bergdorf Goodman
| File:Bergdorf goodman logo.gif | |
| Company type | department stores |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1899 |
| Headquarters | New York City |
| Website | http://bergdorfgoodman.com/ |
Bergdorf Goodman is a major luxury goods department store based in Midtown, Manhattan in New York City. It is owned by Neiman Marcus. The company began in 1899 when Herman Bergdorf, an immigrant from Alsace, opened a tailor shop just above Union Square in downtown Manhattan. Edwin Goodman, an employee of Bergdorf's, purchased the store in 1906 and moved to the present location of Rockefeller Center. In 1914, Goodman became the first couturier to introduce ready-to-wear, making Bergdorf Goodman a destination for American and French fashion. The store moved to its present location at 5th Avenue and 58th Street in 1928, building its Art Deco store on the site of the William K. Vanderbilt mansion. With Goodman's son, Andrew, as president, the store opened a fur salon, developed the successful Bergdorf Goodman Number Nine perfume, and created Miss Bergdorf, a ready-to-wear line for younger customers. Edwin Goodman retired from the company in 1953.
The department store went through a major slump from the early 1960s to the late 1970s when it failed to offer enough fashionable brands to attract younger clients. It developed a reputation for being a stale, conservative establishment, which caused several popular designers to pull their collections from Bergdorf Goodman entirely and sell in other high-end stores like Saks Fifth Avenue. To combat its image difficulties, the company hired Dawn Mello in 1975 as vice president and fashion. She was successful in reinvigorating the conservative store and became president in 1984. She left her post in 1989 to work for the floundering Italian fashion house Gucci, though she returned to her post as president five years later in 1994.
Chairman and CEO Ira Neimark expanded the women's store three times in the 1990s and in 1990, moved the men's store across the street to 745 Fifth Avenue in the old FAO Schwartz space to make more space for women's fashions. In 1997, the penthouse apartment on the building's seventh floor (formerly the Goodman family residence) was converted into the John Barrett Salon and Susan Ciminelli Day Spa. In 1999, the Beauty Level opened directly below the main floor, offering a luxury spa and Goodman's Cafe, serving lunch and afternoon tea. In 2002, Bergdorf Goodmen underwent a major renovation. Artisans and craftspeople began a dramatic restoration of the main floor of the women's store. In 2003, the store introduced new boutiques for Chanel, Giorgio Armani, Gucci, and Yves Saint Laurent.