Bergdorf Goodman

Bergdorf Goodman was a large American department store. It started as a women’s wear store on New York’s Fifth Avenue, at the corner of 19th Street, under the name Bergdorf and Voight. In 1889 Herman Bergdorf hired the young tailor Edwin Goodman, in 1901 they became partners, and in 1914 they opened a shop where Rockefeller Center now stands. They were among the first to sell prêt-à-porter, thus eliminating the long waiting period required with tailors. In 1928 they moved to the present address, Fifth Avenue and 58th Street, in the former Vanderbilt mansion, in a shop designed and decorated to look like the Parisian houses of their rich clientele. In 1953, Bergdorf Goodman was New York’s most sophisticated department store: it sold luxury ready-to-wear and had an on-site beauty salon. In 1972 it was acquired by Carter Hawley Hale Stores. In 1986 the store opened a department for furniture and household accessories. The following year, ownership changed again, passing to the Neiman Marcus group. Bergdorf Goodman has launched many designers in America, including Missoni, Armani, Ferré, Krizia, and Lacroix, and discovered Donna Karan and Calvin Klein.