Free Gimbels Has It! by Michael J. Lisicky Page A

Gimbels’ famous added measure of value takes on an added measure of convenience.”

    The North Hills store was the first branch location for the Pittsburgh division. Courtesy of the Milwaukee County Historical Society .

    Pittsburgh’s Eastland branch opened in 1963. Courtesy of the Milwaukee County Historical Society .

    This company-wide advertisement from 1949 celebrated the locations of all full-service Gimbels and Saks & Co. stores. Collection of the author .

    An early view of the popular Mayfair location in the Milwaukee area. Courtesy of the Milwaukee County Historical Society .
    The Milwaukee division continued a strong period of growth into the 1960s. On September 19, 1958, Gimbels Mayfair opened its doors in suburban Wauwatosa. Miss Wisconsin, Miss Wauwatosa and Miss Milwaukee were there to greet the shoppers. Chairman Bernard Gimbel said that the new Mayfair store sparkled “like a new black diamond.” 79 The company told shoppers to “come find fine quality merchandise at Gimbels famous right prices that offer you the greatest values possible, day in, day out.” Gimbels was the first tenant at the popular Mayfair center, but it was joined by Chicago’s iconic Marshall Field’s department store in January 1959. Former Milwaukee director Barbara Markoff says, “Mayfair was probably the strongest branch because it also had Marshall Field’s and Field’s attracted customers.” Gimbels made its boldest move in December 1961, when Bruce Gimbel announced that it would buy Milwaukee’s Schuster’s stores. The purchase made Gimbels the dominant retailer in all of Wisconsin. It was the first acquisition in over thirty-five years, with the exception of the 1956 purchase of Lockhart’s specialty store in downtown St. Louis, which was converted into a Saks Fifth Avenue branch. The merger between Gimbels and Schuster’s was not without opposition. Family members questioned the purchase, and so did the government. Schuster’s told its customers and its shareholders, “There is pride in this announcement because it unites two companies, old in Milwaukee, but youthful in spirit and accomplishments, both of whose long retail lives have been devoted to the same high principles of community service.” When the purchase was approved and completed the following spring, Gimbels in Milwaukee grew from three stores to seven, plus one under construction in Madison. The Milwaukee division also assumed the name Gimbels-Schusters on its stores.
    Back east, shoppers flocked to the new Cherry Hill Shopping Center in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Cherry Hill, located in the Philadelphia area, opened its doors in October 1961 to hoards of shoppers. It was the largest enclosed shopping center on the East Coast south of New York City. According to its lease, Strawbridge & Clothier had the right to select its competing anchor store at Cherry Hill. Bamberger’s was chosen rather than any of the Philadelphia stores. Shut out of Cherry Hill’s success, Gimbels teamed up with Wanamaker’s and developed its own mall in Moorestown, New Jersey, just a few miles down the road. But Moorestown couldn’t match Cherry Hill’s popularity. Former Gimbels employee John Caccese says, “Cherry Hill was the first indoor shopping environment in the area, and the Strawbridge’s there was so unbelievably large. It was unheard of. Moorestown was a second-rate mall. Cherry Hill had the ambiance.” 80

    The once popular Gimbels-Schusters store at Capitol Court in Milwaukee. Courtesy of the Milwaukee County Historical Society .

    A young child takes a break from shopping at Gimbels-Schusters in the early 1960s. Courtesy of the Milwaukee County Historical Society .
    In August 1962, Gimbels quietly opened a large department store at the Roosevelt Field Shopping Center in Garden City, New Jersey. However, as the store’s traditional competitors began to emphasize style and fashion in their advertising and merchandise, Gimbels held firm to its