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Gimbels

Gimbels Department Store began life as a general store in Vincennes, IN opened by Adam Gimbel in the 1880s. Gimbel relocated to Milwaukee in 1887 and rapidly expanded his operations, acquiring the Granville Haines store in Philadelphia in 1894 and opening what would ultimately become his flagship store on Herald Square across from Macy's in 1910. In 1923, Gimbel acquired what would become Saks Fifth Avenue.

Gimbels closed in 1986, with it's Herald Square Building becoming the Manhattan Mall. It's old warehouse building at 119 West 31st Street (connected by a bridge over 32nd Street) continued to wear a painted ghost sign for the store on its southwestern wall even as it's street-level retail space became Weber's, a discount remainder store.

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