Bernard Feustman Gimbel (April 10, 1885 – September 29, 1966) was an American businessman and president of the

Gimbels Gimbel Brothers (known simply as Gimbels) was an American department store corporation that operated for over a century, from 1842 until 1987. Gimbel patriarch Adam Gimbel opened his first store in Vincennes, Indiana, in 1842. In 1887, the comp ...

department store.

Biography

Gimbel was born to

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

parents, Rachel (née Feustman) and Isaac Gimbel, son of

Adam Gimbel Adam Gimbel (May 16, 1817 – June 28, 1896) was the founder of the Gimbels, Gimbel Brothers Company. Biography Gimbel was born to a German Jews, Jewish family in the Palatinate (region), Palatinate, then a part of Bavaria, in 1817 where he work ...

, founder of the Gimbels chain of department stores. In 1907, he graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. He started as a shipping clerk for his family's company and worked his way up to vice president in 1909. In 1910, Gimbel convinced his family to open a department store in New York City at the cost of $17 million ($425 million in 2013 dollars). In 1922, he convinced his family to list Gimbels on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

although with the family maintaining a controlling interest. In 1923, Gimbels purchased a controlling interest in

Saks Fifth Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (Colloquialism, colloquially Saks) is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain founded in 1867 by Andrew Saks. The first store opened in the F Street and 7th Street shopping districts, F Street shopping distric ...

for $8 million from Horace Saks, son of Andrew Saks, using the money from the Gimbel's stock issuance.Harris, p. 79 Also in 1923, Gimbels purchased the Kaufmann & Baer store in Pittsburgh (Kaufmann & Baer was founded by the cousins of the

Kaufmann's Kaufmann's was a department store that originated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The store was owned in the early 20th century by Edgar J. Kaufmann, patron of the famous Fallingwater house. In the post-war years, the store became a regional chain ...

department store also in Pittsburgh). After Horace Saks died in 1926, he appointed his cousin Adam Long Gimbel (son of Charles Gimbel, the husband of Sophie Gimbel). In 1926, Gimbel took over the company after his father was partially paralyzed after being thrown from a horse. While president, he targeted his rival

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

which was featured in the movie ''

Miracle on 34th Street ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (initially released as ''The Big Heart'' in the United Kingdom) is a 1947 American Christmas film, Christmas comedy-drama film released by 20th Century-Fox, written and directed by George Seaton and based on a story ...

'', and expanded the Saks brand nationally. In 1930, the company operated 20 stores with $123 million in sales ($1.7 billion in 2013 dollars), the largest department store chain in the world. Prior to World War II, Gimbel stocked up on consumer products he felt would be scarce if a war were to erupt, which paid off handsomely later. In 1953, Gimbel retired handing control to his son Bruce Alva Gimbel; at the time, Gimbel's had $300 million in sales. Gimbels later was purchased by the Batus Retail Group and then the brand was retired in 1986.

Personal life

In 1912, Gimbel married 18 year old Alva Bernheimer; they had five children: Bruce Alva Gimbel; twins Peter Gimbel and David Gimbel; and twins Hope Gimbel and Caral Gimbel. His daughter Hope was married and divorced from art collector David M. Solinger (their daughter, Lynn Stern, a photographer married architect Robert A. M. Stern). His daughter Caral was married and divorced from

Edward Lasker Edward Lasker (born Eduard Lasker) (December 3, 1885 – March 25, 1981) was a German-American chess and Go player. He was awarded the title of International Master of chess by FIDE. Lasker was an engineer by profession, and an author ...

, son of

Albert Lasker Albert Davis Lasker (May 1, 1880 – May 30, 1952) was an American businessman who played a major role in shaping modern advertising. He was raised in Galveston, Texas, where his father was the president of several banks. Moving to Chicago, he b ...

; and baseball superstar

Hank Greenberg Henry Benjamin Greenberg (January 1, 1911 – September 4, 1986), nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank", "Hankus Pankus", and "the Hebrew Hammer", was an American professional baseball player and team executive. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB), p ...

, before settling down with World War II hero Joseph M. Lebworth. His son David Alva died of cancer at the age of 29. Gimbel died in 1966. Services were held at Temple Emanu-El in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gimbel, Bernard 1885 births 1966 deaths American retail chief executives American people of German-Jewish descent

Bernard Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It has West Germanic origin and is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''be ...