Century 21 Department Stores LLC is an American chain of

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...

s, headquartered in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, which had 13 locations in the northeastern United States at the time of its closing in 2020. In 2023, the flagship center next to the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are the hundreds of sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may also refer to: Buildings * World Trade Center (1973–2001), a building complex that was destroyed during the September 11 at ...

reopened.

History

The company was founded in 1961, by

Syrian Jews Syrian Jews ( ''Yehudey Surya'', ''al-Yahūd as-Sūriyyūn'', colloquially called SYs in the United States) are Jews who live in the region of the modern state of Syria, and their descendants born outside Syria. Syrian Jews derive their origin ...

, Sonny Gindi, Ralph I Gindi, and Al Gindi. The original store is located at 472 86th Street in

Bay Ridge, Brooklyn Bay Ridge is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by Sunset Park, Brooklyn, Sunset Park to the north, Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, Dyker Heights to the east, the Nar ...

. Founder Al Gindi's son, Raymond Gindi, served as Century 21's chief operating officer. The Century 21 flagship location is at 22 Cortlandt Street in

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

, a site of the former East River Savings Bank (eventually merged into

Marine Midland Bank Marine Midland Bank was an American bank formerly headquartered in Buffalo, New York, with several hundred branches throughout the state of New York (state), New York, Pennsylvania and two branches located in Seattle, Washington (state), Washing ...

and today into

KeyBank KeyBank is an American regional bank headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, and the 27th largest bank in the United States. Organized under the publicly traded KeyCorp, KeyBank was formed from the 1994 merger of the Cleveland-based Society Corpora ...

). It occupies the base of a 34-story office tower, and it has recently added a Financier Patisserie coffee shop to its third floor. The store became an emotional flashpoint during and after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. The store was evacuated after the first plane hit the

, and the interior was significantly damaged from the collapse of the Twin Towers. Initially, it was not certain that the store would be rebuilt, but the owners opted to remain at the same site and the store was renovated and reopened on February 28, 2002, five months after the attacks. Thousands of people waited hours on the morning of the reopening so they could have a sales receipt from that day. The firm opened its first location outside of the greater

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...

in October 2014, housed on two floors of the former

Strawbridge's Strawbridge's, formerly Strawbridge & Clothier, was a department store in the northeastern United States, with stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. The Center City Philadelphia flagship store was, in its day, a gracious urban empori ...

flagship on Market Street in

Center City, Philadelphia Center City includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It comprises the area that made up the City of Philadelphia prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854, which extended the ci ...

. The company expanded in 2016, opening at Sawgrass Mills in

Sunrise, Florida Sunrise is a city in central-western Broward County, Florida, Broward County, Florida, United States, and is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area. The population was 97,335 at the time of the 2020 census. History Early history In ...

. In March 2016, Century 21 announced that it would open a location at

American Dream The "American Dream" is a phrase referring to a purported national ethos of the United States: that every person has the freedom and opportunity to succeed and attain a better life. The phrase was popularized by James Truslow Adams during the ...

. This location never opened due to a later insolvency, and was replaced by The ADdress. In 2017, Century 21 opened a location at Cross County Center in

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...

. In April 2018, the company opened a Century 21 EDITION pop-up store at the

Staten Island Mall Staten Island Mall is a shopping mall in New Springville, Staten Island, New York City, opened in 1973. It is the only indoor shopping mall in the borough. It is the largest retail center on the island and is the site of the island's third-large ...

, focusing on high-end women's accessories. In July 2019, Century 21 announced plans to open a new location at the Roosevelt Field Mall in

Garden City, New York Garden City is a village located in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 23,272 at the time of the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Garden City is primarily located within the Town of Hempstead ...

in 2021. In February 2020, Century 21 announced plans to open a permanent location at the Staten Island Mall, taking over the lower level of the former

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...

Store. On Thursday September 10, 2020, Century 21 filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

, after failing to secure insurance recoveries for the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Century 21 closed all of its locations by Sunday, December 6, 2020. On February 25, 2021, Century 21 announced it would resume operations sometime in 2021. In 2022, Century 21 surrendered its original Bay Ridge location. In May 2022, Century 21 announced it would reopen the lower Manhattan store in the spring of 2023. In February 2023, Century 21 announced an April 2023 reopening date for the downtown New York City flagship. It also announced plans for a new Bay Ridge store at a shopping center developed by the Gindi's, with more locations planned for both the United States and internationally. Although the New York City flagship was scheduled to reopen on April 25, 2023, the opening was delayed until May 16, 2023.

References

External links

* {{Department stores in the United States Defunct discount stores of the United States Shops in New York City American companies established in 1961 Retail companies established in 1961 Commercial buildings in Manhattan 1961 establishments in New York City Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020 Defunct department stores based in New York City Retail companies disestablished in 2020