The William Hengerer Company, known informally as Hengerer's, was a

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

-based

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 ...

chain, with stores exclusively located in the Western New York region.

History

The company was founded in 1867 as J. C. Barnes & Co., followed by Barnes & Bancroft in 1869, at 259 Main Street, with James K. Bancroft. In 1873, William Hengerer was admitted as a partner and the company became known as Barnes, Bancroft & Co. Along with other department stores located in Buffalo including AM&A's, Flint and Kent, and the Sweeney Company, Hengerer was very successful in the 1880s and 1890s. The department stores offered cooking classes, beauty parlors, and restaurants and introduced washing and sewing machines, vacuum cleaners, and iceboxes to the public. In 1889, Hengerer's new department store was built at 268 Main Street and was designed by Cyrus K. Porter and built of brick with Medina sandstone trim. In 1903, a new store was constructed and by 1907, Hengerer's boasted of being the largest department store between

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 ...

and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Wm Hengerer Co. was a founding member of the Associated Dry Goods Corporation in 1916.

Closure

The Hengerer chain was merged into ADG's Sibley's name in 1981, with its flagship store at 465 Main Street in downtown Buffalo closing by 1987.

References

;Notes ;Sources *Rizzo, Michael F. (2007) ''Nine Nine Eight: The Glory Days of Buffalo Shopping'' Lulu Enterprises, Inc.; Morrisville, North Carolina. . *Elvins, Sarah (2004). ''Sales & Celebrations: Retailing and Regional Identity in Western New York State, 1920-1940.'' . 1867 establishments in New York (state) Retail companies established in 1867 Retail companies disestablished in 1987 Companies based in Buffalo, New York Clothing retailers of the United States History of Buffalo, New York Defunct companies based in New York (state) Defunct department stores based in New York State {{US-retail-company-stub

History

Closure

See also

References