1865 – 1989
B. Altman and Company was a New York City-based department store founded in 1865 by Benjamin Altman. It officially closed on December 31, 1989. One of the first American department stores to open out-of-town branches, Altman’s eventually opened locations in Pennsylvania (St. Davids, 1965; Willow Grove, 1983), New Jersey (Short Hills, 1958, replacing the earlier nearby East Orange store; Ridgewood/Paramus, 1967), and New York state (Manhasset, 1947; White Plains, 1930) as well as its block-long main flagship store at Fifth Avenue 1906-1912 and 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan. A short-lived location in Cincinnati opened during the L.J. Hooker ownership period, and two mall locations in Buffalo and Syracuse were physically completed but never occupied by Altman’s during that same time.