was a regional
Department Store chain in the
USA last owned by
Federated Department Stores . Formerly a part of
May Department Stores prior to that company's acquisition by
Federated on August 30, 2005, it operated as part of the
Filene's organization in
Boston, Massachusetts .
On February 1, 2006 the Filene's/Kaufmann's organization was dissolved and the management of its stores was assumed by
Macy's East and the new
Macy's Midwest . The store's website was largely consolidated into macys.com during the spring of 2006. By autumn of the same year, the Kaufmann's name will be retired as
Federated Department Stores , converts the former
May Company chains to the
Macy's masthead.
Kaufmann's was founded in
Pittsburgh in 1871 as Kaufmann Brothers, and was acquired by
May Company in 1946. The chain operated in
Pennsylvania ,
New York ,
Ohio and
West Virginia . Over the years it absorbed several other chains, including Strouss, based in Youngstown, Ohio in 1986, Sibley's, based in Rochester, New York in 1991 (which had merged with Hengerer's of Buffalo in 1981), May Company Ohio, based in Cleveland, Ohio in 1992 (which had merged with O'Neil's in Akron in 1989), as well as remnants of the McCurdy's stores of Rochester and Hess's of Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1995. In 2002 its Pittsburgh headquarters was closed and its operations were consolidated into
Filene's .
Interesting Fact:
Edgar Kaufmann, owner of Kaufmann's, commissioned
Frank Lloyd Wright to design a contemporary home in
Fayette County, Pennsylvania . The result was
Fallingwater , one of the most famous houses of the 20th century.
At one time or another, the May Department Stores Company owned all three major department store chains in the greater Pittsburgh area: Kaufmann's, Gimbel's, and the Joseph Horne Company. All three chains were cross-town rivals for decades.
''May's Purchase of Kaufmann's:'' May purchased Kaufmann's in 1946 from Edgar Kaufmann and other members of the Kaufmann family.
''May's purchase of Gimbel's:'' Ironically, Gimbels Brothers history in Pittsburgh had originated with their purchase of the Kaufmann & Baer department store in 1926, founded by a rival faction of the Kaufmann family. In 1970, the entire Gimbel's chain was purchased by the tobacco comglomerate BATUS. In 1986, after years of declining sales, BATUS announced that Gimbels was on the block. Unable to find a buyer for the entire chain, BATUS closed down the unprofitable Gimbel's Pittsburgh division selling or closing all locations. Some of the more attractive mall locations were taken over by Kaufmann's (May Department Stores), which effectively caused the shuttering of the Gimbel's Pittsburgh division. (So, although Kaufmann's never officially owned the Gimbel's Pittsburgh division, it did purchase it's most desirable locations and contributed significantly to closure).
''May's purchase of the Joseph Horne Co.:'' Joseph Horne Co., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was a division of Associated Dry Goods who had acquired it in 1972. It was historically the carriage-trade department store of Pittsburgh. Hornes was eventually acquired by May Department Stores in October 1986 as part of the May/ADG merger. Due to anti-trust concerns and legal action by the City of Pittsburgh, Hornes was promptly sold in December 1986 to a local investor group. After several years of private ownership, it was announced the Dillards would be buying the chain to combine it with the Dillard/DeBartolo co-owned Higbee's stores based in Cleveland. However, the deal collasped and was not completed. Eventually the Joseph Horne Co. was sold off in parts, with Dillard's acquiring its three Ohio stores in 1992 and Federated Department Stores's Lazarus division acquiring its remaining nine Pennsylvania stores in 1995. Federated eventually merged all of it's divisions (including the former Joseph Horne/Lazarus locations) into Macy's.
Only at
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 's downtown location could you have seen a famous clock on the corner. The popularity of this clock prompted the coining of the phrase "I'll meet you under Kaufmann's clock."
