To think it all started with a 19th century fad - the hoop skirt. That was the first item that Joseph and Lyman Bloomingdale carried in their Ladies' Notions Shop in New York's Lower East Side.

In the late 1800's, most fashion retailers specialized in just one type of garment. Not the brothers Bloomingdale - their East Side Bazaar, opened in 1872, sold a wide variety of European fashions. It was the beginning of what would become a "Department Store".

Today Bloomingdale's is a national retailing brand with 36 stores in 12 states. Their fabled flagship on East 59th Street and Lexington Avenue in New York City anchors a group of 11 locations in the greater New York/New Jersey metropolitan area.

In addition, operate six stores in California, five in south Florida, four in Chicago, two each in metropolitan Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Boston and Atlant ... Read more »