Evening star., 1955-10-02
GorfinckeI's 5 Celebrates
'50th Anniversary Today

lof winter The first customer IN
1.-THE new store was mrs. Herbert
Hoover.
on November 6. 1896, Mr.. Gar-
lfinckel died. HIS wiz. iiled for
probate three days later. left the
IIbulk of his estate to found q
home ard school. to be known
las the Hannah Harrison school
lot Industrial Arts. in memory of
'Ili1y mother, whose maiden name
was Hannah Harrison. Z
He directed that the school be
devoted to the purpose OF pro-
,,Iyiding for worthy women, under
1.-THE necessity Of earning their own
.llivelihoods. first, 4 school where
lin may be taught such useful
occupations as stenography. type-
writer operating, bookkeeping
and accountancy, dressmaking
millinery and other lines OF en-
ldeavor suitable for women. ].
He also left $1,000 each to l09
long -term employees. and large
launuities to several others.
His collection OF Whistler etch-
,lings, one of the finest IN the
world, was bequeathed to the
.lCorcoran Gallery. He had taken
the etchings from the walls Of his
apartment several years before
his death. and placed them on
exhibit ut the Corcoran.
Expansion Continues
After his death. the stores
Expansion continued.
Il was operated by q group Of
trustees for three yaars, when
stock was sold and d corporation
formed. William Z. Schmid, 4
lGarfinckel veteran, became pres
iideut.
Under the direction of Mr..
lSchmid. who started his business
career as q packing house clerk,
1.-THE Spring Valley branch was
added in I942. A feature Of that /
colonial-style store was o section
where small boys could do their
lown shopping. The parking area
included provisions for parking
bicycles.
Two years before that. . tea
room was opened In the main
store downtown. and to man 1t,
IGarfinckeTs searched for 30 red
haired mattresses with an eye
to uniformity in complexion as
well as hair coloring.
In 1852, Garfinckel's was an
award winner IN q Nation wide
retail advertisement contest
sponsored BY the National Retail
Dry Goods Association. The
fGarfinckel entry was . full-page
advertisement In The Star, fea-
turing back-to-school fashions
on August 81, 1851.
Schmid Retired In Is4s
IN Is43. Mr.. Schmid. who had
been with the store since i've
years after it opened. retired as
president. He remained as chair
imam Of the board. and Clarence /
lG. Shefiieid became Garfinckel's I
president.
Mr., Sheffield died In 194T and
was succeeded as president by /
Richard p. Dunn. WHO still holds
the oftice and also Is chairman
lof the board.
In 1945. plans were laid for
building q nine-story addition
to the store on the site Of two
story building at l417-i4l9 r
street. already owned by the
|Garfinckel estate.
Further expansion was In
store. In 1916, Garfinckel's
reached into New York and pur-
chased Brooks Brothers, q tradi-
ton with New Workers, acqutr-
ing the Golden Fleece trade
mark.
Four years later, the firm
added to its trademark collcc-
ton by buying another New York
tradition, A. De Pima Co, dating
from 90 years before the Carl
Ifinckel firm opened In Washing
ton. The De Pima firm, ints
addition to its New York store. i
operated seasonal branches inE
Magnolia. Mass. ard Miami
Beach, Fla.
In the same year, q Brooks
Brothers branch was opened int
Chicago. /,
The expansion Is not finished /,
Next year, GarfinckeI plans an
other suburban store at Seven.
Corners, Va.
In q brief memorandum to
newspapers last week about Its