Best & Co.

Best & Co. is a luxury jewelry company based in Aspen, Colorado.  Founded by 4th generation jeweler Bush Helzberg, Best & Co. creates and sells a curated selection of luxury jewelry. 

The first incarnation of Best & Co. was a Milwaukee-based brewing company started in 1844 by Jacob Best.  In 1888, when Frederick Pabst took the reins of the company, the company name was changed to Pabst.   In 1879, Albert Best founded a New York City based department store company named Best & Co. which operated until it was liquidated in 1970.   From 1997 to 2009, the Best & Co. name was used by a children's clothing retailer in Greenwich, Connecticut. 

2018 organization 

In 2018, Best & Co. was launched in Aspen, Colorado.   Founded by Bush Helzberg, Best & Co. creates and sells a curated selection of luxury jewelry.  Best & Co.'s trademark was registered by the US Patent & Trademark Office on March 12, 2019. 

1997 organization 

In 1997, Susie Hilfiger purchased an existing children's boutique in Greenwich, Connecticut.  She renamed it Best & Co. and expanded the Greenwich location to create a flagship store to sell children's clothing and accessories.  In 2001, Best & Co. returned to New York City, with a boutique located on the 7th floor of Bergdorf Goodman.  In addition to its two retail stores website, and catalogue, Best & Co. hosted trunk shows throughout the United States.  In 2007, FAO Schwarz/DE Shaw purchased the company.  And in late 2009, the company filed for bankruptcy and ceased operation.   The rights to the clothing label were purchased by Best & Co. LLC, a company formed by investors to buy the rights to the clothing label out of bankruptcy.  However, the company is not currently designing, manufacturing, or selling any products. 

1879 organization 

In 1879 Albert Best founded Best & Co. in New York, NY.   The company initially was focused on clothing for infants and children, but later expanded to women's clothing and accessories.   It was known for its "tastefully styled and proper women's clothes and its sturdy children's wear."  Philip Le Boutillier served as president during the late-1930s.  In 1966, the company was acquired by McCrory's, who also operated Lerner Shops and S. Klein.   In late-1970, McCrory's liquidated the company.   At the time of its closing, it had 1,200 employees. 

Flagship store

The flagship was located originally in the "Ladies' Mile" near Sixth Avenue and 23rd Street.  In 1908, Best & Co. purchased for $500,000 the former Engineer's Club at 372 Fifth Avenue at 35th Street for a new store, joining an elite group of merchants to locate in that section of Fifth Avenue in the early 1900s, including B. Altman, Gorham (located at 889 Broadway), and Tiffany's (located at 15 Union Square West).   This limestone building later became the Bond Clothing Stores flagship when Best moved farther up the avenue, and was later converted to apartments.   Its final 12-story flagship store was located at Fifth Avenue and 51st Street, directly north of St. Patrick's Cathedral.   It was acquired by the company in 1944, from the Union Club.   After it closed in late 1970, the beautiful white marble building was torn down and the Olympic Tower was built in its place. 

Branches
Best and Co., was also in the forefront of opening stores in upscale suburban areas long before its competitors.   It opened its first branch locations in the late 1920s - early 1930s, in Manhasset, Long Island (1928); Mamaroneck, New York (1930); East Orange, New Jersey (1930); and Jenkintown, Pennsylvania (1936, closed 1937).   By 1938, when it opened its initial Washington, D.C. store at 4433 Connecticut Ave.,  NW, it had branches operating in suburban New York, Cleveland, Detroit, Boston, and Philadelphia.  On August 28, 1940, it opened a branch in Winnetka, IL, a suburb of Chicago.  During the late 1940s-early 1950s a branch location opened at Arlington Blvd.  and So.  Glebe Road, in Arlington, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C.  In 1955, the main Washington D.C. store moved to new quarters; a  store at 4020 Wisconsin Ave.,  NW.   In 1966, when Ira Guilden was elected chairman, 20 branch locations were in operation.  When the chain closed in late-1970, there were 12 branch stores in operation.  Despite the new owners liquidating the company in late 1970, a new store was planned, built, and fixtured as an out parcel to the upscale Fashion Center in Paramus, New Jersey.  This store also featured a new script logo for the company, and sat empty for a couple of years until a Britt's store opened using all the fixtures, and displays originally intended for Best and Co.

In popular culture 
The front of Best & Company appeared in The Godfather, when Michael Corleone and Kay Adams are Christmas shopping. 

References 

Category:American companies established in 1879
Category:Retail companies established in 1879
Category:Retail companies disestablished in 1971
Category:American companies established in 1997
Category:Retail companies established in 1997
Category:American companies established in 2018
Category:Retail companies established in 2018
Category:Re-established companies
Category:Companies based in Colorado