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I. Magnin & Company was a San Francisco, California-based high fashion and specialty goods luxury department store. Over the course of its existence, it expanded across the West into Southern California and the adjoining states of Arizona, Oregon, and Washington. In the 1970s, under Federated Department Stores ownership, the chain entered the Chicago, and Washington, D.C., metropolitan areas. Mary Ann Magnin founded the company in 1876 and named the chain after her husband Isaac.
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1876 |
| Founders | Mary Ann Magnin Isaac Magnin |
| Defunct | 1994 |
| Fate | Acquired by Macy's |
| Successor | Macy's |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California , U.S. |
Key people | Mary Ann Magnin Isaac Magnin |
| Products | Clothing, footwear, jewelry, beauty products |
| Owner | Federated Department Stores (1964–1987,1994) R. H. Macy & Co. (1988–1993) |
Beginnings
In the early 1870s, Dutch-born Mary Ann Magnin and her husband Isaac Magnin left England and settled in San Francisco. Mary Ann opened a shop in 1876 selling lotions and high-end clothing for infants. Later, she expanded into bridal wear. As her business grew, her exclusive clientele relied on her for the newest fashions from Paris. I. Magnin imported clothing by major designers including Jeanne Lanvin, Hattie Carnegie, and Christian Dior.[1]
At the turn of the century, Mary Ann's four sons entered the business. While John Magnin, Grover Magnin, and Sam Magnin became associated with the I. Magnin store, the fourth son, Joseph Magnin, became known for his own store, Joseph Magnin Co..
The 1906 earthquake and fire leveled the San Francisco store with the remainder of the downtown area. The store reopened in new quarters at 50 Grant Avenue at Geary Boulevard in 1912. During the 1910s, the chain opened shops in six high-end hotels in California. The Los Angeles Wilshire Boulevard branch (opened in 1939) and the Union Square store (opened in 1948) were among the most elegant in the United States. When designer Christian Dior visited, he toured the Union Square store, and called it the "White Marble Palace".[2]
In Los Angeles
Daughter Flora married Myer Siegel, who launched a namesake department store in Los Angeles, which would later become a chain. In Los Angeles in 1897 and 1898, I. Magnin & Co. advertised its wares for retail sale at 237 South Spring Street, noting that Mr. Myer Siegel was the manager.[3] The I. Magnin store that Siegel managed moved to 251 S. Broadway on January 2, 1899;[4] on June 19, 1904, I. Magnin announced that the Los Angeles store would henceforth be known as "Myer Siegel".[5] I. Magnin would return with its own Los Angeles-area retail store later when it opened boutiques in the Maryland Hotel in Pasadena and the Ambassador Hotel in Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, a branch at 6340 Hollywood Boulevard,[6][7] and in 1939 a landmark store at 3240 Wilshire Boulevard near Bullocks Wilshire, designed by Myron Hunt, architect of the Ambassador Hotel.[8]
Sale to Bullock's
In 1944, the chain was bought by the Los Angeles-based Bullock's department store chain. In the late 1950s the combined chain expanded into the Southern California suburbs by opening the Fashion Square concept in Santa Ana in 1958, the San Fernando Valley (Sherman Oaks) in 1962 and Del Amo (Torrance) in 1965.
After a major proxy battle in 1964, Bullocks-I. Magnin was merged into Federated Department Stores. Bullock's, I. Magnin, and eventually Bullocks Wilshire were run as separate divisions of Federated. I. Magnin expanded in the Chicago and Washington, D.C. areas in the 1970s.
Sale to Macy's
R.H. Macy & Company had long yearned in the 1980s to enter the Southern California market. Along with trying to build their own stores, they attempted to purchase Federated, eventually losing a takeover war to the Campeau Corporation in 1988. As part of the settlement with Campeau, Macy's purchased Bullock's, Bullock's Wilshire and I. Magnin, subsequently beginning a reorganization of its divisions and consolidating the I. Magnin and Bullock's Wilshire stores into a semi-autonomous division under Macy's California. The seven Bullock's Wilshire stores were renamed I. Magnin in 1989.
In 1991 Macy's announced plans to re-align its divisional structure and created a new Macy's West/Bullock's division by February 1992. While in the process of doing so, it declared bankruptcy on January 27, 1992. During the next two years, the I. Magnin group shuttered 11 stores of an already-reduced franchise with the historic original Bullock's Wilshire flagship on Wilshire Boulevard closed in early 1993 after years of losses aggravated by the effects of the 1992 Rodney King riots. The Oakland, California, store was closed in 1995.
Liquidation
In 1994 Federated Department Stores reached an agreement with R.H. Macy's creditors to buy the company out of bankruptcy, completing the acquisition on December 19 and making Macy's West/Bullock's a division of Federated. Even before the acquisition closed, it pulled the plug on the remainder of the I. Magnin chain, eventually selling four stores (Carmel, Beverly Hills, San Diego, and Phoenix) to Saks Fifth Avenue and ultimately converting six former I. Magnin locations in Palo Alto, Walnut Creek, Woodland Hills, Palm Desert, Newport Beach, and Palos Verdes to specialty Macy's or Bullock's locations, replicating the success of the 1991 conversion of I. Magnin at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, California, into a separate Bullock's Men's location. The upper floors of the former I. Magnin store on Union Square were later converted to an expansion of Macy's Union Square, Macy's West's own adjoining flagship.
| City | Location | Opened | Closed | Became | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco single-store locations and flagship stores | |||||
| San Francisco | 144 Third Street | operating in 1885 | |||
| 848 Market opposite Fourth | 1887?[9] | Oct 1895 | 1887 ad refers to "Magnin's Pacific Underwear House"[9] | ||
| 840 Market opposite Fourth | Oct 1894[10] | 1901 | |||
| Baldwin Block, 918-920-922 Market | Mar 11, 1901[11] | Apr 17, 1906 | "Almost 10,000" sq. ft. of floor space.[11] Had a 2nd entrance on Ellis Street. Damaged in 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. | ||
| Van Ness at Bush | 1906 | Temporary store after 1906 San Francisco Earthquake | |||
| Post at Stockton | The second floor was a "French room" for "costumes and wraps" with Circassian walnut finishes and hard-carved lattice glass doors. An annex of several thousand square feet for women's millinery (hats) was added on Post Street in 1911. The interior had private hat rooms and was Louis XVI style, with "goblin blue carpets" and "old rose colored" rugs, and cut-glass chandeliers. The second floor had all-mahogany fixtures, with heavy French plate mirrors and was "richly carpeted in green". The mezzanine held a millinery workroom.[12] | ||||
| 50 Geary Street | 1912 | 1948 | |||
| 135 Stockton Street | 1948 | 1994 | Macy's Union Square (1995-2018) | ||
| Early boutiques in hotels | |||||
| Santa Barbara | Potter Hotel | Jan 6, 1912[13] | Hotel destroyed by fire 1921[14] | ||
| Pasadena | Hotel Maryland | 1913[15][16] | |||
| Monterey | Hotel Del Monte[15][16] | 1914[15][16] | |||
| Coronado | Hotel Del Coronado[16] | 1914[16] | 1950s? before 1954[17] | ||
| Wilshire Center | Ambassador Hotel, 3400 Wilshire Boulevard[15][16] | Jan 18, 1921[18] | |||
| Downtown Los Angeles | Biltmore Hotel[15] | 1927[15][16] | |||
| Santa Barbara | Biltmore at Montecito[15] | 1927[15] | |||
| Palm Springs | El Mirador Hotel | 1932[19] | 1942 | El Mirador became a military hospital | |
| Pasadena | Huntington Hotel | was operating in 1947[20] | |||
| Arrowhead Springs | Arrowhead Springs Hotel[17] | 1953[17] | |||
| Sacramento | Senator Hotel[17] | 1953[17] | |||
| Other Northern California stores | |||||
| Carmel | Carmel Plaza[21] | 1960 | 1994 | 10,000 sq ft (930 m2) | |
| Cupertino | Vallco Fashion Park | 1976 | 1992 | Express; later Dynasty Chinese Seafood Restaurant | 56,000 sq. ft.[22] |
| Fresno | 1630-1632 Van Ness Avenue | 1955[23] | 17,000 sq. ft.[23] | ||
| Oakland | 1994 | ||||
| Palo Alto | Stanford Shopping Center | 1994 | |||
| Sacramento | Downtown Plaza | 1984 | 1992 | America Live! (shuttered in 1996) | Building originally opened as a Liberty House in 1981. |
| Santa Clara | Valley Fair Mall | ||||
| San Mateo | Converted to clearance store | ||||
| Walnut Creek | 1994 | ||||
| Southern California stores opened as I. Magnin | |||||
| Downtown Los Angeles | 237 South Spring Street | 1897[3] | 1898 or -9 | ||
| 237 South Broadway | Jan 2, 1899[4] | Jun 1904[5] | Myer Siegel | ||
| Hollywood | 6340 Hollywood Boulevard | Apr 1923[24] | |||
| Pasadena (1st full store) | 550 East Colorado Boulevard | 1933 | Aug 1949[20] | ||
| Beverly Hills (1st store) | 9626 Wilshire at Bedford[25] | 1928[7] | 1947[7] | ||
| Wilshire Center (full store) | 3240 Wilshire Boulevard[8] | Feb 10, 1939[26][8] | Near Bullocks Wilshire. Designed by Myron Hunt, architect of the Ambassador Hotel[8] | ||
| Beverly Hills (2nd store) | 9634 Wilshire Boulevard | 1947[27] | Jan 1995[25] | Saks Fifth Avenue Men's Store[28] | 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2)[28] |
| Santa Barbara (full store) | 1415 State Street | 1947[27] | Timothy L. Pflueger, architect. Now the United States Bankruptcy Court.[29] | ||
| Pasadena (2nd full store) | 475 S. Lake Avenue[20] | Aug 1949[20] | |||
| San Diego - La Jolla | 7661 Girard Avenue | 1954[17] | 1993[30] | Stores and offices | 6,000 sq ft (560 m2) at opening |
| San Diego–Fashion Valley | Fashion Valley | Sep 26, 1992[31] | 1993 or -4[32] | Forever 21 | Took over Buffums space. Employees from the to-be-closed La Jolla branch were transferred here.[33] |
| Santa Ana | Santa Ana Fashion Square | 1958 | |||
| Sherman Oaks | Sherman Oaks Fashion Square | 1962 | |||
| Torrance | Del Amo Fashion Square | 1965 | |||
| Southern California stores opened as Bullocks Wilshire | |||||
| Wilshire Center | 3050 Wilshire Boulevard | Sep 24, 1929 | Jan 1995 | Southwestern Law School | An architectural and retail landmark. See Bullocks Wilshire |
| Palm Springs | 151 Palm Canyon Drive | Oct 18, 1947 (as Bullock's) | 1992[34] | ||
| Palm Desert | Palm Desert Town Center | 1987 | Took over the space of Bonwit Teller | ||
| Woodland Hills | Woodland Hills Promenade | Aug 20, 1973 | |||
| Newport Beach | Fashion Island | Aug 1, 1977 | Razed, now site of Nordstrom | ||
| La Jolla | La Jolla Village Square | Saks Fifth Avenue[28] | |||
| Chicago area | |||||
| Chicago | 830 North Michigan Avenue, Magnificent Mile | Oct 22, 1971[35][36] | February 1991[37] | Building was originally Bonwit Teller; as of July 2020 multi-tenant retail space incl. Uniqlo[citation needed] | |
| Northbrook | Northbrook Court | 1991 (est.)[37] | |||
| Oak Brook | Oakbrook Center | 1991 (est.)[37] | |||
| Other states | |||||
| Phoenix | Biltmore Fashion Park | Dec 1994 | Saks Fifth Avenue[28] | ||
| North Bethesda, Md. (Washington, D.C. area) |
White Flint Mall | Aug 11, 1978[38] | Jun 1992 | Borders Books & Music | 81,000 square feet (7,500 m2), 150 employees, $10 million to build. Was the 24th I. Magnin store at the time.[38] |
| Portland, Oregon | 930 SW Sixth (Sixth and Salmon) | 1962 | 1988 | ||
| Seattle | 601 Pine Street (after 1953) | 1926 | 1993 | ||
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