Best & Co.#Flagship store
{{Short description|1879–1971 American retail clothing chain}}{{for multi|the home electronics chain|Best Buy|American catalog showroom retail chain|Best Products}}
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Best & Co. was a department store founded in 1879 by Albert Best in New York City. The company initially sold 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."Jones, William H. (October 7, 1970). "Bumper-to-Bumper for Bargains at Best's". The Washington Post and Times-Herald. p. B1. Philip Le Boutillier served as president during the late 1930s.{{cite news |title=Philip LeBoutillier Dead at 91; Retailing Leader Headed Best's |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/02/02/archives/philip-leboutillier-dead-at91-retailing-leader-headed-best-s.html |accessdate=July 29, 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=February 2, 1972}} The store had expanded to 20 branches by 1966, when 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, the store had 1,200 employees.
Flagship store
File:(King1893NYC) pg862 BEST & CO. LILIPUTIAN BAZAAR, 60 AND 62 WEST 23D STREET.jpg
The flagship Best & Co. department store was originally located in the "Ladies' Mile" near Sixth Avenue and 23rd Street. In 1908, Best & Co. spent $500,000 to purchase 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 (365 Fifth Avenue), Gorham (390 Fifth Avenue), and Tiffany's (401 Fifth Avenue).{{Cite news|date=September 16, 1908|title=Best & Co. in Fifth Avenue.; Concern Will Retain Its 23d Street Store and Open Another.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1908/09/16/archives/best-co-in-fifth-avenue-concern-will-retain-its-23d-street-store.html|access-date=September 13, 2020|issn=0362-4331|page=9}} This limestone building later became the Bond Clothing Stores flagship when Best moved farther up the avenue and was later converted to apartments.[http://www.paratis.com/372fifth/history.html Paratis Group, 372 Fifth Avenue: SoHo in Midtown, History webpage (accessed Sep 16, 2008)]. Its final 12-story flagship store was located at Fifth Avenue and 51st Street, directly north of St. Patrick's Cathedral. The store replaced 645 Fifth Avenue and the Union Club of the City of New York.{{Cite news|date=December 22, 1944|title=Best & Co. Build New 5th Ave. Store; Plans 12-Story Building for Post-War Home on Site of Old Union Club Quarters; Plans 12-Story Building for Post-War Home on Site of Old Union Club Quarters|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/12/22/archives/best-co-build-new-5th-ave-store-plans-12story-building-for-postwar.html|access-date=September 13, 2020|issn=0362-4331|page=21}}{{cite news |date=April 15, 1947 |title=Best & Co. Opens Store 48 Hours After Moving |page=29 |work=New York Herald Tribune |id={{ProQuest|1291278561}}}} After it closed in late 1970, the white marble building was torn down and the Olympic Tower was built in its place.
Branches
Best & 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 and early 1930s, in Manhasset, Long Island (1928); Mamaroneck, New York (1930); East Orange, New Jersey (1930); and Jenkintown, Pennsylvania (1936, closed 1937).{{cite news
|title=Fifth Avenue to Greenwich|date=April 4, 1932|work=Time|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,743481,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090908015610/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,743481,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 8, 2009|accessdate=August 9, 2008}} 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."Best's Opens Branch Stores on Conn. Ave.", The Washington Post, September 16, 1938, p. X16. On August 28, 1940, it opened a branch in Winnetka, IL, a suburb of Chicago.{{Cite news|title=Best Opens Winnetka Branch|date=August 29, 1940|work=The New York Times}} 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 {{convert|15000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} store at 4020 Wisconsin Ave., NW."Best & Co. to Locate at New Site", The Washington Post and Times-Herald, June 19, 1955, p. X16. In 1966, when Ira Guilden was elected chairman, 20 branch locations were in operation.{{Cite news|last=Barmash|first=Isadore|date=April 13, 1966|title=Ira Guilden Elected to Chairmanship of Best & Co.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/04/13/archives/ira-guilden-elected-to-chairmanship-of-best-co-best-co-elects-a-new.html|access-date=September 13, 2020|issn=0362-4331|page=55}}
In October 1970, McCrory executives decided to liquidate Best's and close all its stores.{{Cite news|last=Barmash|first=Isadore|date=October 4, 1970|title=Best & Co. Announces Its Decision to Terminate Business|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/10/04/archives/best-co-announces-its-decision-to-terminate-business-all-15-stores.html|access-date=June 19, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}{{cite news|date=5 Oct 1970|title=McCrory to Liquidate Its Best & Co. Unit, Closing New York Landmark, 14 Branches|page=11|work=Wall Street Journal|issn=0099-9660|id={{ProQuest|133487323}}}} At the time of Best's closure, there were 12 branch stores in operation."Best & Co. to Close Two Area Outlets", The Washington Post and Times-Herald, October 4, 1970, p. 29. Despite the new owners liquidating the company in late 1970, a new store was planned, built, and fixtured as an outparcel to the upscale Fashion Center in Paramus, New Jersey. This store also featured a new script logo for the company, but sat empty for a couple of years until a Britt's store opened using all the fixtures and displays originally intended for Best & Co.
In popular culture
The front of Best & Co. appeared in The Godfather, when Michael Corleone and Kay Adams are Christmas shopping.{{Cite web|url=http://www.public.asu.edu/~srbeatty/394/Godfather.pdf|title=The Godfather Screenplay|author1=Puzo, Mario |author2=Coppola, Francis Ford|date=|website=|publisher=|page=26|access-date=November 27, 2016}}
References
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Category:American companies established in 1879