Martin's as seen from Hoyt Street, Brooklyn
Illustration of Martin's from Fulton and Bridge Streets
Martin's
501 Fulton Street
Brooklyn, New york
TRiangle 5-3100
BROOKLYN STORE DIRECTORY
Lower Level
Men's Shoes
Main Floor
Fine Jewelry • Costume Jewelry • Handbags • Small Leather Goods • Gloves • Hosiery • Scarves • Accessories • Umbrellas • Cosmetics • Martell Blouses • Martell Blouses • Miss Martell Sportswear • Main Floor Lingerie • Miss Martell Shoes • Cosmetics • The Pear Tree Boutique • Gift Shop • Men's Sportswear and Furnishings • Gentlemen's Corner • Gentlemen's Boutique • Accommodation Desk
Mezzanine
Gentlemen's Corner • 501 Shop • Boys' Shop • Beauty Salon
Second Floor
Miss Martin Dresses • Career Shop • Knit Shop • Miss Marleigh, Jr. Dresses • Contemporary Sportswear • Modern Women's Shop • Town Shop • Fashion Boutique • Corset Salon • Millinery Salon • Bridal Salon
Second Floor Arcade
Cotton Shop • Martell Dresses • Lady Martin Dresses
Third Floor
Coat Salon • Suite Salon • Rain 'n Shine Shop • Leather Shop • Martell Coats • Fur Salon
Fourth Floor
Girls' Shops • Girl Sprouts • Young Juniors • Children's Shops • Marteen Shoes • Moppet Shop • Teen Boutique • Robes • Foundations • Lingerie
Fifth Floor
Sportswear Elegante • Misses' Sportswear • Blouse Salon • Sweaters • Cruise Shop • The Fifth Corner
Junior-Insight Sportsear • Dresses • Coats
BRANCH STORES
Franklin Avenue
80,000 sq. ft.
Great South Bay Shopping Center
41,000 sq. ft.
Huntington Shopping Center
75,000 sq. ft.
Smith Haven Mall
Lake Grove
64,000 sq. ft
Riverside Square
Hackensack, NJ
What great mid-century architecture some of those suburban stores had! Didn't the Garden City store become a small A&S store after Martin's went out of business?
ReplyDeleteYes...There was a small beautiful post-modern Macy's on Flatbush Ave in Brooklyn built in the late 50s. It was demolished in 1990 to make way for a crappy looking Staples and parking lot....
DeleteThis was a wonderful specialty store on Long Island....great service and dedicated sales help. The Brooklyn store was magnificent, very art deco/
ReplyDeleteI was a buyer of Jr. Sportswear at Martin's. Around 1975. Did you work there then?
DeleteMartin's in downtown Brooklyn was my grandmother's favorite "special" store to shop at. Later she shopped at their Garden City store. She was very sad when they closed.
ReplyDeleteYes, I remember going to all these great downtown Brooklyn stores with my beloved grandmother as a small kid in the late 60s to early 70s. Martin's, A&S, Mae's (McRory's as well?)...I remember noticing that area by that time that area was already getting raunchy and run down...Didn't Martin's also have an Annex on Livingston st back then?
DeleteThe Annex belonged to A&S.
DeleteMartin's was located in the Great South Bay Shopping Center in West Babylon NY. Not in babylon. The Village of Babylon did not allow chain stores!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteMy mother purchased her wedding gown at Martin's in Brooklyn in 1958; she paid $350 at the time for a "Fink Original". I still have the dress (and the receipt)however the dress was not preserved so it is not in pristine condition. I wish I could go back in time for a moment to visit that bridal salon today (I work in bridal fashion today)!
ReplyDeleteAccording to some sources, Marguerite Oswald, mother of Lee Harvey Oswald worked at Martin's Department Store (on Fulton?) in April of 1953. Has this been confirmed?
ReplyDeleteI worked at the Brooklyn store Fulton and Hoyt back in 1955. I was an elevator operator. Boy did they know how to treat their employees. Our uniforms were fitted to us. We had a lounge. We were given several breaks a day. My hair was done once a week at the salon on company time, then re-combed each day and if it didn't come out to their liking it was redone, the works! We were given a corsage for each occasion. We had the highest discount of all the employees. I was spoiled rotten. The President of the company took my car (elevator) many times, he was so very nice. They were the best of times for a young girl like I was.
ReplyDeleteYou probably took me and my mom Helen to the 4th floor. I was 6 years old in 1955. We were not affluent we lived in a one bedroom apt at 2330 ocean ave.my mother had a fashion flair. Hope you're alive and well !
Deletemartins was a concessioner of tss at one time
ReplyDeleteThis was a blast from my childhood- I remember taking the bus to the store in west babylon to buy my parents christmas presents. I just loved the service and their silver boxes I was 12 at the time. I wish they were still around they would have the service and class to succeed in todays market.
ReplyDeleteThe Martin's in garden City is now (or the last time I was there) a Pay Half...A&S had a small store across the street.
ReplyDeleteI seem to recall that they had subway-level display windows made the Hoyt Street station (IRT) one of the most beautiful stations in the system.
ReplyDeleteI remember that now as well (I totally forgot that!!!)...Weren't the windows done up for Christmas?
DeleteI remember buying my college wardrobe there. I also found the flower girl dress there for my wedding. One of my fondest memories is going to the coat department with my parents. I was buying an every day coat and suddenly saw a beautiful coat with mink collar and cuffs in an oyster white color. My dad said "I will buy you both coats." It was such a fantastic feeling and a memory that will always make me feel good.
ReplyDeleteI also bought my wedding gown at Martin's even though I worked pt. at A &S. It was $180.00 and the veil was $55. I loved Martin's. I used to ride the Myrtle Ave. El from metropolitan Ave, down to the last stop. my mother used to buy the n ins I had for teacher in grammar schools handkerchiefs or black stockings there for Christmas. They had a nun's dept. on the first floor like Altman's did in NYC. I can still taste that lunch at Chock full of Nuts on the corner of Fulton St. across from where A and S had their appliance dept.It was such a magical time in the early 1960's.
ReplyDeleteWas there a men's store next to Martin's in the Great South Bay Shopping Center in Babylon in the '60's or '70's or was it part of Martin's ??? Everyone I ask says Martin's didn't sell men's clothes but I remember ??? buying clothes there.
ReplyDeleteAs part of the on-going gentrification of downtown
ReplyDeleteBrooklyn, Nordstrom just announced that it will open a Nordstrom Rack on one floor of the restored Martin's building in the spring of 2014. A TJ Maxx, and H & M will occupy other floors. Although it is not Martin's, it is nice to see their flagship building coming back to life.
Ken
"gentrification"....What a JOKE!!!!
DeleteDear Anonymous 02 Aug 2013
ReplyDeleteMartin's on Fulton Street Bklyn did have a men's dept store. I was a gift wrap and shipping girl there Christmas 1970. My mom STILL has a Gemini key chain I brought her there with my first pay check.
After Christmas I was asked to help out PT in the credit dept after school. This was pre credit card days. Charges were kept on a ledger for each customer
I worked at Martin's until I graduated Bay Ridge HS in 1973. I remember I had a boss named Mr Teranova and then a new boss whose name I don't recall, but I remember he was from Fargo ND Where I had to get off the plane for college in Moorhead MN.
I worked in Consumer Lending the first 10-12 years of my working life and have a steller credit rating due to Martin's credit dept.
I was hired as a Ladies Room Checker in 1973 while I was in college. I worked first in Ladies on the second floor, then in Juniors on the fifth floor. I remember that on your birthday, one of the executives, Mr. Berliner, would give you a small gift, such as a box of hankerchiefs and shake your hand and wish you a happy birthday. I have very fond memories of my first job at Martin's!
ReplyDeleteI am positive that the mezzanine in the Brooklyn store was the women's shoe dept. in 1959. I remember looking down on the open air lobby entrance while my mom tried on shoes.
ReplyDeleteI bought my "Honeymoon" suit at Martin's, Babylon, in 1958. Just had it cleaned again. Love that suit and could not part with it. Wish I could
ReplyDeleteremember how much I paid for it. Edith Gilliland Aardsma.
My mother worked in Martins until she married my father in 1956. She modeled dresses for her clients and was offered marriage proposals from all the wealthy women who wanted her to marry their sons.
ReplyDeleteShe dressed so elegantly and professional, she was the perfect face for Martin's image. After she married she never worked again preferring to be a full-time housewife and mother.
http://www.amazon.com/Given-Sicilian-Upbringing-Marianna-Randazzo/dp/1492859249/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451620414&sr=8-1&keywords=given+away+by+marianna+randazzo
The flagship store on Fulton Street still stands with several occupants including Nordstrom. Their fur vault on Duffield Street has been replaced by an apartment tower.
ReplyDeleteI worked at Martins in Huntington, NY for 5 years until I married my husband whom I met at Martins. Bought my wedding gown there too. Was a great job and great people whom I worked with...married to the same guy for 43 years!
ReplyDeleteI worked as a stock boy in Martin's Brooklyn in 1961-1962. I would go straight from school. I worked in the millinery Dept, then the fur salon. I also worked across the street in the fur storage building. Earned $1.15 an hour and worked about 31 hours a week. Still remember there was a Chock full of Nuts coffee shop nearby that I enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteI loved going to that store. The sales people treated the customers like royalty. Still have a skirt I bought there. One question. Anyone remember the name of the store next to Martin's on Fulton Street.
ReplyDeleteMy Uncle Harry and Aunt Edna Zeitz owned Martins Dept. stores. I remember every Christmas getting a gift in a shinny silver box with "Martins" written on the outside, If I remember correctly it was blue writing. I lost touch with this side of the family when Their son Willard my God Father passed away in Jan 2008. I have fond memories growing up in the 60's-70's in Brooklyn NY. Stephen Lynch
ReplyDeleteMy compliments to your uncle Harry and aunt Edna. They ran one of the best stores in Downtown Brooklyn. It was pure class.
DeleteWe lived in Bay Ridge/Dyker Heights, and my mother loved to take me shopping in Martin's children's department. I remember that there was a very interesting Art Deco mural above the elevators on that floor. I also remember a water fountain with paper cups. Anyway, my mother was very fashionable and elegant and she dressed me in beautiful clothing from this store...just beautiful! (I wore a parochial school uniform during the week, but the beautiful Martin's clothes she bought me for church, visits, and other special outings). I am still a fashionista, and remember my life through my clothing. I remember personally loving a pair of white leather go go boots with a black patent leather stripe up the front and one around the top of the boot, and where the two met there was a black patent leather bow. I though that they were exquisite--not just the plain white go go boots of others. I also remember a beautiful pair of Sunday Mary Jane style shoes (yes, I still love shoes) that were for Easter--white patent leather, square toes (which was trendy that year) and a sumptious black velvet bow across the top of the foot instead of a plain strap. Yes, Martin's had amazing buyers, and amazing fashions, even for children!
ReplyDeleteMy wedding dress was purchased at Martin's in Brooklyn in 1953. I still
ReplyDeletehave it but at this point in time, the dark nylon zippered cover has
become fragile and the binding has torn from time, and dress is now
intact but quite tan from age. Recently, upon seeing a photo from our wedding, some new friends suggested that the stye would look timely
even today. That dress was $120. in 1953 and I have always wondered
which company manufactured that dress. There does not seem to be an RN number anywhere. Does anyone who made their wedding dresses? PS: Even today,I would not have chosen another dress. Martin's was my store for
years and when I got my first job after graduating high school, I obtained my first credit card, It was the old charge "plate" encased in
a maroon or red leather case to slide it into for safe keeping. Good
memories! Thank you for allowing me to share.
Just found out my high school best friend, passed away from Covid on 6/6/20. Her husband, 22 days later. She chose her bridal gown, and our bridesmaid dresses, from Martin's back in 1972-3. Still remember the excitement of going to the Bridal Salon on the second floor picking out her dress and our gowns. Martin's was so elegant. Not as large as A&S, which was also beautiful but more crowded. Similar to feel of Wanamaker's and Altman's in Manhattan. To my dear friend Patty and her husband Steve, Rest in Peace.
ReplyDeleteTruly, may Patty and Steve rest in peace in the perpetual light of God's love. I am very sorry for your loss. Thank God we have our beautiful memories.
ReplyDelete- Bruce
Thank you so much. Our Catholic faith, on-line Masses, daily prayers and the Rosary is getting us through these difficult times. Know many people are praying for health and peace. Thank you BAK. Blessings to you and yours.
ReplyDeleteI will add my prayers, especially the Rosary, which I have gotten into the habit of saying daily for all intentions I have, to those who are praying for relief from the things that plague us so currently. In the Detroit area, we have been able to return to mass, but in a very restricted way, which is not so pleasing; it is good, though, to receive the blessed sacrament again. Take care and God bless you too.
Delete-BAK
What a lovely site..I have always been fascinated by New York..and I love the old Buildings..I have a New York book which has a picture of an old store called Michaels in Brooklyn in 1966..it is beautiful..but I was wandering if it is still standing..the actual building..God bless you Bak..I try to say My rosary in the mornings..I .too have been brought up Catholic..and I feel we need our faith more now than ever..Thank you for the lovely forum.God bless you and us all.
DeleteI have now a intact pure Pergein fur with minkfrom Martin's the coat I got from a thift store I know it there coat cause the name is still in it the coat look like it's from 40's or 50's it's Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteOMG -- I just found a link to this. My father was the menswear and mens furnishings buyer at Martin's for 40 years. As a little girl, he took me on his monthly trips to the stores on Long Island. I knew everyone, including the Zeitz's who owned the store. What amazing memories I have of my trips to downtown Brooklyn.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning..I have a lovely book..called picturing New York..page 112 has a lovely old photo of An old Department Store called Michaels in Brooklyn in 1966..by the photographer William Gedney..I was wandering where that was as I have searched but cannot find where Michaels dept store was in Brooklyn..God bless.
ReplyDeletePlease see below:
DeleteHello, and thank you for your kind and inspiring note. I do not know of a department store in Brooklyn named Michael's. Other stores in Brooklyn were Loeser's and Namm's, that later merged. Perhaps Michael's was a less-known neighborhood "department" or "dry goods" store. I will do a little reconnaissance and try to report back here for you, but, I think the best bet is if a visitor to this site could shed a little light on the matter. I also pray the rosary for help during this time that i find very troubling. MAy God bless you too, abundantly!
ReplyDelete- Bruce
My Mother worked there in the early 70's-> early 80's. I remember her telling me, that the staff had to be picture perfect, dressed & spot on for the customers. She was later promoted to the "Flying Staff" pinch hitting for any & all absentee workers in the store, later to the Mark Dow Manager. She said it was the classiest store in all of Brooklyn, even beating the old A & S in professionalism & clientele.
ReplyDeleteShe cried when they closed the doors, she loved the staff there and always said to me that when you shopped there everyone made you feel like a Million Bucks. Far cry from today's Fulton Street,it is a JOKE ! Those days are sadly gone now, never to return but in dreams. Jim D
I have an official pair of shoes that belong to my mother from this store with the original box and the price sticker that says Martin's on in as well as the insole of the finer designer silver leather pumps made by Custom Craft Shoes! The Leather is in pristine condition with no tears or peeling. Talking about high quality shoes! Leather sole and all. She said she only wore them once for her high school graduation from Thomas Jefferson HS also in Brooklyn NY. I Love these shoes and wonder if they are worth some kind of money today. She was class of 1967...I'm blown away on how good these shoes look‼️
ReplyDeleteLast night I was talking to my sister and mentioned the beautiful Christmas boxes that were given by Martins during Christmas. As a Brooklyn resident back in the early 60s, that was one of my stops after work because that store had the most class and best customer service no longer found in present stores. Out of curiosity, I looked it up a few minutes ago not expecting to find this comment page about my favorite Brooklyn store. Reading the comments almost brought tears to my eyes, what wonderful memories .These comments brought me back to my younger years. My favorite part was that you were assigned a lady that would help you until you were satisfied and made the purchase. If you didn’t have the right size in the dressing rooms, she would go back outside and change the size for you. Those were the days.
ReplyDeleteWhere can I look up the age of an old wedding gown from early 30 to 40s
ReplyDelete