514 Main Street
Buffalo, New York
The on-line museum of North America's independent department stores. The museum holds all sorts of information about classic department stores which either no longer exist, or are changed beyond recognition. A few of them are still with us, and provide an interesting connection to North America's retail past. The others are presented so that they may be properly remembered as a tangible part of the lives of their customers, shopping destinations where memories were often made.
One question to the Berger family in Buffalo:
ReplyDeleteIs it possible that we have some identical ancestors?
One grand grandmother of mine – Karoline Berger – was born in 1853 in northern Moravia near the border to Poland. She has an uncle who was manufacturing silk/cloths in Lodz/Poland. Well, in my family, there is told a story that this uncle of my grand grandmother had got a son (I don’t know his first name, may be Karl?) who at least has been sent to Buffalo/USA. It must have been around the 1870s. - My grand grandmother came to Vienna, married a man named Edmund Scholz. He is the grandfather of my mother. And here in Vienna the progeny is still living.
Is it possible that we are related?
I ask you for a short information. Thank you!
Adi Laube
adi.laube@gmx.at
The store had all the panache of Bergdorf's and Saks in New York City. My aunt worked in dresses on the fifth floor. I remember going there to wait for her at the end of her shift while my Dad waited in the car on Genesee - I was about six years old. The fifth floor had a huge pillar in the middle and a leather round sofa surrounded it! The elevator operators were all in uniform and white gloves. Back in the day - what you saw at Berger's, you didn't see in any of the other stores. They had the "exclusive" for Estee Lauder. Fond memories of a day gone by.
ReplyDeleteI have five gold expresso cups marked L.L Berger Buffalo. What is there value.
ReplyDeleteI HAVE A BOXED CHILDS 100% WOOL OUTFIT LOOKS TO BE 1930'S POSSIBLY CALLED PERSONALITY CADET.. ANY IDEAS AS TO VALUE ?
ReplyDeleteI worked in the LLBerger's Computer Room fo r two years in the late 80's. Just a few years before they closed. I would backup their data and help to process sales. So I was able to walk the floors and talk to long time workers there. They would tell me how packed the floors would be everyday in their heyday. It was hard for me to believe because it was dead there most of the time when I was there. I remember the 7th floor being very high end with very expensive clothes. All the ladies that worked this department were always dressed very nicely. Kind of like the boutique scene in Pretty Women. I also believe they were the first store that realized there was a market for fuller figured women. This was called the W-Shop. Don't know why it was called this. But all the stores had one.
ReplyDeleteI remember being in Mr. Berger's office (chairman) once and seeing a picture of a little girl in a chair. The unique thing about this chair was it was a baseball mitt with a baseball diamond in the background. I asked Mr. Berger about the picture and he said it was his granddaughter and taken in George Steinbrenner box at the old Yankee Stadium. I was in my awe because I'm a big Yankee fan. Mr. Berger knew everyone.
The building was very unique. I think if they needed more room they would just add on a floor or wing with no thought to the how it would affect overall building. The building maintenance guys would tell me there were nook and crannies in the building all over the place. The computer room was actually on floor 6 and a half and was actually in between floors. Go figure that.
I enjoyed my stay at Berger's. The people I worked with were great and were lot of fun. Plus the experience I received from Berger's was what got me hired at the NFTA and I have been there for 31 years and counting.
I worked in the sign shop at Berger's in the early 1980s. I started out at the Cheektowaga branch in jewelry and accessories, but was transferred downtown as I lived there, and was too poor to make a decent appearance on the floor :) The sign shop was part of window dressing, and a small team of 3, lead by Terry, if I recall correctly, was in back near the buyers' offices. Mr. Berger did pass by often, and always said hello. I was very young, and soon left to attend SUNY Buffalo. But it was a lovely building, and store, and they were quite kind to me. I still have a coke cola and buttered roll for breakfast, like one of my co-workers did. They used a hand-operated press, and I'm sure most of my work was not great, but I would succeed every now and then with a pretty design. I was very sad when I heard they closed. Many memories.
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