AM&A's
 |
|
| Industry | Retail |
|---|---|
| Fate | Purchased by The Bon-Ton |
| Founded | 1867 |
| Defunct | 1995 |
| Headquarters | Buffalo, New York |
| Products | Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, and housewares. |
Adam, Meldrum & Anderson Company (AM&A's) was a chain of department stores based in Buffalo, New York. It was an institution to generations of shoppers in the Buffalo area. The company remained family owned until its sale to The Bon-Ton in 1995.
The company was founded in 1867, as Adam, Meldrum & Whiting, at 308-310 Main Street. Co-founder Robert Borthwick Adam, was a brother of the founder of J. N. Adam & Co. In 1876, William Anderson joined the company after Whiting departed and it was renamed Adam, Meldrum & Anderson. In 1886, the company pioneered the use of electricity at a commercial enterprise in Buffalo with the installation of a Westinghouse generator. The company incorporated in 1892. In 1896, it joined the Syndicate Trading Company, a retail joint purchasing company based in New York City. From 1925 to 1956, it operated the Adam, Meldrum & Anderson State Bank, which merged with M&T Bank. In 1942, Robert Adam III, grandson of the founder, became President and served in that capacity until 1980; then serving as Chief Executive Officer until his death in 1993. The chain was purchased by The Bon-Ton Stores Inc. in 1994.
The original store was located on Main Street in the current site of the Main Place Mall. A $500,000 expansion of the store occurred in 1924, adding 70,000 square feet (6,500 m2) to the original location. In 1932, the store expanded northward with the purchased of the Hudson's store at 410 Main Street. From the 1940s until its closing, the store was known locally for its elaborate Victorian Christmas windows. In August 1960, the chain moved its flagship across the street to 389 Main Street in the building formerly occupied by J. N. Adam & Co. After expanding warehouse space in adjacent buildings, a major remodeling of the store occurred in 1966; it was remodeled again a decade later. The store also had a restaurant, the Yankee Doodle Room, which operated from 1960 until 1993; then reopened for a short time as a gourmet market and deli. The flagship store operated as a Bon Ton until 1995. It reopened for eight months in 1998 as Taylor's, an upscale ladies department store. On February 20, 2009, the former flagship store complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the J.N. Adam-AM&A Historic District. In 2015, a New York City-based development group purchased the building with the intention of converting it into a 10 floor, 300-room, Asian-themed hotel and restaurant complex.
...
Wikipedia