Alexander's
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| Public | |
| Traded as | : ALX |
| Industry | real estate, formerly department store |
| Founded | 1928 |
| Defunct | 1992 |
| Headquarters | Paramus, New Jersey |
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Key people
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George Farkas |
| Parent | Vornado Realty Trust |
| Website | www |
Alexander's was an American department store chain in the New York metropolitan area. Catering to middle-income consumers, Alexander's offered discounted designer fashions and high-quality private label goods. At its height, the company operated 16 stores. Its advertising slogan was "You'll find Alexander's has what you're looking for; how lucky can you get?!". The company still exists as a REIT controlled and managed by Vornado Realty Trust.
Alexander's' most famous locations, perhaps, were on Lexington Avenue and 58th Street (across from Bloomingdale's) in Manhattan, on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, at The Mall at the World Trade Center in Manhattan, along Queens Blvd. in Rego Park (Queens), and in Paramus, New Jersey. Upon completion in 1974, Alexander's became the anchor tenant for the new mall located on the concourse level of the World Trade Center complex. It took up roughly 1/6 of the 500,000 sq ft mall, the largest in New York City, and was located underneath 4 World Trade Center, immediately to the east of the south tower. Like the rest of the chain, it closed in 1992 and the lease was sold. The Paramus location was known for a world-record setting large mural painted by Stefan Knapp (see below).
The chain was founded in 1928 by George Farkas, a Brooklyn native who opened a store on Third Avenue in the Bronx and named it for his deceased father. The store managed to thrive during the following Depression, and another location was opened at Fordham Road (also in the Bronx) in 1933. Post-war prosperity further increased the company's fortunes, and led to a steady increase of locations throughout the area.
The company's hold on the marketplace began to slip in the 1970s, as customers defected to larger competitors and specialty retailers. In 1980, Interstate Properties took a major stake in the ailing chain, seeking to convert its real estate to more profitable ventures. Throughout the 1980s, Alexander's management struggled to expand the retailer's offerings beyond leisure apparel, but was often distracted by real estate sell-offs, and the stores' physical appearance and merchandise quality suffered. The company made a last-ditch effort to modernize in the early 1990s by expanding its activewear, electronics, housewares, sports equipment, and toy departments. It also began to update its infrastructure by replacing aging mechanical cash registers which could no longer be repaired with computerized registers (an earlier attempt in the 1980s had failed due to poor planning). These changes came too late, and Alexander's finally declared bankruptcy in 1992 as debts to vendors mounted and inventories dwindled.
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Wikipedia