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Modern Fashion Encyclopedia:

I. Magnin

(American department store chain)
  • Founded: by Mary Ann Magnin in San Francisco, 1876.
  • Company History: First branch opened in Santa Barbara, 1912; Los Angeles store opened, 1938, flagship San Francisco store opened, 1948; sold to Bullock's, 1943; to Federated Department Stores, 1964, which was acquired by Campeau Corporation (after an attempted merger with R.H. Macy Corporation); R.H. Macy Corporation purchases I. Magnin stores, 1988; Federated and R.H. Macy merge, announcing closure of I. Magnin chain, 1994; several stores bought by Saks Fifth Avenue and others, 1994-95; remaining Magnin stores renamed as other Federated retailers.

Founded by Mary Ann Magnin in 1876, I. Magnin & Company has always stood for beautiful designs of a high quality. They were responsible for making women in San Francisco, California, among the best dressed in the world.

Mary Ann and Isaac Magnin were married in London, England, though both were originally from Holland. They moved to San Francisco in the 1870s, traveling by boat around Cape Horn. They had eight children. Mary Ann did not want her husband working on ceilings as a wood carver, because he might fall and be crippled, leaving her with a large family to support. As a result she used her skills as an accomplished seamstress to make baby clothes which Isaac sold, carrying the items in a pack on his back. Before long they were able to open the first I. Magnin in San Francisco, selling needles, thread, and notions.

The store expanded to include the fashions Mary Ann made, including trousseau, and exquisite lingerie which she made for the fashion-starved ladies of Nob Hill, San Francisco. She made nightgowns, chemises and drawers, bridal gowns, and baby clothes, ordering her lace and linen from Europe. Owing to transportation costs, these items were expensive. Nevertheless, the orders increased and she was able to hire helpers. Her four sons—John, Grover, Joseph, and Sam—were encouraged to learn about fabrics and, most importantly, quality.

Magnin's moved to a larger store, but the 1906 earthquake destroyed it. Mary Ann and Isaac operated their business from their own home until they could rebuild. San Francisco was a thriving community of people who had money to spend and was an excellent market for the luxury goods available at I. Magnin. Eventually one son, John, moved to New York where he opened a buying office. While on a visit there, Mary Ann was so impressed with a marble floor she saw at B. Altman's store that she had one put into her own store. Magnin's store was elegant and designed as a stage for their fashions. Marble, crystal, and gold leaf were used extensively throughout; just as Mary Ann emphasized the best quality in fashion, she also demanded the best for the setting.

I. Magnin showcased the work of the major designers of the times, Jeanne Lanvin, Hattie Carnegie, and Christian Dior, where they introduced their new designs to the West Coast and the United States. The customers were wealthy—the Magnin woman purchased the best of everything, and price was no consideration. Magnin's was noted for fine apparel and having fashion firsts sometimes a year before they reached other stores. Quality, as Mary Ann impressed on her sons at an early age, was always an important ingredient in the operation of I. Magnin.

In her book Store (New York, 1978) Nan Tillson Birmingham described I. Magnin's doorman who would greet the car as customers arrived to shop for their school clothes. Clothing was selected by a personal shopper who would have them hanging in the dressing rooms, waiting for the approval of the shoppers. Service to the customer was another aspect of the Magnin shopping experience.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the ownership of I. Magnin changed hands many times. In 1988 when R.H. Macy Corporation bought the luxury chain, the future still seemed bright. By 1993 R.H. Macy was struggling and attempted to revitalize the I. Magnin stores, to no avail. The following year, overwhelmed by debt, Macy closed its first Magnin store, located on Chicago's famed Miracle Mile. Federated Department Stores then stepped in and proposed a merger with the stricken R.H. Macy; in the deal all remaining I. Magnin stores were slated for closure. Several individual stores were bought by Saks Fifth Avenue and other upscale retailers, and the once world renowned I. Magnin name ceased to exist.

Publications

On I. Magnin:

    Books
  • Crawford, M.D.C., The Ways of Fashion, New York, 1948.
  • Riley, Robert, Fashion Makers, New York, 1968.
  • Birmingham, Nan Tillson, Store, New York, 1978.
  • Hendrickson, Robert, The Grand Emporiums, Briarcliff Manor, New York, 1979.
  • Dresner, Susan, Shopping on the Inside Track, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1988.
  • Frick, Devin Thomas, I. Magnin & Company: A California Legacy, Garden Groce, California, 2000.
    Articles
  • Stabiner, Karen, "Store Wars," in Savvy (New York), July 1988.
  • Ginsberg, Steve, "I. Magnin: Seeking Solutions in the 1990s," in WWD, 9 October 1990.
  • Adelson, Andrea, "Retail Dinosaur Tries to Put Off Extinction," in the New York Times, 10 April 1993.
  • Schmeltzer, John, "A Merger on 34th Street," in the Chicago Tribune, 15 July 1994.
  • Adelson, Andrea, "R.H. Macy Planning to Close I. Magnin Specialty Stores," in the New York Times, 19 November 1994.

— Nancy House; updated by Owen James

 
 
Wikipedia: I. Magnin

I. Magnin was a San Francisco, California-based high fashion and specialty luxury department store. Over the course of its existence, it expanded across the West into Southern California and the adjoining states of Arizona, Oregon, and Washington. In the 1970s under Federated Department Stores ownership, the chain entered the Chicago, Illinois, and Washington, DC, metropolitan areas. Mary Ann Magnin founded the company in 1876 and named the chain after her husband, Issac. The chain's flagship San Francisco store was located next to Macy’s California flagship on Union Square.

History

Beginnings

In the early 1870s, Netherlands born Mary Ann Magnin and her English husband Issac Magnin settled in San Francisco. Mary Ann opened a shop in 1876 selling high-end clothing for infants and lotions. Later, she expanded into bridal wear. As her business grew, her exclusive clientele relied on her for the newest fashions from Paris.

At the turn of the century, Mary Ann’s four sons entered the business. While John Magnin, Grover Magnin, and Sam Magnin became associated with the I. Magnin store, the fourth son, Joseph Magnin, became known for his own store (Joseph Magnin's).

The 1906 earthquake leveled the original store with the rest of the downtown area. After rebuilding, the store opened on new quarters at Grant Avenue and Geary Street. During the 1910s, the chain opened shops in six high-end hotels around the state of California. The Los Angeles Wilshire Boulevard branch (which opened in 1939) and the new flagship Union Square store (opened in 1948) were considered among the most elegant in America. When famed designer Christian Dior paid a visit from Paris, he toured the Union Square store, which had already earned the nickname "White Marble Palace", and said "Magnifique!" The word would later be turned into a high compliment: "Magninique." [citation needed]

Sale to Bullock's

In 1944, the chain was bought by the Los Angeles-based Bullock's department store chain. In the late 1950s the combined chain expanded in the Southern California suburbs by opening the Fashion Square concept in Santa Ana in 1958, the San Fernando Valley (Sherman Oaks) in 1962 and Del Amo (Torrance) in 1965.

After a major proxy battle in 1964, Bullocks-I. Magnin was merged into Federated Department Stores. Bullock's, I. Magnin, and eventually Bullocks Wilshire were run as separate divisions of Federated. I. Magnin expanded in Chicago and Washington D.C. areas in the 1970s.

Sale to Macy's

R.H. Macy & Company was trying in the 1980s to enter the Southern California market. Along with trying to build their own stores, they attempted to purchase Federated, eventually losing a takeover war to the Campeau Corporation in 1988. As part of the settlement with Campeau, R.H. Macy & Co. purchased Bullock's, Bullock's Wilshire and I. Magnin. Macy's subsequently began a reorganization of its divisions and consolidated the I. Magnin and Bullock's Wilshire stores into a semi-autonomous division under Macy's California. The seven Bullock's Wilshire stores were renamed I. Magnin in 1989.

In 1991 R.H. Macy announced plans to re-align its divisional structure and created a new Macy's West/Bullock's division by February 1992. While in the process of doing so, it declared bankruptcy on January 27, 1992. During the next two years, the I. Magnin group shuttered 11 stores of an already-reduced franchise with the historic original Bullock's Wilshire Store closed in early 1993.

Liquidation

In 1994 Federated Department Stores reached an agreement with R.H. Macy's creditors to buy the company out of bankruptcy, completing the acquisition on December 19 and making Macy's West/Bullock's a division of Federated. Even before the acquisition closed it pulled the plug on the remainder of the I. Magnin chain, eventually selling four stores (Carmel, Beverly Hills, San Diego, and Phoenix) to Saks Fifth Avenue and ultimately converting six former I. Magnin locations in Palo Alto, Walnut Creek, Woodland Hills, Palm Desert, Newport Beach, and Palos Verdes to specialty Macy's or Bullock's locations, replicating the success of the 1991 conversion of I. Magnin at South Coast Plaza into a separate Bullock's Men's location. The upper floors of the former I. Magnin store on Union Square were later converted to an expansion of Macy's West own adjoining flagship.

Brand

In October 2006 Macy's resurrected the I. Magnin name and now uses it as a house brand label on ladies apparel. This using of the name may be due to keeping the trademark rights.

Former I. Magnin Locations

Arizona

Central California

  • Fresno MSA
    • Downtown Fresno (freestanding) (opened 1955, closed 1975)

Northern California

  • San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MSA
    • Third Street, San Francisco (opened 1876, replaced 1876)
    • Fifth Street, San Francisco (opened 1877, replaced 1888)
    • Market Street (three separate locations), San Francisco (opened 1888, destroyed 1906)
    • Page Street and Masonic Avenue, San Francisco (temporary 1906)
    • Van Ness Avenue (temporary), San Francisco (opened 1906, closed 1909)
    • Franklin Street (temporary), San Francisco (opened 1906, closed 1909?)
    • Grant Avenue and Geary Street, San Francisco (opened 1909, remodeled 1928, replaced 1947)
    • Union Square (flagship), San Francisco (opened 1948, closed 1995, upper floors now part of Macy's West flagship store)
    • Downtown San Mateo (opened 1965, became clearance store 1989, closed 1993)
  • Salinas MSA
    • Carmel Plaza, Carmel (opened 1960, closed/sold 1995 to Saks Fifth Avenue, closed 2005, now mall space)
    • Hotel del Monte (resort shop), Pebble Beach (opened 1914, closed 1942)
  • Oakland-Fremont-Hayward MSA
    • San Pablo Avenue, Oakland, 1876
    • 20th Street and Broadway, Oakland (freestanding) (opened 1928, became clearance store 1992, closed 1995)
    • Broadway Plaza, Walnut Creek (opened 1967, remodeled 1979, became Macy's Men's & Juniors Store 1995)
  • San Jose- Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA
  • Sacramento--Arden-Acade--Roseville MSA
    • Downtown Plaza (now Westfield Downtown Plaza), Sacramento (opened 1984, closed 1992)
    • Senator Hotel (resort shop), Sacramento (opened 1953, closed 1978)

Southern California

  • Los Angeles, California-Long Beach-Glendale MSA
    • Beverly Hills (freestanding) (opened 1943, replaced 1947)
    • Beverly Hills (freestanding) (opened 1947, closed/sold 1995 to Saks Fifth Avenue)
    • Spring Street (freestanding), L.A. (Downtown), (opened 1893, closed 1900)
    • Broadway (freestanding), L.A. (Downtown) (opened 1900, closed 1906)
    • Biltmore Hotel (resort shop), L.A. (Downtown) (opened 1927, replaced with Wilshire Boulevard store 1939)
    • Hollywood Boulevard (freestanding), L.A. (Hollywood) (opened 1923, remodeled and enlarged 1928, 1930, 1934, closed 1939)
    • Ambassador Hotel (resort shop), L.A. (Mid-Wilshire) (opened 1921, replaced by Wilshire Boulevard store 1939)
    • Sherman Oaks Fashion Square (now Westfield Fashion Square), Sherman Oaks (opened 1962, remodeled and enlarged 1982, closed 1993, divided into mall shops)
    • Wilshire Boulevard (freestanding), Los Angeles (Wilshire Center) (opened 1939, remodeled 1959, closed 1990 in favor of neighboring Bullocks Wilshire, now Wilshire Galleria)
    • Wilshire Boulevard (freestanding), Los Angeles (Wilshire Center) (opened 1990 in former Bullocks Wilshire flagship store, closed 1993 after 1992 Los Angeles riots, now Southwestern University Law Library)
    • The Shops at Palos Verdes (now The Avenue of the Peninsula) Palos Verdes (opened 1990 in former Bullocks Wilshire, closed 1995, demolished for mall reconstruction)
    • Maryland Hotel (resort shop), Pasadena (opened 1913)
    • Huntington Hotel (now The Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel & Spa) (resort shop), Pasadena
    • Vista del Arroyo Hotel (resort shop), Pasadena
    • Colorado Boulevard (freestanding), Pasadena (opened 1932, replaced in 1947)
    • Lake Avenue (freestanding), Pasadena (opened 1947, closed 1995, now a Borders)
    • Del Amo Fashion Square (now part of Del Amo Fashion Center), Torrance (opened 1967, closed 1989)
    • The Promenade at Woodlands Hills Men's Store (now Westfield Promenade), L.A. (Woodland Hills) (opened 1990 in former Bullocks Wilshire, became Macy's Men's/Home 1995)
  • Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA
    • Palm Desert Town Center (now Westfield Palm Desert), Palm Desert (opened 1990 in former Bullocks Wilshire/Bonwit Teller, became Bullock's/Macy's Men's Store 1995, replaced 2006, location of Nordstrom store opening 2009)
    • El Mirador Hotel (resort shop), Palm Springs (opened 1932, closed 1942)
    • Palm Springs (freestanding) (opened 1965, replaced 1985)
    • Desert Fashion Plaza (now closed), Palm Springs (opened 1985, closed 1992)
    • Palm Springs (freestanding) (opened 1990 in former Bullocks Wilshire, closed 1992)
    • Arrowhead Springs Hotel (resort shop), San Bernardino (opened 1938, closed 1942)
  • San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos MSA
    • Hotel del Coronado (resort shop), Coronado (opened 1914, closed 1948)
    • La Jolla (freestanding) (opened 1954, replaced 1964)
    • Girard Avenue, La Jolla (freestanding) (opened 1954, closed 1993, currently an art gallery and a high-end clothing consignment store)
    • La Jolla Village Square, La Jolla (opened 1990 in former Bullocks Wilshire, closed 1992)
    • Fashion Valley, San Diego (opened 1992, closed/sold 1995 to Saks Fifth Avenue)
  • Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine MSA
  • Santa Barbara-Santa Maria MSA
    • Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara (Montecito Biltmore) (resort shop), Montecito (opened 1927, closed 1942)
    • Potter Hotel (resort shop), Santa Barbara (opened 1912, closed 1918)
    • Santa Barbara (freestanding) (opened 1923, replaced 1947)
    • Santa Barbara (freestanding) (opened 1947, closed 1993, now United States Bankruptcy Court)

Illinois

Maryland

Oregon

Washington

  • Seattle-Bellevue-Everett MSA
    • Fifth Avenue and Union Street, Seattle (opened 1925, replaced 1954)
    • Pine Street and Sixth Avenue, Seattle(opened 1954, closed 1993, currently Old Navy)

References

Frick, Devin Thomas (2000). I.Magnin & Co. A California Legacy. Park Place Press, Orange County, CA. ISBN 0-9663493-1-8. 

Hendrickson, Robert (1979). The Grand Emporiums: The Illustrated History of American’s Great Department Stores. Stein and Day, New York, NY. ISBN 0-8128-2516-0. 

Mahoney, Tom and Sloane, Lenorard (1966). The Great Merchants: America’s Foremost Retail Institutions and the People Who Made Them Great. Harper & Row, New York, NY. ISBN 0-06-012739-2. 


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