May 23, 2008

Page 6

Jewish Press, Omaha, NE

May 23, 2008

Part I: The Brandeis Story

The family-owned department store becomes an institution and tradition Continued from page 1 Renaissance Revival style, the half-million square foot, brownstone edifice included ornate ceilings, Corinthian columns and marble floors. Its vast, sweeping spaces contained every imaginable good and service. So distinct was the store, it became a destination stop for anyone visiting Omaha. Its sheer size, fabulous amenities, everything underone-roof selection and firstrate customer service set it apart from the competition.

“Brandeis was really the source of most of the things you wanted. It was where you bought your first suit. It was where you went to have dinner with your friends...it was 10 floors of just a wonderful array of things,” Omaha historian Barry Combs said.

All things have their seasons and as downtowns lost their competitive edge to suburban malls in the 1950s and 1960s department stores began to feel the pinch. Many closed in the ensuing years.

Omaha and Brandeis were no exception.

As the suburbs beckoned, Brandeis followed -- building a mall, opening outlets.

At its peak in the early 1970s, the family-owned retail chain grew to 15 stores, 3,000 employees and $100 million in sales. As fewer folks shopped downtown the flagship store became a drag. When, in 1980, Brandeis closed the downtown store as part of a general downsizing, it marked the end of an era. A leaner Brandeis became profitable again by the time Younkers bought it in 1987. More than 100 years of Brandeis retailing was no more.

The dynasty dates back to company founder Jonas Leopold Brandeis. This family patriarch set The Great Man precedent. Born in 1837, the Austrian-Jewish immigrant was a tanner by trade in his native Prague. J.L. came to the U. S. in his late teens, part of a flood of immigrants helping settle the frontier.

His self-made success story in America began as a merchant in the wilds of Wisconsin, where he traded with Indians.

He married Fanny Teweles of Milwaukee and the couple made a life for themselves and their family in Manitowoc.

A sportsman tradition that runs through the Brandeis family began with J.L., whose prowess with a gun became legendary.

He next set his sights south on Omaha, a booming transportation, mercantile and livestock hub with excellent rail and river access. He, Fannie and their four children, Sara, Arthur, Emil and Hugo, moved to Omaha in the early 1880s. J.L. built the first of what would be several downtown Brandeis merchandising enterprises.

The first retail venture, The Fair, opened at 506 South 13th Street. By 1888 J.L. and his boys were full partners when they rented a new site at 114 So. 16 St. , calling it The Boston Store, a then-popular name for retail outlets. The J.L. Brandeis & Sons name first appeared over the door there and would appear, on building plates, on all future Brandeis stores.

Business soon outgrew that location and in 1891 the family built a second Boston store on the corner of 16th and Douglas, near what would become the anchor spot for the burgeoning Brandeis empire. J.L. was determined to succeed and not even the total loss of the building in an 1894 fire could deter him. He

built a new, larger, better store on the same site.

It didn’t take long for the muttonchopped J.L. to make his mark, drawing much attention with lighted store windows at night and illustrations in newspaper ads.

Every Saturday he released a dozen balloons containing coupons redeemable for a free suit of clothes. Thus, from the very start, Brandeis was known as a pacesetter and innovator. These qualities would distinguish the company and the family members who ran it throughout the 20th century.

before it. Elaborate window displays drew lines of spectators. Mihelich said, “Those window displays were virtual museum exhibits. They would change regularly and would reflect the seasons and the holidays. They were used to entice people in. People literally did window shop.”

Former Brandeis VP Gene Griffin of Omaha said it was a showplace: “People came from near and far to see what was going on...”

Gleaming glass counters and mirrors, polished marble floors and overbrimming bins filled the cavernous interior. “The

Left: Arthur D. Brandeis, Right: Emil 1884.

Brandeis, left, A.H. Gladstone and Julius Meyer.

Courtesy of the Nebraska State Historical Society “It seemed like Brandeis was always very progressive with the things they did,” said Omahan Ted Baer, whose father, the late Alan Baer, was a great-grandson of J.L and the company’s last owner/president.

As a savvy merchant, J.L. knew a prospering city and Jewish community meant more good will and business for Brandeis and so he and his wife immersed themselves in civic pursuits.

He was among those who spearheaded efforts in the years after Nebraska’s first synagogue, Congregation of Israel, was founded in 1871. He, along with Carl Brandeis, a relative he brought to Omaha, actively worked to create a chapter of the Independent Order of B’nai B’rith.

Fannie organized a sewing class for Russian Jewish immigrants and led efforts to establish the area’s first Jewish hospital -- Wise Memorial -- as a sanctuary from bias. When Fannie died the hospital board paid tribute to her with a resolution: “With patience and perseverance, undaunted by discouragement, she courageously carried forward her plan of founding a permanent institution...open and free to the afflicted without distinction as to creed or race.”

Fannie and J.L. were also on the committee that promoted the largest event in Omaha history -- the 1898 TransMississippi & International Exposition, a five month-long fair of more than 4,000 exhibits on 108 city blocks that drew 2.5 million visitors. The Brandeis’ also served on the city parks commission that extended the system of parks and boulevards.

By the early 1900s, the Brandeis name owned currency with customers and vendors. His sons were already running things and they embarked on the family’s biggest expansion to date, construction of the giant Brandeis store, between 16th and 17th and Douglas Streets.

Work began in 1906 and the $1 million building opened to much fanfare in 1907, displaying the latest goods from the post London and Paris trade centers.

Eleven-year-old E.John Brandeis -Arthur’s son -- was accorded the honor of laying the cornerstone.

Originally eight stories, the building qualified as a skyscraper by that era’s standards. Later additions brought the structure to its present height, complete with an Art Deco-style penthouse bungalow atop the 10th floor.

Ads ballyhooed the new store as “absolutely fireproof,” a reference to the fire that destroyed The Boston Store a dozen years earlier.

Brandeis pulled out all the stops to assure the public this store was unlike any

display was key,” Mihelich said.

“Christmas, of course, would be the most important of all.”

At Christmas the 10th floor was transformed into Toy Land, a Santa’s workshop-inspired seasonal display that thousands of children and parents visited.

Lines of kids waited to sit on Santa’s lap and to have their picture taken with Old Saint Nick. Ex-Brandeis VP Vic Mason of Omaha said, “People looked forward to going downtown and shopping at the store, especially at Christmas time, when they had those fabulous displays on the 16th and Douglas corner and the big Toy Land up on the 10th floor.”

Any time of year the main floor mezzanine was a take-your-breath-away sight with its gilded columns, hanging chandeliers, copper-plated ceiling and brass-fixtured elevators hand-operated by white gloved attendants. A large clock near the 17th Street entrance was a popular meeting spot. A mosaic-tiled balcony offered secluded shopping and custom services.

The bargain basement floor attracted teeming crowds. An arcade included an array of eateries -- the Pompeian Room, the Tea Room, Hamburger Heaven and a cafeteria. “... there was a certain elegance to the department store. You had a shopping experience that you certainly wouldn’t have in a big box store today,” Omaha historian Harl Dalstrom said. “... just the surroundings, the showcases, the decor inside the building, the majestic construction of the buildings themselves, the high ceilings, the display of merchandise and, of course, the windows ...”

The Brandeis brand stood for something special, representing an ultimate shopping experience unequaled in these parts. A one-time Brandeis VP, the late Sam Marchese, may have put it best when a newspaper quoted him saying: “When my grandfather came to this country he could speak only three words of English: ‘Hello,’ ‘goodbye,’ and ‘Brandeis.’ From Omaha there are only four real institutions in the state: the University of Nebraska, the Omaha World-Herald, Creighton and Brandeis.”

More than a flagship, the downtown

store was ‘the’ center for commerce. It’s where people shopped and dined and caught up with friends or associates.

It’s where you went to be seen. Where big wigs did business, sealed deals, made plans. Brandeis hosted fashion shows, parties, receptions, graduations and meetings.

Dalstrom said, “You would find going to the big department stores such as Brandeis part of an overall urban experience. When you look at the Brandeis experience you need to consider it too as part of an overall orientation toward important things downtown ... and so downtown shopping was very much the thing.”

Not to be overlooked, Brandeis was viewed as one of Omaha’s own.

“Locally owned. Local ties.

That was different than all the other department stores. It was kind of funny growing up because everybody I knew either had somebody in their family who did work or had worked at Brandeis,” Ted Baer said.

Every city has its movers and shakers. Big wheels turned early Omaha from a prairie town outfitting Western Plains settlers into a modern metropolis of railroad, meatpacking, livestock, banking and mercantile interests. The names of those who made it happen -- Kountze, Storz, Joslyn, Dodge, Reed, Hitchcock, Clarkson, Millard, Doorly -- adorn streets and public places. The Brandeis name lives on, too.

The executives guiding the company were more than merchants. They were part of the elite inner circle that called the shots. Through the years, Brandeis family members filled the top executive slots in the company, but with its growth, Brandeis increasingly looked outside the family. Family or not, the Brandeis name opened doors. When a Brandeis spoke, people listened.

“At one time, Brandeis ran this town,” said former VP Helmuth Dahlke. “... in the heyday Brandeis pretty much controlled every corner of downtown Omaha, strategically, so that no one could move in. They controlled the real estate ... owned the buildings, the properties. When we wanted something we called and one minute later they called you back. We had muscle.”

“Yes, the Brandeis family and other major corporate executives of Brandeis provided substantial leadership in the business community, in civic affairs, in philanthropy,” Mihelich said. “They did it individually, serving on things like the board of governors of Ak-Sar-Ben ... In all of these numerous kinds of activities the Brandeis family and the Brandeis company certainly for the better part of a century were as influential as any of the other major Omaha players.”

Befitting their means, the Brandeis family lived like Midwestern rajahs with their mansions, stables of horses, recreational activities, parties, appointments, titles, world travels and charitable work.

Newspapers detailed their comings and goings. Cousins George and E. John Brandeis cut dashing figures with their good looks and active pursuits.

Fellow sportsmen, their exploits made much news: George with his prized horses and hunting of fowl in western Nebraska; and E. John riding, yachting, hunting on one of his big-game safaris or squiring eligible young women.

Continued on page 7