1.
Uptown Houston
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Uptown is a business district in Houston, located 6.2 miles west of Downtown and is centered along Post Oak Boulevard and Westheimer Road. The Uptown District is roughly bounded by Woodway Drive to the north, the I-610 to the east, Richmond Avenue to the south, and Yorktown Street to the west. At 23.6 million square feet of space, the Uptown District is the 17th-largest business district in the United States, comparable in size to the downtowns of Denver. The district is home to approximately 2,000 companies and represents more than 11 percent of Houstons total office space, in 1948 what is now Uptown was 3 miles outside of the city limits of Houston. A local reporter described the roads as lonely, unlit, pockmarked booby trap for nocturnal animals, development increased after Gerald D. Hines and other individuals began to develop properties in Uptown in the 1960s. By 1987, the Uptown area had more hotel rooms and retail shopping centers than Downtown Houston had, the Uptown area, with 55,000 employees, also had more office space than Downtown Atlanta and Downtown Denver. The Uptown District measures about 5 million square feet of retail space, various trendy shopping centers, eateries, and other sorts of entertainment venues exist in the district. Uptown is home to upscale boutiques, as well as many Houston-based and local high-fashion designers. Uptown is also host to Houstons largest hotels, which host about 20 million visitors a year, a major feature of Uptown Houston is The Galleria, the largest shopping mall in the state of Texas and the seventh-largest in America. The Galleria hosts many of the shops of the area as well as city-wide chain stores that appear in many Houston-area malls. It also includes several well-regarded restaurants and an indoor ice skating rink. The Uptown District is bounded by Woodway Drive to the north, highway 59 to the south, and Yorktown Street to the west. Several subdivisions, including Afton Oaks, Briarcroft, Briargrove, Broad Oaks, Briarmeadow, Del Monte, Larchmont, St. George Place, Tanglewood, and Westhaven Estates border Uptown Houston. Uptown, the 17th largest business district in the United States, has 23,600,000 square feet of space, representing 11% of all of Houstons office space. Major employers include 3D/International, Air Liquide America, AON Risk Services of Texas, net IQ Corporation, Nextira One, LLC, Panhandle Pipeline Co. Schlumberger, Stewart Title Guaranty Company, Telecheck International, Inc, the Lab Consulting, GDF Suez Energy Resources NA, and Williams Companies. Around 2,000 companies maintain operations in Uptown, other firms headquartered in Uptown several Cox Radio-owned stations with offices in Post Oak Central, including KKBQ, KGLK, KHPT, and KTHT. Cushman & Wakefields Houston office is in Four Oaks Place, in the 1990s Weatherford Enterra had its corporate headquarters in Four Oaks Place
2.
Houston
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Houston is the most populous city in the state of Texas and the fourth-most populous city in the United States. With a census-estimated 2014 population of 2.239 million within an area of 667 square miles, it also is the largest city in the southern United States and the seat of Harris County. Located in Southeast Texas near the Gulf of Mexico, it is the city of Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land. Houston was founded on August 28,1836, near the banks of Buffalo Bayou and incorporated as a city on June 5,1837. The city was named after former General Sam Houston, who was president of the Republic of Texas and had commanded, the burgeoning port and railroad industry, combined with oil discovery in 1901, has induced continual surges in the citys population. Houstons economy has an industrial base in energy, manufacturing, aeronautics. Leading in health care sectors and building equipment, Houston has more Fortune 500 headquarters within its city limits than any city except for New York City. The Port of Houston ranks first in the United States in international waterborne tonnage handled, the city has a population from various ethnic and religious backgrounds and a large and growing international community. Houston is the most diverse city in Texas and has described as the most diverse in the United States. It is home to cultural institutions and exhibits, which attract more than 7 million visitors a year to the Museum District. Houston has a visual and performing arts scene in the Theater District. In August 1836, two real estate entrepreneurs from New York, Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen, purchased 6,642 acres of land along Buffalo Bayou with the intent of founding a city. The Allen brothers decided to name the city after Sam Houston, the general at the Battle of San Jacinto. The great majority of slaves in Texas came with their owners from the slave states. Sizable numbers, however, came through the slave trade. New Orleans was the center of trade in the Deep South. Thousands of enslaved African Americans lived near the city before the Civil War, many of them near the city worked on sugar and cotton plantations, while most of those in the city limits had domestic and artisan jobs. Houston was granted incorporation on June 5,1837, with James S. Holman becoming its first mayor, in the same year, Houston became the county seat of Harrisburg County and the temporary capital of the Republic of Texas
3.
Texas
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Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Other major cities include Austin, the second most populous state capital in the U. S. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the states struggle for independence from Mexico. The Lone Star can be found on the Texan state flag, the origin of Texass name is from the word Tejas, which means friends in the Caddo language. Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, although Texas is popularly associated with the U. S. southwestern deserts, less than 10 percent of Texas land area is desert. Most of the centers are located in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, the term six flags over Texas refers to several nations that have ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas, Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state, the states annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U. S. in early 1861, after the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation. One Texan industry that thrived after the Civil War was cattle, due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the image of the cowboy. The states economic fortunes changed in the early 20th century, when oil discoveries initiated a boom in the state. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy, as of 2010 it shares the top of the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with California at 57. With a growing base of industry, the leads in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace. Texas has led the nation in export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product. The name Texas, based on the Caddo word tejas meaning friends or allies, was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves, during Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas, La Provincia de Texas. Texas is the second largest U. S. state, behind Alaska, though 10 percent larger than France and almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Chile, Texas is in the south central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers, the Rio Grande forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south
4.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
5.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
6.
Westheimer Road
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Westheimer Road is an arterial east-west road in Houston, Texas, United States. It runs from Bagby Street in downtown Houston, and terminates at the Westpark Tollway on the edge of George Bush Park. The street was named after Michael Louis Westheimer, a German immigrant, Westheimer Roads eastern terminus is at Bagby Street. From Bagby west, Westheimer jogs mostly westerly, through Neartown, forms the boundary of the River Oaks community. The portion spanning from Interstate 610 west to the Westpark Tollway is designated as a part of Urban Road 1093, from the 610 Loop west, Westheimer Road traverses through Uptown and then west-southwest to Chimney Rock. From Chimney Rock west, Westheimer is straight along a cardinal east–west line, Westheimer passes north of Alief and Westchase when passing under Beltway 8. Westheimer Road terminates when FM1093 becomes the feeder road of the Westpark Tollway just west of FM1464, in another article he referred to Westheimer as mainly about the fetishes, broken dreams and vanities of Anglo whites. Several of the six CVS outlets we passed are there, as are a few of the uncountable Starbucks. He added that the segment of Westheimer Road in Westchase does not have the sleaze of the Highway 6 area and the exuberance of mid-Westheimer. Between Willowick Road and Sage Rd, Westheimer is lined with prestigious boutiques, among shopping centers in this section include The Galleria and River Oaks District and many others. Brands that feature boutiques include Apple, Tom Ford, Gucci, Fendi, Christian Dior SE, Dolce & Gabbana, John Hardy, Cartier, Carolina Herrera, Prada, Rolex, Versace, etc. From its eastern terminus at Westheimer Road / FM1093, Westheimer Parkway winds through George Bush Park, the Parkway then runs under Grand Parkway near Cinco Ranch High School. Westheimer Parkways western terminus is in Fort Bend County, Texas approximately 3.5 miles northwest of Grand Parkway, at this point, traffic heading northwest on Westheimer Parkway continues on Pin Oak Road near Katy Mills Mall, located in Katy. Westheimer Road and Westheimer Parkway are named after Mitchell Louis Westheimer and he purchased a 640-acre farm west of Houstons city limits at the time, where Lamar High School and St. Johns School are currently located. Having built a school on his land for his 16 children, other children were invited to join the school. The road that led to his property was known as the road to Westheimers place and wound through what would later be Neartown, in 1895 Westheimer allowed Harris County to build a right-of-way for a road stretching from Houston to Columbus and Sealy, this road became Westheimer Road
7.
Hines Interests Limited Partnership
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Hines Interests Limited Partnership is a privately owned real estate firm involved in real estate investment, development and property management worldwide. With offices in 110 cities in 18 countries, and controlled assets valued at approximately $25.2 billion, Hines is headquartered in the Williams Tower in uptown Houston, Texas. CityCenterDC is one of Hines’ most recent major projects in Washington, the site is being developed in three phases, with Phase I having delivered in early 2014. The final phase will include a 500,000 square foot office building, with 40,000 square feet of retail space
8.
Simon Property Group
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Simon Property Group, Inc. is an American commercial real estate company in the United States and the largest real estate investment trust. It is also the largest shopping mall operator in America and it currently owns or has an interest in more than 325 properties comprising approximately 241,000,000 square feet of gross leasable area in North America and Asia. The company is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana and employs more than 5,000 people worldwide and it is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol SPG and is part of the S&P100. Simon Property Group has been the subject of lawsuits and investigations regarding civil rights. Simon Property Group was formed in 1993 when the majority of the shopping center interests of Melvin Simon & Associates became a traded company. In 1996, Simon DeBartolo Group was created when Simon Property merged with former rival DeBartolo Realty Corp and this was shortly after DeBartolo Realty became a publicly traded company encompassing the shopping mall interests of the Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. family, another leading developer. Simon DeBartolo rapidly acquired assets in the then-fragmented industry, notable acquisitions included The Retail Property Trust and a group of properties held by IBMs pension plan in 1997 and Corporate Property Investors in 1998. In 2003, Simon became a co-owner of The Kravco Company, on April 3,2007, a partnership including Simon agreed to acquire the Mills Corporation. In June 2011, Simon Property Group entered into a partnership with Nintendo to provide complimentary 3DS Wi-Fi hotspots at nearly 200 of its malls, the Wi-Fi only works for Nintendo 3DS systems. It will not work on PC, Mac, iOS or Android, in December 2013, Simon announced it would form a REIT of its smaller malls and community shopping centers called Washington Prime Group. The spin-off was created in May 2014 and was headed by Mark Ordan who was the final CEO of the Simon-bought Mills Corporation. In September 2014, WPG announced to acquire Glimcher Realty Trust and its properties, the deal was completed in January 2015. On November 69 of 2009, Financial Times reported that Simon may have attempted to acquire its failing rival General Growth Properties, should GGP have been acquired in its entirety, such deal would be worth up to $30 billion at the time. Simon hired property investment firm Cohen & Steers, J. P. Morgan, as well as the Lazard investment bank, on February 16,2010, Simon announced that it placed a bid on February 8 to acquire General Growth Properties in a deal worth $10 billion. However, the bid was rejected by General Growth twice during the week it was announced, the General Growth board favored an investment offer from Brookfield Asset Management worth $2.6 billion. Simons next step, on April 14,2010, was to announce a $2.5 billion equity investment offer which equaled the price per share of Brookfields offer, Simons offer also included a co-investment commitment by Paulson & Co worth $1 billion. Simon Property Group had not ruled out a takeover of General Growth. On May 7,2010, Simon Property Group decided to withdraw its acquisition and recapitalization proposals for General Growth Properties, in May 2010, Simon surprisingly acquired Prime Outlets-Puerto Rico in Barceloneta, which was renamed Puerto Rico Premium Outlets
9.
Sony
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Sony Corporation is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation that is headquartered in Kōnan, Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified business includes consumer and professional electronics, gaming, entertainment, the company is one of the leading manufacturers of electronic products for the consumer and professional markets. Sony was ranked 116th on the 2015 list of Fortune Global 500 and these make Sony one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world. The group consists of Sony Corporation, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Financial Holdings and others. Sony is among the Semiconductor sales leaders by year and as of 2013, the companys current slogan is BE MOVED. Their former slogans were make. believe, like. no. other, Sony has a weak tie to the SMFG keiretsu, the successor to the Mitsui keiretsu. Sony began in the wake of World War II, in 1946, Masaru Ibuka started an electronics shop in a department store building in Tokyo. The company had $530 in capital and a total of eight employees, in the following year he was joined by his colleague, Akio Morita, and they founded a company called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo 東京通信工業. The company built Japans first tape recorder, called the Type-G, in 1958 the company changed its name to Sony. When Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo was looking for a name to use to market themselves, they strongly considered using their initials. The primary reason they did not is that the railway company Tokyo Kyuko was known as TTK, the company occasionally used the acronym Totsuko in Japan, but during his visit to the United States, Morita discovered that Americans had trouble pronouncing that name. Another early name that was tried out for a while was Tokyo Teletech until Akio Morita discovered that there was an American company already using Teletech as a brand name, the name Sony was chosen for the brand as a mix of two words. One was the Latin word sonus, which is the root of sonic and sound, and the other was sonny, a common slang term used in 1950s America to call a boy. In the 1950s Japan sonny boys, was a word into Japanese which connoted smart and presentable young men. The first Sony-branded product, the TR-55 transistor radio, appeared in 1955, at the time of the change, it was extremely unusual for a Japanese company to use Roman letters to spell its name instead of writing it in kanji. The move was not without opposition, TTKs principal bank at the time and they pushed for a name such as Sony Electronic Industries, or Sony Teletech. Akio Morita was firm, however, as he did not want the company tied to any particular industry. Eventually, both Ibuka and Mitsui Banks chairman gave their approval, according to Schiffer, Sonys TR-63 radio cracked open the U. S. market and launched the new industry of consumer microelectronics
10.
CalPERS
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In fiscal year 2012–13, CalPERS paid over $12.7 billion in retirement benefits, and in fiscal year 2013 it is estimated that CalPERS will pay over $7.5 billion in health benefits. As of June 30,2014, CalPERS managed the largest public pension fund in the United States, CalPERS is known for its shareholder activism, stocks placed on its Focus List may perform better than other stocks, which has given rise to the term CalPERS effect. Outside the U. S. CalPERS has been called a global leader in the investment industry. In 1932, the State Employees Retirement System began operation, the California State Employees Association, established in 1931, began a close relationship with SERS that continues to this day. In 1939, the state Legislature passed a bill that allowed local agencies to participate in SERS. Initially, SERS could invest only in bonds, but in 1953 a new law allowed SERS to invest in real estate. SERS then built a 670, 000-square-foot, 16-story building in Sacramento which opened in 1965, part of the building housed SERS employees, and part of the building was leased to other state agencies. The first major new benefit for SERS members, health insurance, because by 1967 SERS was contracting with 585 local public agencies for retirement benefits, its name was changed to the Public Employees Retirement System. With the passage of a proposition and a state law in 1966-1967, PERS was allowed to invest 25% of its portfolio in stocks, in 1984. State Treasurer Jesse M. Unruh was a PERS Board member in the mid-1980s, in 1986, the headquarters building of PERS, now called Lincoln Plaza North, was completed in Sacramento at a cost of $81 million. The building, which has 492,900 square feet, is known for its six-story-high atrium, in 1990, fund value reached $49.8 billion. In July 1991, Governor Pete Wilson addressed the state’s $14.3 billion budget deficit by removing $1.6 billion from the pension fund. Wilson further sought to give the governor’s office control of the PERS’ actuarial projections, Proposition 162, also known as the California Pension Protection Act of 1992, gave the PERS board the sole and exclusive fiduciary responsibility over the assets of PERS. To avoid confusion with public employees retirement systems in other states, by 1996, the CalPERS portfolio was worth $100 billion, and the number of members exceeded 1 million. In 1999, fund value reached $159.1 billion, requiring $159 million in tax dollar contributions. In 1999, the CalPERS board proposed an expansion that would allow public employees to retire at age 55. CalPERS predicted the benefits would require no increase in the State’s contributions by projecting an average return of 8. 25% over the next decade. ”CalPERS chief actuary, objected. The benefits expansion bill, SB400, passed with unanimous backing by California State Assembly Democrats and was signed into law by Governor Gray Davis, the next year the dot-com bubble burst, and CalPERS did not grow, instead losing value in the stock market downturn of 2002
11.
Anchor store
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In retail, an anchor store, draw tenant, anchor tenant, or key tenant is one of the larger stores in a shopping mall, usually a department store or a major retail chain. Current examples of common anchor stores in the USA include Younkers, Macys, Kohls, Sears, Bergners, Dillards, Carsons, Boscovs, The Bon-Ton, Bloomingdales, Lord & Taylor, and JCPenney. Defunct examples include Montgomery Ward, Mervyns, Eatons, Lazarus, Galyans, Foleys, Marshall Fields, Hechts, Sports Authority, Parisian, anchors generally have their rents heavily discounted, and may even receive cash inducements from the mall to remain open. The regional center typically has two or more anchors, while the superregional typically has three or more, in each case, the anchors account for 50-70% of the malls leasable space. Malls with anchor stores have consistently outperformed those without one, as the anchor helps draw shoppers initially attracted to the anchor to shop at stores in the mall. Early on, grocery stores were a type of anchor store. However, research on consumer behavior revealed that most trips to the store did not result in visits to surrounding shops. Large supermarkets remain common anchor stores within power centers however, the challenges faced by the traditional large department stores have led to a resurgence in the use of supermarkets as anchors
12.
Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County
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The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County is a major public transportation agency based in Houston, Texas, United States. It operates bus, light rail, bus transit. METRO also operates bus service to two cities in Fort Bend County, the METRO headquarters are in the Lee P. Brown Administration Building in Downtown Houston. The Texas State Legislature authorized the creation of transit authorities in 1973. In 1978, Houston-area voters created METRO and approved a one-cent sales tax to support its operations, METRO opened for business in January 1979, taking over the bus service owned by the City of Houston known as HouTran. HouTran was plagued by outdated equipment, infrequent service, and a structure which failed to account for Houstons rapid population growth. METROs service area encompasses 1,285 square miles and also portions of an eight-county region with its vanpool service. Tom Lambert is the current President and CEO of the agency, shirley DeLibero served as President and CEO of METRO from 1999 until 2004. DeLibero was recruited to METRO by then-mayor Lee Brown, and was executive director of New Jersey Transit. Her tenure was marked by the introduction of the METRORail light rail transit system, Wilson arrived as the mayoral administration of Bill White replaced that of the term-limited Brown. In May 2010, Wilson signed a deal to terminate his employment as METRO president, George Greanias, a former city councilman and city controller, was named chief executive by the majority of the METRO board appointed by Mayor Annise Parker, even though he had no transit experience. Parker made the need for new leadership at METRO a key platform of her campaign, METRO has a very expansive, and heavily used bus system. Local bus service runs on city streets, stopping at every other corner along its entire route. METROs bus service is the most used bus system in Texas, METROs bus service also includes the HOV/Park and Ride system. Park and Ride stations are placed alongside the freeways and used heavily during peak times, prior to the construction of METRORail, METRO consisted of the largest all-bus fleet in the United States, only because Houston was the largest major city devoid of any rail transit since 1990. In 2015, the bus system was redesigned, eliminating low-ridership routes in favor of a high-frequency and this change was accomplished without any increase in operating costs. Local Most METRO buses typically operate on city streets, with the majority of routes serving several of Houstons major employment centers, the routes are grid-like crosstown routes that travel from one part of the city to another without entering downtown. Former bus routes that served prior to the opening of METRORail were rerouted to terminate at METRORail stations to eliminate duplicate service
13.
Shopping mall
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A shopping arcade is a specific form serving the same purpose. Many early shopping arcades such as the Burlington Arcade in London, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, however, many smaller arcades have been demolished, replaced with large centers or malls, often accessible by vehicle. Technical innovations such as lighting and escalators were introduced from the late 19th century. From the late 20th century, entertainment venues such as movie theaters, as a single built structure, early shopping centers were often architecturally significant constructions, enabling wealthier patrons to buy goods in spaces protected from the weather. In places around the world, the shopping centre is used, especially in Europe, Australia. Mall is a term used predominantly in North America, outside of North America, shopping precinct and shopping arcade are also used. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, malls are commonly referred to as shopping centres, the majority of British shopping centres are located in city centres, usually found in old and historic shopping districts and surrounded by subsidiary open air shopping streets. Large examples include West Quay in Southampton, Manchester Arndale, Bullring Birmingham, Liverpool One, Trinity Leeds, Buchanan Galleries in Glasgow and these centres were built in the 1980s and 1990s, but planning regulations prohibit the construction of any more. Out-of-town shopping developments in the UK are now focused on retail parks, planning policy prioritizes the development of existing town centres, although with patchy success. Bullring, Birmingham is the busiest shopping centre in the UK welcoming over 36.5 million shoppers in its opening year, there are a reported 222 malls in Europe. In 2014, these malls had combined sales of $12.47 billion and this represented a 10% bump in revenues from the prior year. One of the earliest examples of public shopping areas comes from ancient Rome, One of the earliest public shopping centers is Trajans Market in Rome located in Trajans Forum. Trajans Market was probably built around 100-110 CE by Apollodorus of Damascus, the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul was built in the 15th century and is still one of the largest covered shopping centers in the world, with more than 58 streets and 4,000 shops. Numerous other covered shopping arcades, such as the 19th-century Al-Hamidiyah Souq in Damascus, Syria, isfahans Grand Bazaar, which is largely covered, dates from the 10th century. The 10-kilometer-long, covered Tehrans Grand Bazaar also has a lengthy history, the oldest continuously occupied shopping mall in the world is likely to be the Chester Rows. Dating back at least to the 13th century, these covered walkways housed shops, with storage, different rows specialized in different goods, such as Bakers Row or Fleshmongers Row. The Marché des Enfants Rouges in Paris opened in 1628 and still runs today, the Oxford Covered Market in Oxford, England opened in 1774 and still runs today. The Passage du Caire was opened in Paris in 1798, the Burlington Arcade in London was opened in 1819
14.
Galleria Office Towers
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Galleria Office Towers is an office complex located on the site of The Galleria in the Uptown district of Houston, Texas, United States. The buildings, consisting of the Galleria Tower I, Galleria Tower II, the 25 floor Galleria Tower I, with 490,152 square feet of space, is at 2700 Post Oak Boulevard. The 21 floor Galleria Tower II, with 320,359 square feet of space, is at 5051 Westheimer Road, the 12 floor Galleria Financial Center, with 251,204 square feet of space, is at 5065 and 5075 Westheimer Road. Galleria Tower I Air Liquide CIGNA Zehl & Associates, PC Suite 1120 Galleria Tower II Stanford Financial Group, headquarters The Galleria Uptown Houston Galleria Office Towers
15.
Westin Hotels & Resorts
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Westin Hotels & Resorts is an American upscale hotel chain owned by Marriott International. As of 2013, Westin operated over 192 hotels in multiple countries across the globe, in 1930, Severt W. Thurston and Frank Dupar of Seattle, Washington met unexpectedly during breakfast at a diner in Yakima, Washington. The competing hotel owners decided to form a management company to all their properties. The men invited Peter and Adolph Schmidt, who operated five hotels in the Puget Sound area, to join them, the chain consisted of 17 properties,16 in Washington and one in Boise, Idaho. Western expanded to Vancouver, British Columbia and Portland, Oregon in 1931, by the early 1950s, Western also had properties in Montana and Utah. Early management developed each property individually, after more than two decades of rapid growth, many of its properties were merged into a single corporate structure in 1958, focusing on bringing the hotels together under a common chain identity. Western Hotels managed a floating hotel aboard the ocean liner QSMV Dominion Monarch, the chain also managed the restaurant atop the Space Needle, which they continued to manage until 1982. The company was renamed Western International Hotels in 1963, to reflect its growth overseas and that same year, the company went public. On November 1,1965, Western International announced an agreement with Hotel Corporation of America. In 1970, Western International was acquired by UAL Corporation, at the end of its 50th anniversary on January 5,1981, the company changed its name again to Westin Hotels. In 1987, UAL Chairman Richard Ferris announced a plan to make UAL into Allegis, a conglomerate based around United Airlines, Hertz Rent a Car, Hilton Hotels. This strategy failed, however, and Westin was sold in 1988 to Aoki Corporation of Japan, in 1994 Aoki sold it to Starwood Capital, real estate investment firm and parent of Starwood Lodging, and Goldman Sachs, an investment bank. In 1998 Starwood assumed full ownership of the company, Westin claims to have been the first hotel chain to introduce guest credit cards, 24-hour room service, and personal voice mail in each room. Westin markets certain amenities available in its properties to the public under the brand name Heavenly, in 2005, Westin became the first hotel company to gain a national retail store presence when Nordstrom started carrying the Heavenly Bed line in more than 60 stores. Westin refreshed its partnership with United Airlines in 2008 and these amenities were stopped following the merger with Continental Airlines. Especially in the last decade, Westin has focused on expanding globally, since 2005, the number of hotels has grown from 120 locations in 24 countries to over 192 locations in 37 countries as of 2013. In 2016, Marriott International acquired Starwood, becoming the worlds largest hotel company, the Westin Palace Madrid - historic 1912 luxury hotel in Madrid The Westin San Jose - Formerly the Saint Claire and Hyatt Saint Claire. Westin Hamburg - opened in 2016 and located in Hamburgs iconic Elbphilharmonie concert hall The Westin Sydney Westin Alumni Association, www. westinalumni. org Westin Hotels & Resorts Westin Hotel Store
16.
Neiman Marcus
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Neiman Marcus, originally Neiman-Marcus, is an American luxury department store owned by the Neiman Marcus Group, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Neiman Marcus is currently owned by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, in 1907 the trio found themselves with $25,000 from the successful sales-promotion firm they had built in Atlanta, Georgia, and two potential investments into which to invest the funds. Rather than take a chance on an unknown sugary soda pop business, for this reason, early company CEO Peb Atera was quoted in 1957 as saying in jest that Neiman Marcus was founded on bad business judgment. The store, established on September 10,1907, was furnished and stocked with clothing of a quality not commonly found in Texas. Within a few weeks, the initial inventory, mostly acquired on a buying trip to New York made by Carrie, was completely sold out. Oil-rich Texans, welcoming the opportunity to flaunt their wealth in more sophisticated fashion than was previously possible, flocked to the new store. In spite of a financial panic set off only a few weeks after its opening, Neiman Marcus was instantly successful. In 1914 a fire destroyed the Neiman Marcus store and all of its merchandise, a temporary store was set up and opened in 17 days. By the end of 1914, Neiman Marcus opened in its new, permanent location at the corner of Main Street and Ervay Street. In its first year at the new building, Neiman Marcus recorded a profit of $40,000 on sales of $700,000, in 1927 the store expanded and Neiman Marcus premiered the first weekly retail fashion show in the United States. The store staged a show called One Hundred Years of Texas Fashions in 1936 in honor of the centennial of Texas independence from Mexico. During the 1930s and 1940s Neiman Marcus began to include less expensive clothing lines along with its high-end items, in response to the Great Depression, between 1942 and 1944, sales at Neiman Marcus grew from $6 million to $11 million. Despite a major fire in 1946, the continued to profit. Herbert Marcus, Sr. died in 1950, and Carrie Neiman died two years later, leaving Stanley Marcus in charge of the companys operations, the 1950s saw the addition of a $1.6 million store at 8300 Preston Road. It was 63, 000-square-foot, inspired by the art and culture of Southwestern Indians, copied from Indian weaving, pottery, and sand paintings. The themed decor included Kachina figures on colored-glass murals and an Alexander Calder mobile named Mariposa, area teachers cited the Gauguin exhibits as spurring a dramatic increase in art study. In the 1950s and 1960s Gittings operated a studio in Neiman Marcus. Clients included Hope Portocarrero, Lyndon Johnson, Howard Hughes, a late 1960s Christmas Book featured portraits of Wyatt Cooper, his wife Gloria Vanderbilt, and children Carter and Anderson Cooper
17.
Nordstrom
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Nordstrom, Inc. is an American chain of luxury department stores headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1901 by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin, the company began as a retailer and expanded its inventory to include clothing, accessories, handbags, jewelry, cosmetics. Select Nordstrom stores also include wedding and home furnishings departments, Nordstrom also serves customers through nordstrom. com, nordstromrack. com, and its online private sale site, HauteLook. Nordstrom, Inc. s common stock is traded on the NYSE under the symbol JWN. In 1887, at the age of 16, like many other Swedes in the late 19th century and he was born in the village of Alvik, close to the city of Luleå in Northern Sweden. His name at birth was Johan Nordström which he later anglicized to John Nordstrom, after landing in New York, he first began working in Michigan. As he moved across the country, he worked a series of menial jobs and he was able to save enough money to purchase a 20-acre potato farm in Arlington, Washington, near Seattle. In 1897, he joined the Klondike Gold Rush in Canadas Yukon Territory, after two years of prospecting, he finally struck gold, but sold his disputed claim for $13,000. Returning to Seattle with his wealth, he married Hilda Carlson and looked for a business venture, finally settling on a shoe store that opened in 1901. Carl F. Wallin, the co-founder of the store, was the owner of the adjacent shoe repair shop, John and Hilda had five children, three of whom would follow him into the family business, Everett W. Elmer J. and Lloyd N. Nordstrom. By the time Wallin & Nordstrom opened their store in Seattle in 1923, Elmer. In 1928, John W. Nordstrom retired and sold his shares to two of his sons, Everett and Elmer, in 1929, Wallin also retired and sold his shares to them. The 1930 grand opening of the remodeled Second Avenue store marked the change of name to Nordstrom, Lloyd Nordstrom subsequently joined the company in 1933, and the three brothers ran the business together for almost forty years. By 1958, Nordstrom had expanded to eight stores in two states but still sold only shoes and their expansion was based on customer service, deep product offerings and full size ranges. Apparel came with its purchase of Best Apparel of Seattle in 1963, the companys name was changed to Nordstrom Absolute Best in 1969. By 1968, the second generation debated selling the company as Everett neared retirement, instead, they were convinced by the third-generation Nordstroms—Bruce A. James F. and John N. together with John A. MacMillan -- to take the public instead, and allow the cousins to take over the business. In 1971, the company was public on NASDAQ under the ticker NOBE
18.
Saks Fifth Avenue
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Saks Fifth Avenue is an American luxury department store owned by the oldest commercial corporation in North America, the Hudsons Bay Company. Its main flagship store is located on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, Saks Fifth Avenue is the successor of a business founded by Andrew Saks in 1867 and incorporated in New York in 1902 as Saks & Company. Saks died in 1912, and in 1923 Saks & Co. merged with Gimbel Brothers, Inc. which was owned by a cousin of Horace Saks, Bernard Gimbel, operating as a separate autonomous subsidiary. On September 15,1924, Horace Saks and Bernard Gimbel opened Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City, with a full-block avenue frontage south of St Patricks Cathedral, facing Rockefeller Center. The architects were Starrett & van Vleck, who developed a reticent, the first full-line year-round Saks store opened in Chicago, in 1929, followed by another resort store in Miami Beach, Florida. In 1938, Saks expanded to the West Coast, opening in Beverly Hills, by the end of the 1930s, Saks Fifth Avenue had a total of 10 stores, including resort locations such as Sun Valley, Idaho, Mount Stowe, and Newport, Rhode Island. More full-line stores followed with Detroit, Michigan, in 1940 and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in Downtown Pittsburgh, the company moved to its own freestanding location approximately one block from its former home on the fourth floor in the downtown Gimbels flagship. The San Francisco location opened in 1952, competing locally with I, BATUS Inc. acquired Gimbel Bros. Inc. and its Saks Fifth Avenue subsidiary in 1973 as part of its diversification strategy. More expansion followed from the 1960s through the 1990s including the Midwest, in 1990, BATUS sold Saks to Investcorp S. A. which took Saks public in 1996 as Saks Holdings, Inc. In 1990, Saks Off 5th was launched, an outlet store offshoot of the main brand, in 1998, Proffitts, Inc. the parent company of Proffitts and other department stores, acquired Saks Holdings Inc. Upon completing the acquisition, Proffitts, Inc. changed its name to Saks, since 2000 Saks has opened international locations in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, and Mexico City. In August 2007, the United States Postal Service began an experimental program selling the plus zip code extension to businesses, the first company to do so was Saks Fifth Avenue, which received the zip code of 10022-SHOE for the eighth-floor shoe department in its flagship Fifth Avenue store. During the 2007-2009 recession, Saks Fifth Avenue had to some stores and to cut prices and profit margins. It took three years before it could start selling at closer to full price, on July 29,2013, the Hudsons Bay Company, owner of the competing chain Lord & Taylor, announced it would acquire Saks Fifth Avenues parent company for US$2.9 billion. Plans called for up to seven Saks Fifth Avenues to open in major Canadian markets, the store opened in February 2016 with a second Toronto area location in the Sherway Gardens shopping center opening in spring 2016. On January 6,2014, Marigay McKee, previously Chief Merchant at Harrods and she stepped down 15 months later on April 2,2015, and was replaced by Marc Metrick, a former executive at Saks’s parent company, Hudson’s Bay. Starting in 2015 Saks began a million, three-year restoration of its Fifth Avenue flagship store. In the summer of 2015, it was announced that Saks will debut a new location in Greenwich, in the fall of 2015, Saks was planning to replace its existing store at the Houston Galleria with a new store
19.
Macy's Central
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Macys Central, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is a division of Macys, Inc. It has stores in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, the divisional flagship store is located at Lenox Square in Atlanta. In February 2008 Macys South acquired Macys Midwest and renamed itself as Macys Central, there was a prior division of R. H. Macy & Co. Inc. named Macys South that was headquartered in Atlanta from 1988 to 1992. It operated stores in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana and Texas as Macys and in California, Arizona and Nevada as Bullocks. The former South division was formed following Macys acquisition of Bullocks, incorporating Macys Atlanta with the Florida, Louisiana and Texas locations of Macys New York and it was dissolved in 1992 and its stores consolidated into Macys East and Macys West. The Famous-Barr Co. L. S. Ayres, The Jones Store Co, kaufmanns, May Company Ohio, ONeils and Strouss
20.
Shamrock Hotel
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The Shamrock was a hotel constructed between 1946 and 1949 by wildcatter Glenn McCarthy southwest of downtown Houston, Texas next to the Texas Medical Center. It was the largest hotel built in the United States during the 1940s, the grand opening of the Shamrock is still cited as one of the biggest social events ever held in Houston. Sold to Hilton Hotels in 1955 and operated for three decades as the Shamrock Hilton, the facility endured financial struggles throughout its history. In 1985, Hilton Hotels donated the building to the Texas Medical Center, designed by Fort Worth architect Wyatt C. Hedrick, the building with a green tile pitched roof and 1,100 rooms was conceived by McCarthy as a city-sized hotel scaled for conventions with a resort atmosphere. The hotel was located in an area three miles southwest of downtown Houston at the acute southwest corner of Main Street and Bellaire Boulevard. At the hotels north side was a building containing a 1, 000-car garage and 25. Construction was completed for about $21,000,000, politician and entrepreneur Jesse H. Jones privately warned McCarthy that business travelers would be reluctant to stay at a hotel three miles south from downtown Houston. Hotel industry executives flatly warned McCarthy the project would not be profitable and he publicly replied, I went into the oil business in 1933 when everybody said I was a damn fool. Now theyre saying it again about my hotel, the 5, 000-square-foot lobby was paneled in burled mahogany with added trim heavily influenced by Art Deco, a design movement which had been popular during the 1920s and 30s. McCarthy ordered furnishings and decor in 63 shades of green, a nod to his ancestral Ireland, McCarthy claimed the decor represented the best of all periods. Time magazine described it as eclectic, the buildings structural design has since been characterized as more robust and sturdy than sleek and futuristic. The hotel opened with fireworks displays on St. Patrick’s Day 1949, two thousand Houstonians paid $42 a person to have dinner at what was widely publicized as “Houston’s biggest party which cost an estimated one million dollars. Many more were brought in by train on a chartered Santa Fe Super Chief, with a crowd estimated at 50,000 gathering outside the hotel, newspaper boys dressed in black tie handed out commemorative editions of the Houston Post as guests arrived that evening. The party became very overcrowded, with three thousand people milling in the public areas, a thousand more than had been foreseen. Houston mayor Oscar F. Holcombe and his wife sat in a hallway for two hours after his chair was stolen and it was the worst mob scene I have ever witnessed, Holcombe said later. Due to the numerous broadcast difficulties, Lamour reportedly fled the stage in tears, the Houston Chronicles society editor wrote that the event was bedlam in diamonds. Life called it. the most dazzling exhibition of evening dresses, everyone had to concede it was quite a party and quite a hotel
21.
Gerald D. Hines
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Gerald D. Hines is the founder and chairman of Hines, a privately held real estate firm with its U. S. headquarters located in Houston, Texas, and its European headquarters located in London. As of 2016, Gerald Hines net worth equaled USD $1.3 billion, Hines was born in 1925 in Gary, Indiana. His parents moved to Gary from Nova Scotia in 1923, Hines is descended from British loyalists who fought in the Revolutionary War. In 1948, he graduated with a bachelor in mechanical engineering from Purdue University and he moved to Houston in 1948. Shortly after, he formed a partnership and started a fledgling real estate business on the side. Early Hines projects were warehouses and small office buildings and his first large-scale commercial development came in 1967 when Shell Oil Company hired Hines to construct a new downtown Houston headquarters. The Galleria, Pennzoil Place, Transco Tower and more than 400 other major buildings followed. Today, Hines is one of the largest real estate firms in the world, according to a 2005 report by the Lipsey Company with operations throughout the U. S. and in 16 other countries. Many of his buildings were designed by architects, I. M. Pei, Philip Johnson, Cesar Pelli, Frank Gehry. With controlled assets valued at approximately $25, as of 2016, his net worth equaled USD $1.3 billion. Hines also served as chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas from 1981-1983, Hines donated $7 million to the University of Houston’s College of Architecture which renamed the college the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture. He was one of the contributors in the construction of the Chabad Jewish Community Center in Aspen. In 1952, he married Dorothy Schwarz of the Schwarz family, founders of F. A. O. Schwartz toys, in 1981, he married German-born painter, Barbara Hines, the daughter of Holocaust survivors. His cousin is inventor Gordon E. Hines, Hines has an Urban Land Institute competition and award named in his honor, the ULI/Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition. Gerald Hines Oral History, Houston Oral History Project, December 13,2007, interview with Gerald Hines 2013 William R. Jenkins Architecture and Art Library, University of Houston Digital Library
22.
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
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The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is one of the worlds oldest shopping malls. Housed within a double arcade in central Milan, the Galleria is named after Victor Emmanuel II. It was designed in 1861 and built by Giuseppe Mengoni between 1865 and 1877, the structure consists of two glass-vaulted arcades intersecting in an octagon covering the street connecting Piazza del Duomo to Piazza della Scala. The central octagonal space is topped with a glass dome, the Milanese Galleria was larger in scale than its predecessors and was an important step in the evolution of the modern glazed and enclosed shopping mall, of which it was the direct progenitor. It has inspired the use of the term galleria for many other shopping arcades, on the ground of the central octagonal, there are four mosaics portraying the coat of arms of the three capitals of the Kingdom of Italy plus Milans. Tradition says that if a person spins around three times with a heel on the testicles of the bull from Turin coat of arms this will bring good luck and this practice causes damage to the mosaic, a hole developed on the place of the bulls genitals. The Galleria connects two of Milans most famous landmarks, The Duomo and the Teatro Alla Scala, but the Galleria is a landmark in its own right, the Milan gallery and its roof have been acknowledged as an important reference on 19th-century iron-and-glass architecture by Pevsner and Hitchcock. As one can observe today, the roof consists of four barrel vaults that are crowned with a huge dome. Jorini pointed out the accomplishments of this dome with special regard to the large dimensions, each of the roof parts is topped with a lantern. According to Geist, the Milan gallery and the roof were unprecedented in dimensions by previously built shopping arcades, another difference with already existing passages, was the monumental character of the roof at Milan. Jodice, for example, appreciated the monumental spatial effect of the dome, the construction of the whole Gallery was the result of international collaboration. This especially concerned the roof, the ironwork was produced, transported and installed by the French Atelier Henry Joret, the glass plates were made of flat ribbed glass by Saint-Gobain. The construction technology of the roof employs primary wrought-iron arches in order to support the glazing, by contrast, arcades that were built earlier were smaller and had simpler roofs, the same components were used for both load bearing and glazing purposes. In addition, the roof at Milan was equipped with invisible reinforcements in the supporting walls and this complicated roof is discussed as the unity of four systems that were skillfully combined through characteristic construction details. This construction technology was creative for avoiding visible tie-rods in the spans of the vaults, the historical roof was heavily damaged during World War II. Before that the roof had undergone multiple maintenance interventions, serious problems in the roof were reported in the 1970s and some of them were solved in the 1980s. The roof that we see today has gone through different historic modifications, the Galleria is often nicknamed il salotto di Milano, due to its numerous shops and importance as a common Milanese meeting and dining place. As of 2013, the arcade principally contains luxury retailers selling haute couture, jewelry, books and paintings, as well as restaurants, cafés, and bars
23.
Milan
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Milan is a city in Italy, capital of the Lombardy region, and the most populous metropolitan area and the second most populous comune in Italy. The population of the city proper is 1,351,000, Milan has a population of about 8,500,000 people. It is the industrial and financial centre of Italy and one of global significance. In terms of GDP, it has the largest economy among European non-capital cities, Milan is considered part of the Blue Banana and lies at the heart of one of the Four Motors for Europe. Milan is an Alpha leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, design, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, services, research, and tourism. Its business district hosts Italys Stock Exchange and the headquarters of the largest national and international banks, the city is a major world fashion and design capital, well known for several international events and fairs, including Milan Fashion Week and the Milan Furniture Fair. The city hosts numerous cultural institutions, academies and universities, with 11% of the national total enrolled students, Milans museums, theatres and landmarks attract over 9 million visitors annually. Milan – after Naples – is the second Italian city with the highest number of accredited stars from the Michelin Guide, the city hosted the Universal Exposition in 1906 and 2015. Milan is home to two of Europes major football teams, A. C. Milan and F. C. Internazionale, the etymology of Milan is uncertain. One theory holds that the Latin name Mediolanum comes from the Latin words medio, however, some scholars believe lanum comes from the Celtic root lan, meaning an enclosure or demarcated territory in which Celtic communities used to build shrines. Hence, Mediolanum could signify the central town or sanctuary of a Celtic tribe, indeed, the name Mediolanum is borne by about sixty Gallo-Roman sites in France, e. g. Saintes and Évreux. Alciato credits Ambrose for his account, around 400 BC, the Celtic Insubres settled Milan and the surrounding region. In 222 BC, the Romans conquered the settlement, renaming it Mediolanum, Milan was eventually declared the capital of the Western Roman Empire by Emperor Diocletian in 286 AD. Diocletian chose to stay in the Eastern Roman Empire and his colleague Maximianus ruled the Western one, immediately Maximian built several monuments, such as a large circus 470 m ×85 m, the Thermae Herculeae, a large complex of imperial palaces and several other buildings. With the Edict of Milan of 313, Emperor Constantine I guaranteed freedom of religion for Christians, after the city was besieged by the Visigoths in 402, the imperial residence was moved to Ravenna. In 452, the Huns overran the city, in 539, the Ostrogoths conquered and destroyed Milan during the Gothic War against Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. In the summer of 569, a Teutonic tribe, the Lombards, conquered Milan, some Roman structures remained in use in Milan under Lombard rule. Milan surrendered to the Franks in 774 when Charlemagne took the title of King of the Lombards, the Iron Crown of Lombardy dates from this period
24.
Barrel vault
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A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design, the barrel vault is the simplest form of a vault, effectively a series of arches placed side by side. It is a form of barrel roof, as with all arch-based constructions, there is an outward thrust generated against the walls underneath a barrel vault. There are several mechanisms for absorbing this thrust, one is, of course, to make the walls exceedingly thick and strong - this is a primitive and sometimes unacceptable method. A more elegant method is to two or more vaults parallel to each other, the forces of their outward thrusts will thus negate each other. This method was most often used in construction of churches, where several vaulted naves ran parallel down the length of the building, however, the outer walls of the outermost vault would still have to be quite strong or reinforced by buttressing. The third and most elegant mechanism to resist the lateral thrust was to create an intersection of two barrel vaults at right angles, thus forming a groin vault, Barrel vaults are known from Ancient Egypt, and were used extensively in Roman architecture. They were also used to replace the Cloaca Maxima with a system of underground sewers, other early barrel vault designs occur in northern Europe, Turkey, Morocco, and other regions. In medieval Europe, the vault was an important element of stone construction in monasteries, castles, tower houses. This form of design is observed in cellars, crypts, long hallways, cloisters, Barrel vaulting was known and utilized by early civilizations, including Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. However, it apparently was not a popular or common method of construction within these civilizations. The Persians and the Romans were the first to make significant architectural use of them, the technique probably evolved out of necessity to roof buildings with masonry elements such as bricks or stone blocks in areas where timber and wood were scarce. The earliest tunnel vaults in Egypt are found at Requagnah and Denderah and these were built with sun-dried brick in three rings over passages descending to tombs, in these cases, as the span of the vault was only two metres. Ancient Romans most probably inherited their knowledge of barrel vaulting from Etruscans, after the fall of the Roman empire, few buildings large enough to require much in the way of vaulting were built for several centuries. In the early Romanesque period, a return to stone barrel vaults was seen for the first great cathedrals, their interiors were dark, due to thick. One of the largest and most famous churches enclosed from above by a vast barrel vault was the church of Cluny Abbey, peters Basilica in Rome, where a huge barrel vault spans the 27 m -wide nave. With a barrel vault design the vectors of pressure result in a force on the crown while the lower portions of the arches realise a lateral force pushing outwards. As an outcome this form of design is subject to failure unless the sides are anchored or buttressed to very heavy building elements or substantial earthwork sidings
25.
Lord & Taylor
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Lord & Taylor is the oldest luxury department store in the United States, headquartered in New York City. It is a subsidiary of the oldest commercial corporation in North America, samuel Lord and George Washington Taylor founded the store in 1826 on Catherine Street in Manhattan selling hosiery, misses wear, and cashmere shawls. By 1861, the store was located on Broadway at Grand Street and their iconic Starrett & van Vleck Fifth Avenue store opened between 38th and 39th streets on February 24,1914. A founding member of Associated Dry Goods, Lord & Taylor was considered to be their crown jewel, when the May Company acquired ADG in 1986, it was assumed that May had bought them just for the division. The Fifth Avenue store became a New York City Landmark in December 2007, as of January 2017, there are 50 full-line stores across the United States, a majority are located in the Northeast Megalopolis. In 1945, Dorothy Shaver became the first woman to head a major retail establishment in the United States as president of Lord & Taylor. As vice president working with the design firm of Raymond Loewy Associates, she opened what is credited as the first ever branch store, in Manhasset. Unlike earlier forays into the suburbs that consisted of smaller boutique-style shops, the store consisted of 66 individual shops. Lord & Taylors relationship with Raymond Loewy Associates continued until 1969, following the construction of the Stamford, Connecticut, many of Lord & Taylors special services, including personal shoppers, were introduced while Shaver presided. During this period she introduced the Andrew Geller hand written logo, william J. Lippincott was elected chairman and chief executive in 1972. A management shakeup ousted him in 1976, the chain partially withdrew from the oil-shocked Texas and southern Florida markets in 1989–1990 after its 1986 acquisition by May. Under May, the majority of the former Hahne & Co, wanamakers, and Woodward & Lothrop locations were rebuilt or refitted for Lord & Taylor. Starting in June 2000, Jane Elfers served as Lord & Taylors second female president and she was replaced in October 2008 by former Neiman Marcus executive, Brendan Hoffman. According to HBC executive chairman, Richard Baker, her contract had expired, a third female president, Bonnie Brooks, took over his position in 2011. A fourth female president, Liz Rodbell, replaced her in 2013, in July 2003, Lord & Taylors leadership sought to highlight the stores contemporary heritage. Some locations have undergone restoration projects, while others were also expanded, additional changes included the transformation of several Lord & Taylor Signature Restaurants into branch locations for Sarabeths Restaurant. Sarabeths opened inside the Fifth Avenue store during the fall of 2008, owner May Department Stores was acquired by Federated Department Stores, now Macys Inc, on August 30,2005. On January 12,2006, Federated chairman, president, in a move that took advantage of valuable real estate, Federated announced on March 10,2006 that seven conflicting Lord & Taylor locations would either close or downscale into Macys
26.
Marshall Field's
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Marshall Field & Company, commonly known as Marshall Field’s, was a department store in Chicago, Illinois, that grew to become a chain before being acquired by Macys, Inc. on August 30,2005. Marshall Field & Company traces its antecedents to a dry goods store opened at 137 Lake Street in Chicago, Illinois in 1852 by Potter Palmer, eponymously named P. Palmer & Company. Just prior to the American Civil War, in 1860, Field and bookkeeper Levi Z. Leiter, became partners in the firm, then known as Cooley. In 1864, the firm, then led by senior partner John V. Farwell, Sr. was renamed Farwell, only for Field and Leiter to soon withdraw from the partnership with Farwell when presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. Potter Palmer, plagued by ailing health, was looking to dispose of his business, so on January 4,1865, Field and Leiter entered into partnership with him. So the firm of P. Palmer & Company became Field, Palmer, Leiter & Company and his brother, Milton Palmer, left at this time as well. The store was renamed Field, Leiter & Company, sometimes referred to as “Field & Leiter”, the buyout, however, did not bring an end to Potter Palmer’s association with the firm. In 1868, Palmer convinced Field and Leiter to lease a new, six-story edifice he had just built at the northeast corner of State, the store was soon referred to as the “Marble Palace” owing to its costly marble stone face. When the Great Chicago Fire broke out on October 8,1871, news of this, the Company’s drivers and teams were ordered out of the barns. Parker, a salesman, rushed to the store’s basement, broke up boxes. These employees worked feverishly through the night to remove vital records, at one point, the gas tank exploded, which put out the store’s gaslights. The men worked on by candlelight and the glow from the approaching flames, early in the following morning however, the citys waterworks burned, thus ending the water supply and making further efforts useless. The last employee had scarcely made it out of the building when it burst into flames, the store burned to the ground. However, as a result of the employees herculean efforts, so much merchandise was saved that the store was able to reopen in only a few weeks in a temporary location. Six months later, in April 1872, Field & Leiter reopened in a building at Madison. Salesman Parker stayed on with the Company for 45 more years and this store was expanded in 1876, only to be destroyed by fire again in November 1877. Field, Leiter & Company now reclaimed their traditional location at the northeast corner of State, in January 1881, Field, with the support of his junior partners, bought out Levi Z. In 1932, this building was leased to the later famous nationwide mail-order firm Sears, in 1887, the landmark seven-story Henry Hobson Richardson-designed, Romanesque-styled, Marshall Fields Wholesale Store opened on Franklin Street between Quincy and Adams
27.
Philip Johnson
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In 1978 he was awarded an American Institute of Architects Gold Medal and in 1979 the first Pritzker Architecture Prize. Johnson was born in Cleveland, Ohio on July 8,1906 and he was descended from the Jansen family of New Amsterdam, and included among his ancestors the Huguenot Jacques Cortelyou, who laid out the first town plan of New Amsterdam for Peter Stuyvesant. In 1928 he met Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who was at the time designing the German Pavilion for the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition. The meeting formed the basis for a relationship of both collaboration and competition In 1930, Johnson joined the architecture department of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. There he arranged for American visits by Gropius and Le Corbusier, in 1932, working with Hitchcock and Alfred H. Barr, Jr. and Henry-Russell Hitchcock, he organized the first exhibition on Modern architecture at the Museum of Modern Art in 1932. The show and their published book International Style, Modern Architecture Since 1922 played an important part in introducing modern architecture to the American public. When the rise of the Nazis in Germany forced the modernists Marcel Breuer and Mies van der Rohe to leave Germany, in 1936, in the depths of the Great Depression, he left the Museum of Modern Art for a brief venture into journalism and politics. In his 1994 biography of Johnson, Schultze wrote, In politics he proved to be a model of futility and he was never much of a political threat to anyone, still less an effective doer of either political good or political evil. In 1941, at the age of 35, Johnson abandoned politics and journalism and enrolled in the Harvard Graduate School of Design, in 1941, Johnson designed and actually built his first building, a house still existing at 9 Ash Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The house, strongly influenced by Mies van der Rohe, has a wall around the lot which merges with the structure, after the United States entered World War II in December 1941, Johnson enlisted in the Army. He spent his service during the war in the United States. In 1946, after he completed his service, Johnson returned to the Museum of Modern Art as a curator. At the same time, he began working to establish his architectural practice and he built a small house, in th style of Mies, in Saaponack, Long Island in 1946. This was followed by one of this most famous buildings, which he built for himself, the Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut, completed in 1949, which has become a landmark of modern architecture. Johnson had curated an exhibit of Mies van der Rohes at the Museum of Modern Art in 1947, the house is a 56 foot by 32 foot glass rectangle, sited at the edge of a crest on Johnsons estate overlooking a pond. The buildings sides are glass and charcoal-painted steel, the floor, of brick, is not flush with the ground, the interior is an open space divided by low walnut cabinets, a brick cylinder contains the bathroom and is the only object to reach floor to ceiling. The New York Times described it in 2005 as one of the 20th centurys greatest residential structures, Johnson continued to add to the Glass House estate during each period of his career. After completing the Glass House, he completed two more houses in New Canaan in a similar to that of Mies, the Hodgson House
28.
Macy's
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Macys, originally R. H. Macy & Co. is a department store owned by Macys, Inc. It is one of two owned by the company, with the other being Bloomingdales. Macys has conducted the annual Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City since 1924 and has sponsored the citys annual Fourth of July fireworks display since 1976, Macys Herald Square is one of the largest department stores in the world. The value of Herald Square has been estimated at around $3 billion, in 2015 Macys was the largest U. S. department store company by retail sales. Macys was the 15th-largest retailer in the United States for 2014 by revenue and they all failed, but he learned from his mistakes. On the companys first day of business on October 28,1858 sales totaled US$11.08, equal to $306.15 today. From the beginning, Macys logo has included a star, which comes from a tattoo that Macy got as a teenager when he worked on a Nantucket whaling ship and it also offered a money back guarantee, although it accepted only cash into the 1950s. The store also produced its own clothing for both men and women, assembled in an on-site factory. In 1875, Macy took on two partners, Robert M. Valentine, a nephew, and Abiel T, la Forge of Wisconsin, who was the husband of a cousin. Macy died in 1877 from inflammatory kidney disease, la Forge died the following year, and Valentine died in 1879. This latter 5-story building was purchased by Robert H. Macys ignored the tactic, and simply built around the building, in 1912, Isidor Straus died in the sinking of the Titanic at the age of 67 with his wife, Ida. The original Broadway store was designed by architects De Lemos & Cordes, was built in 1901–02 by the Fuller Company and has a Palladian facade, but has been updated in many details. There were further additions to the west in 1924 and 1928, and the Seventh Avenue building in 1931, all designed by architect Robert D. Kohn, the newer buildings were increasingly Art Deco in style. In 2012, Macys began the first full renovation of the iconic Herald Square flagship store at a reported cost of US$400,000,000, STUDIO V Architecture, a New York-based firm, was the overall Master Plan architect of the project. STUDIO Vs fresh design of the department store raised controversy over the nature of contemporary design, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark in 1978. The store has several wooden escalators still in operation, the problem of pre-existing buildings also presented itself when Macys built a store on Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst, in the New York City borough of Queens. This resulted in a unique round department store on 90 percent of the lot, Macys no longer fully occupies this building, which now contains the Queens Place Mall, with Macys Furniture Gallery as a tenant, instead it moved its full outlet to the nearby Queens Center. This relocation was the result of Macys merger with Federated Department Stores, the parent company of Abraham & Straus, in 1994, more distant acquisitions included Lasalle & Koch, Davison-Paxon-Stokes, L. Bamberger & Co
29.
Westfield Group
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Westfield Group undertook ownership, development, design, construction, funds/asset management, property management, leasing, and marketing activities. The Westfield Group had origins in the suburbs of Sydney. The first development was named Westfield Place, and opened in July 1959 in Blacktown, the name Westfield is derived from west related to the West Sydney location, and field due to having located on subdivided farmland. The centre was opened by John Saunders and Frank Lowy, the company was floated on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1960 and built another five centres in New South Wales before expanding into Victoria and Queensland in 1966-67. For the first half of 1971, Westfield reported earnings of $886,382, in 1994 Westfield joined together with General Growth and Whitehall Real Estate to purchase 19 centres for US$1 billion. Westfield seems to form clusters of centres on particular cities or within a number of states. They built considerable holdings on the east coast and in California before expanding in the Mid-West, by 2005, the company owned centres in 15 US states. In the 1990s, Westfield began an expansion to New Zealand. Only in 2007, with Westfield Albany, has the company opened a new centre in the country. The funds would be used to repay debt and invest in businesses offering higher return, the sales were expected to be completed by mid–2012. Despite the Westfield Groups asset dimensions, the Westfield Group was strongly controlled by the Lowy Family Group, including chairman, Frank Lowy. Lowys two younger sons, Steven and Peter, were joint managing directors, having been established in Australia, with their original premises being at Blacktown, the Westfield Group continued to operate a large number of shopping centres in Australia. This feature was removed in 2016 due to concerns that the system could be used to track the movements of others by giving the wrong car numberplate on registration of the phone number, Westfield entered the United States market in 1977. In September 2003 the company received $17.3 million as a party in the claim following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. On 18 February 2006, the Los Angeles Times reported that Westfield had agreed to acquire 15 stores from Federated Department Stores, all, as of 2014, Westfield owned 38 malls in the United States. Westfield entered the New Zealand market in 1997 and acquired an interest in the St. Lukes Group portfolio in 1998, Westfield Malls were by far the most numerous chain in New Zealand, with 6 of its 11 centres in Auckland including their largest development located in Albany. The group reportedly also had three of its smaller malls, Pakuranga, Glenfield, and Chartwell in Hamilton up for sale, as of 2014, before Westfield Corporation was created, Westfield had an interest in two shopping centres in England and Northern Ireland. By far its most significant asset was Westfields 50% partnership in the £1. 6b Westfield London development in Shepherds Bush, the development included the construction of a new railway station for the London Overground and Southern services, and a new entrance for the London Underground station
30.
Foley's
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Foleys was a chain of department stores owned by May Department Stores and headquartered in Downtown Houston, Texas. As of August 30,2005, the division was dissolved and operation of the stores was assumed by Federateds Macys West, Foleys operated stores in Texas, Colorado, Louisiana, Arizona, Oklahoma and New Mexico. On September 9,2006 Foleys and all the regional May Co. stores names were phased out and this company was founded in Houston, Texas, in 1900 as Foley Brothers. It was originally acquired by Federated Department Stores, Inc. in 1947, in the 1970s, Foleys opened stores in Austin and in the 1980s opened in San Antonio. In 1988, Federated was purchased by real estate developer Campeau Corporation, in two years Federated filed for bankruptcy, disassociated itself from Campeau, and merged with Campeaus other retail holding company Allied Stores. Over the next decade, May spent heavily to new stores, replace outdated stores. On February 2,1997, the 2 Arizona locations were transferred to Mays Robinsons-May division, in 2001, Foleys expanded into Louisiana after May Co. acquired several Maison Blanche locations that had become Parisian stores from Proffitts. Foleys was re-acquired by Federated when it took over May Department Stores on August 30,2005, in 2006, Federated started the conversion of Foleys into Macys. Soon advertisements started to read Foleys - Now part of the Macys Family, on September 9,2006, the Foleys stores were renamed Macys as part of Federateds nationwide rebranding of all former May locations. In 2005 Federated announced that it would close Foleys 1, 200-employee headquarters in Downtown Houston, the former Downtown Houston Foleys store was demolished on Sunday September 22,2013. 1900, Foley Brothers was opened by brothers Pat and James Foley, the 1, 400-square-foot store located at 507 Main Street in Houston, Texas, was stocked with calico, linen, lace, pins, needles, and mens furnishings. 1905, With business booming, Pat and James purchased the next door. 1911, The store moved to the 400th block of Main Street and was incorporated with capital of $150,000,1916, Foley Brothers ranked third in retail volume in Houston with $400,000 in sales. The original 10 employees had grown to 150, and the company had 750 active charge accounts and 23,000 square feet of space,1917, Pat and James sold Foley Brothers to George S. Cohen and Georges father, Robert, a Galveston merchant. Foley Bros. grew tremendously under this new management and by 1919,1922, Foley Bros. moved into a three-story building next door to 400 Main Street. Later that year, the became the citys largest department store. Shoes, a beauty shop, and radio sets were included,1941, When the United States entered World War II, Foley Bros. diverted the efforts of the advertising and personnel departments to bond drives and other wartime services. All sales promotions were suspended during this time,1945, Federated Department Stores president Fred Lazarus, Jr. came to Houston to visit his son, who was stationed at a nearby Army camp
31.
Louis Vuitton
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Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly referred to as Louis Vuitton, or shortened to LV, is a house founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The labels LV monogram appears on most of its products, ranging from luxury trunks and leather goods to ready-to-wear, shoes, watches, jewelry, accessories, sunglasses, for six consecutive years, Louis Vuitton was named the worlds most valuable luxury brand. Its 2012 valuation was US$25.9 billion, the 2013 valuation of the brand was US$28.4 billion with revenue of US$9.4 billion. The company operates in 50 countries with more than 460 stores worldwide, the Louis Vuitton label was founded by Vuitton in 1854 on Rue Neuve des Capucines in Paris, France. Louis Vuitton had observed that the HJ Cave Osilite trunk could be stacked and in 1858, Vuitton introduced his flat-bottom trunks with trianon canvas. Before the introduction of Vuittons trunks, rounded-top trunks were used, generally to promote water run off and it was Vuittons gray Trianon canvas flat trunk that allowed the ability to stack with ease for voyages. Many other luggagemakers imitated LVs style and design, the company participated in the 1867 Universal Exhibition in Paris. To protect against the duplication of his look, Vuitton changed the Trianon design to a beige, by 1885, the company opened its first store in London on Oxford Street. In 1892, Louis Vuitton died, and the management passed to his son. After the death of his father, Georges Vuitton began a campaign to build the company into a worldwide corporation, in 1896, the company launched the signature Monogram Canvas and made the worldwide patents on it. Its graphic symbols, including quatrefoils and flowers, were based on the trend of using Japanese Mon designs in the late Victorian era, the patents later proved to be successful in stopping counterfeiting. In this same year, Georges traveled to the United States, where he toured cities such as New York, Philadelphia, in 1901, the Louis Vuitton Company introduced the Steamer Bag, a smaller piece of luggage designed to be kept inside Vuitton luggage trunks. By 1913, the Louis Vuitton Building opened on the Champs-Elysees and it was the largest travel-goods store in the world at the time. Stores also opened in New York, Bombay, Washington, London, Alexandria, afterwards, in 1930, the Keepall bag was introduced. During 1932, LV introduced the Noé bag and this bag was originally made for champagne vintners to transport bottles. Soon thereafter, the Louis Vuitton Speedy bag was introduced, in 1936 Georges Vuitton died, and his son, Gaston-Louis Vuitton, assumed control of the company. During World War II, Louis Vuitton collaborated with the Nazis during the German occupation of France, the family set up a factory dedicated to producing artifacts glorifying Pétain, including more than 2,500 busts. Caroline Babulle, a spokeswoman for the publisher, Fayard, said, They have not contested anything in the book, responding to the books release in 2004, a spokesman for LVMH said, This is ancient history
32.
Gucci
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Gucci is an Italian luxury brand of fashion and leather goods, part of the Gucci Group, which is owned by the French holding company Kering. Gucci was founded by Guccio Gucci in Florence in 1921, Gucci is also the biggest-selling Italian brand. Gucci operates about 278 directly operated stores worldwide as of September 2009, in the year 2013, the brand was valued at US$12.1 billion, with sales of US$4.7 billion. In the Forbes Worlds Most Valuable Brands list, Gucci is ranked the 38th most valuable brand, as of January 2015, the creative director is Alessandro Michele. With beginnings at the end of the 19th century, the Gucci company became one of the world’s most successful manufacturers of leather goods, clothing. As an immigrant hotel worker in Paris and later London, young Guccio Gucci was impressed with the luggage he saw urbane guests bring with them. Before leaving, he visited the manufacturer, H. J. Cave & Sons, upon returning to his birthplace of Florence, a city distinguished for high-quality materials and skilled artisans, he established a shop in 1920 that sold fine leather goods with classic styling. Although Gucci organized his workrooms for industrial methods of production, he maintained traditional aspects of fabrication, initially, Gucci employed skilled workers in basic Florentine leather crafts, attentive to finishing. With expansion, machine stitching was a method that supported construction. Together with three of his sons, Aldo Gucci, Vasco Gucci, and Rodolfo Gucci, Gucci expanded the company to include stores in Milan and Rome as well as additional shops in Florence. Guccis stores featured such finely crafted leather accessories as handbags, shoes, the company made handbags of cotton canvas rather than leather during World War II as a result of material shortages. The canvas, however, was distinguished by a signature double-G symbol combined with prominent red, after the war, the Gucci crest, which showed a shield and armored knight surrounded by a ribbon inscribed with the family name, became synonymous with the city of Florence. Aldo and Rodolfo Gucci further expanded the horizons in 1953 by establishing offices in New York City. Film stars and jet-set travelers to Italy during the 1950s and 1960s brought their glamour to Florence, movie stars posed in Guccis clothing, accessories, and footwear for lifestyle magazines around the world, contributing to the company’s growing reputation. Guccis distinctive lines made its products among the most frequently copied in the world in the early 2000s, pigskin, calf, and imported exotic animal skins were subjected to various methods of fabrication. Waterproof canvas and satin were used for evening bags, bamboo was first used to make handbag handles by a process of heating and molding in 1947, and purses made with a shoulder strap and snaffle-bit decoration were introduced in 1960. In 1964 Gucci’s lush butterfly pattern was custom-created for silk foulards, the original Gucci loafer was updated by a distinctive snaffle-bit ornament in 1966, while the Rolls-Royce luggage set was introduced in 1970. Watches, jewelry, ties, and eyewear were then added to the product lines
33.
Kate Spade
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Kate Valentine, formerly known as Kate Spade, is an American fashion designer and businesswoman. She is the namesake and former co-owner of the designer brand, in 2006, she sold the last of her shares in that company. In 2016, she and her partners launched a new fashion brand called Frances Valentine. Brosnahan was born in Kansas City, Missouri and she graduated from St. Teresas Academy, an all-girl Catholic high school. She attended the University of Kansas and then transferred to Arizona State University, joined Kappa Kappa Gamma, in 1986, she worked in the accessories department of Mademoiselle in Manhattan, where she was credited in the magazines masthead with her maiden name as Katy Brosnahan. While at Mademoiselle, she moved in with Andy Spade, a native of Scottsdale, the two had worked side-by-side as salespersons in a mens clothing store, Carters Men Shop in Phoenix, Arizona. Together, they were featured in the magazine as part of a story on couples in love. She left Mademoiselle in 1991, with the title of senior fashion editor/head of accessories, while working for Mademoiselle, she had noticed that the market lacked stylish and sensible handbags, and she decided to create her own. Kate and Andy Spade launched the New York–based design company kate spade handbags in January 1993. As the name implies, they initially sold handbags, but eventually extended to clothing, jewelry, shoes, stationery, eyewear, baby items, fragrances, tabletop, bedding. In 2004, kate spade at home was launched as a home collection brand and it featured bedding, bath items, china, wallpaper and various items for the home. She also shared about her style and philosophies in her three books, Manners, Occasions, and Style. The brand went international in 2004, when a store was opened in Aoyama, Tokyo, after selling the remaining portion of her ownership stake in the Kate Spade brand in 2006, Spade took time off to raise her daughter. In 2016, she and her partners launched a new brand called Frances Valentine, the names Frances and Valentine are from her family members and she added the two names to her own legal name. Neiman Marcus Group purchased 56% of the Kate Spade brand in 1999, Neiman Marcus then sold the Kate Spade label for $124 million in 2006 to Liz Claiborne Inc. which was later renamed to Fifth & Pacific. In February 2014, Fifth & Pacific changed its name to Kate Spade & Company, craig A. Leavitt became the new CEO, succeeding William McComb. Kate Spade New York has over 140 retail shops and outlet stores across the United States and their products are sold in more than 450 stores worldwide, in every time zone and on every continent. The company grew to include retail outlets as well as selling their products through such high-end stores as Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Avenue, in 1996, the Council of Fashion Designers of America awarded Spade Americas New Fashion Talent in Accessories for her classic designs
34.
Cartier (jeweler)
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Société Cartier is a French luxury goods conglomerate company. The company designs, manufactures, distributes and sells jewellery and watches, founded in Paris, France in 1847 by Louis-François Cartier, the company remained under family control until 1964. The company maintains its headquarters in Paris and is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the Compagnie Financière Richemont SA. Cartier is well known for its jewellery and wrist watches, including the Bestiary, the diamond necklace created for Bhupinder Singh the Maharaja of Patiala and the Santos wristwatch of 1904. Cartier has a history of sales to royalty and celebrities. For example, Kate Middleton. King Edward VII of England referred to Cartier as the jeweller of kings, for his coronation in 1902, Edward VII ordered 27 tiaras and issued a royal warrant to Cartier in 1904. Similar warrants soon followed from the courts of Spain, Portugal, Russia, Siam, Greece, Serbia, Belgium, Romania, Egypt, Albania, Monaco, Louis-François Cartier founded Cartier in Paris in 1847 when he took over the workshop of his master. In 1874, Louis-François son Alfred Cartier took over the company, but it was Alfreds sons Louis, Pierre and Jacques, in 1904, the Brazilian pioneer aviator, Alberto Santos-Dumont complained to his friend Louis Cartier of the unreliability and impracticality of using pocket watches while flying. Cartier designed a flat wristwatch with a square bezel. This watch was liked by not only Santos-Dumont but also many other customers and this was Cartiers first mens wristwatch. Louis retained responsibility for the Paris branch, moving to the Rue de la Paix in 1899, in 1907, Cartier signed a contract with Edmond Jaeger, who agreed to exclusively supply the movements for Cartier watches. By this time, Cartier had branches in London, New York, the Baignoire and Tortue models were introduced in 1912, followed by the Tank model in 1917. This, designed by Louis Cartier, was inspired from the newly introduced tanks on the Western Front and this line too has survived, with over thirty varieties made since. In the early 1920s, Cartier formed a joint company with Edward Jaeger to produce movements solely for Cartier, thus was the European watch and clock company born, although Cartier continued to use movements from other makers. Cartier watches can be found with movements from Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, Movado, Pierre Cartier established the New York City branch in 1909, moving in 1917 to 653 Fifth Avenue, the Neo-Renaissance mansion of Morton Freeman Plant and designed by architect C. P. H. Cartier acquired the mansion from the Plants in exchange for $100 in cash, among the Cartier team was Charles Jacqueau, who joined Louis Cartier in 1909 for the rest of his life, and Jeanne Toussaint, who was Director of Fine Jewellery from 1933. After the death of Pierre in 1964, Jean-Jacques Cartier, Claude Cartier, in 1972, a group of investors led by Joseph Kanoui bought Cartier Paris. President Robert Hocq, who created the phrase Les Must de Cartier with Alain Dominique Perrin, General Director, in 1974 and 1976 respectively, the group repurchased Cartier London and Cartier New York
35.
Carolina Herrera (fashion designer)
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Her socialite grandmother introduced her to the world of fashion, taking young Carolina to shows by Balenciaga and buying her outfits at Lanvin and Dior. She has said My eye was accustomed to see pretty things, in 1957, at the age of 18, she married Guillermo Behrens Tello, a Venezuelan landowner, with whom she had two daughters, Mercedes and Ana Luisa. In 1968, in Caracas, she married Reinaldo Herrera Guevara, therefore, by marriage, Carolina held the title The Marquise consort of Torre Casa, until it was retracted in 1992, as Reinaldo had issued no son. Her husband is an editor of Vanity Fair magazine. In 2009, Herrera became a naturalized United States citizen, in 1965, Herrera began her career working as a publicist for Emilio Pucci, a Florentine Marquis himself and a close family friend. She began working at Puccis Caracas boutique, and moved to New York in 1980, frequently associating with Mick and Bianca Jagger and Andy Warhol, at Studio 54, she became well known for her dramatic style. She first appeared on the International Best Dressed List in 1972, in 1981, her friend Diana Vreeland, then Editor-in-Chief of Vogue suggested that Carolina design a clothing line. Upon this initial success, she returned to Caracas and raised capital to fund a more formal launch and her first runway show in 1980 included future supermodel Iman. Carolina Herrera presents her Ready-to-Wear Collection semiannually at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York, in the late 1980s, Spanish fragrance company Puig licensed the Carolina Herrera name to develop and market a line of perfumes. In 1995, the acquired the Carolina Herrera fashion business. As of 2011, her daughters Carolina Jr. and Patricia Lansing participated in the creative direction and design. In February 2016, it was reported by WWD that the side of the business had more than 25,000 points of sale across the globe while the CH brand included 129 freestanding stores. In 2015, the first advert for the brand was released, featuring models Elisabeth Erm, in July 2016 Herrera announced the release of her new womens fragrance to be available for purchase in September, her biggest fragrance launch in 14 years. The scent is called Good Girl and Karlie Kloss is the face of the fragrance, in 2008, she was awarded the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America, and Womenswear Designer of the Year in 2004. Herrera is a recipient of The International Center in New Yorks Award of Excellence as well as Spains Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts and she was awarded the Gold Medal of the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute in 1997. She received the Fashion Group International Superstar Award, the Style Awards Designer of the Year in 2012 and she has been on the cover of Vogue seven times. Since 2004, she has been a member of the board of directors of jewelry designer Mimi So, in 2014, she earned the 2014 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion. Carolina Herrera Spring 2014 Ready-to-Wear Collection Carolina Herrera runway shows and fashion collections Carolina Herrera
36.
Ralph Lauren
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Ralph Lauren is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and business executive, best known for the Ralph Lauren Corporation, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He has also become known for his collection of rare automobiles. Lauren stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of the company in September 2015 but remains its Executive Chairman, as of October 2016, Forbes estimates his wealth at $5.5 billion, which makes Ralph Lauren the 233rd richest person in the world. Ralph Lauren was born in The Bronx, New York City, to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants, Frieda and Frank Lifshitz and he is the youngest of four siblings – two brothers and one sister. Lauren attended day school followed by MTA, before graduating from DeWitt Clinton High School in 1957. He grew up playing basketball and baseball and he wanted to be Joe DiMaggio, and then he wanted to be a movie star. Lauren constantly draws inspiration from his heroes including Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant and he went to Baruch College, at the City University of New York where he studied business, although he dropped out after two years. From 1962 to 1964 he served in the United States Army, the Ralph Lauren Corporation started in 1967 with men’s ties. At 28 years-old, Lauren worked for the tie manufacturer Beau Brummell, drawing on his interests in sports, Ralph Lauren named his first full line of menswear ‘Polo’ in 1968. He worked out of a drawer from a showroom in the Empire State Building. By 1969, the Manhattan department store Bloomingdales sold Lauren’s men line exclusively and it was the first time that Bloomingdale’s had given a designer their own in-store boutique. In 1971, Ralph Lauren Corporation launched a line of tailored shirts for women, the first full women’s collection was launched the following year. 1971 also marked the opening of Ralph Lauren’s store on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and this is the first freestanding store for an American designer. In 1972 the Ralph Lauren Corporation introduced a signature cotton mesh Polo shirt in various colors, featuring the polo player logo at the chest, the shirt became emblematic of the preppy look—one of Ralph Laurens signature styles. The tag line for the ad campaign was, Every team has its color -- Polo has seventeen, in 1977, Diane Keaton and Woody Allen wore Lauren’s clothes throughout their Oscar-winning film, Annie Hall. The first Ralph Lauren fragrances, produced by Warner-Lauren, Ltd. were launched at Bloomingdales in March 1978, Lauren, a fragrance for women, on March 12 and Polo, cologne for men, on March 26. This was the first time that a designer has introduced two fragrances – one for men and one for women – simultaneously, Ralph Lauren opens his first flagship in the Rhinelander mansion, on Madison Avenue and 72nd Street in New York City in 1986. Lauren re-creates the buildings original opulence with a design consultant named Naomi Leff
37.
Giorgio Armani
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Giorgio Armani is an Italian fashion designer, particularly noted for his menswear. He is known today for his clean, tailored lines and he is credited with pioneering red-carpet fashion. Whilst at secondary school at the Liceo Scientifico Respighi in Piacenza, Armani aspired to a career in medicine and he enrolled in the Department of Medicine at the University of Milan, but after three years, in 1953, he left and joined the army. Due to his background, he was assigned to the Military Hospital in Verona. He eventually decided to look for a different career path, after his stint in the armed forces, Armani found a job as a window dresser at La Rinascente, a department store in Milan in 1957. He went on to become a seller for the menswear department, in the mid-1960s, Armani moved to the Nino Cerruti company, for which he designed menswear. His skills were in demand, and for the decade, while continuing to work for Cerutti, Armani also freelanced. In the late 1960s, Armani met Sergio Galeotti, an architectural draftsman, in 1973, Galeotti persuaded him to open a design office in Milan, at 37 Corso Venezia. The international press was quick to acknowledge Armanis importance following the shows at the Sala Bianca in the Pitti Palace in Florence. The experience provided Armani with an opportunity to develop his own style in new ways. He was now ready to devote his energy to his own label, in October of that same year, he presented his first collection of mens ready-to-wear for Spring and Summer 1976 under his own name. He also produced a line for the same season. In 1979, after founding the Giorgio Armani Corporation, Armani began producing for the United States, the label became one of the leading names in international fashion with the introduction of several new product lines, including G. A. Le Collezioni, Giorgio Armani Underwear and Swimwear, and Giorgio Armani Accessories, a new store was opened in Milan for the Emporio line, followed by the first Giorgio Armani boutique. Armanis concern for the end user culminated in the development of a more youthful product with the level of stylistic quality as his high-end line. Because of the nature of the Emporio line, Armani felt that he had to make use of new. These included television spots and enormous street ads, together with a magazine that was sent out by mail to consumers. Armani also felt that a relationship with the cinema was essential and he designed the costumes for American Gigolo, the success of which led to a long-term collaboration with the world of film
38.
Jimmy Choo
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Datuk Jimmy Choo Yeang Keat, OBE, is a Malaysian fashion designer based in the United Kingdom. He is best known for co-founding Jimmy Choo Ltd, which known for its handmade womens shoes. Choo was born in Penang, Malaysia, into a family of shoemakers and his family name is Chow but was misspelled on his birth certificate as Choo. He studied at Shih Chung Primary School in Love Lane, Penang and his father taught him how to make shoes, and it is often reported that he made his first shoe when he was 11 years old. Choo graduated from Cordwainers Technical College in Hackney in 1983, Choo worked part-time at restaurants and as a cleaner at a shoe factory to help fund his college education. After graduation Choo began work at a shop in Hackney which he opened in 1986 by renting an old hospital building and his craftsmanship and designs were soon noticed and his creations became featured in eight pages in a 1988 issue of Vogue. Patronage from Diana, Princess of Wales from 1990 further boosted his image, in 1996 he co-founded Jimmy Choo Ltd with British Vogue magazine accessories editor Tamara Mellon. In April 2001, Choo sold his 50% stake in the company for £10 million and he has since concentrated his work on the exclusive Jimmy Choo Couture line produced under license from Jimmy Choo Ltd. The Jimmy Choo London line, also known as Jimmy Choo Ready-To-Wear or, simply, the ready-to-wear line has expanded to include accessories such as handbags. Choo lives in London and is involved in a project to set up a shoemaking institute in Malaysia. His company continues to produce expensive high-end shoes and he is married to Rebecca Choo from Hong Kong. The couple have a son, Danny, and a daughter, a niece of the couple, Lucy Choi, followed in her uncles footsteps by becoming a shoe designer. He is referenced in Fetty Waps 2015 hit titled Jimmy Choo and Bollywood hit Song Abhi toh Party Shuru Hui Hai from movie Khubsurat
39.
Bulgari
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Bulgari is an Italian jewelry and luxury goods brand that produces and markets several product lines including jewelry, watches, fragrances, accessories, and hotels. The name Voulgaris itself contains the root word Βούλγαρ Greek for Bulgarian, furthermore in the companys native Italy the word Bulgari means Bulgarians or people of Bulgarian descent. Sotirios Boulgaris, born in an Aromanian village known as Kalarites began his career as a jeweller in his home village Paramythia, in 1877, he left for Corfu and then Naples. In 1881 he finally moved to Rome, where in 1884 he founded his company, the store in Via Sistina was then replaced by the current flagship store in Via dei Condotti opened in 1905 by Bulgari with the help of his two sons, Costantino and Giorgio. During the Second World War, Costantino Bulgari and his wife Laura hid three Jewish women in their own Roman home and they were strangers to them, the Bulgaris opened their doors out of outrage for the raid of the Roman ghetto in October 1943. For their generous action, on 31 December 2003, they were awarded the title of Righteous among the Nations at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, after Giorgios death in 1966, his son Gianni led the company as co-chief executive with his cousin Marina. As chairman and CEO of Bulgari in the early 1970s, Gianni initiated the internationalization of the company by opening shops in New York, Geneva, Monte-Carlo, for many years the company maintained a showroom in New Yorks The Pierre Hotel. In the late 1970s, Gianni led a complete overhaul of the company, establishing a new watch business, in 1985, Gianni resigned as CEO and in 1987, he left the family business after selling his one-third stake in the company to his brothers Nicola and Paolo. In 1984, Sotirios grandsons Paolo and Nicola Bulgari were named Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the company, trapanis goal to diversify the company was started in the early 1990s with the release of the Bulgari perfume line. Under his tenure the company has established itself as a luxury goods brand recognized throughout the world, in 1995, the company was listed on the Borsa Italiana. The company has seen 150% revenue growth between 1997 and 2003, under the deal, the Bulgari family sold their 50.4 per cent controlling stake in exchange for 3 per cent of LVMH, thereby becoming the second-biggest family shareholder behind the Arnaults in LVMH. The takeover doubled the size of LVMH’s watches and jewellery unit, the acquisition concluded on 4 October 2011 as Bulgari was delisted from the Borsa Italiana. Bulgari opened its first hotel in Milan in 2004, a resort in Bali in 2006, followed by a hotel in London in 2012, in 2011, Bulgari Bali has been chosen by the readers of Smart Travel Asia magazine as number-2 of top places to stay in Asia. Current locations include Milan, London, and Bali with restaurants in Osaka, future locations will include Shanghai, Beijing, Dubai, and Moscow. Bulgari jewelry design is distinctive and often imitated, in the 1970s, many of the more expensive Bulgari pieces were characterized by instantly recognizable, bold, architectural designs combining large and weighty gold links with interlocking steel. Bulgari is also famous for colored stones, especially sapphires mixed in unique formats, genuine Bulgari watches have a unique serial number that is registered with the company. Bulgari relies on a network of about 300 stores, located in the most exclusive shopping areas in the world. The largest Bulgari store in the world is the 10-story Bulgari Ginza Tower in Tokyo,940 square meters of floor space, including a restaurant
40.
Valentino (fashion designer)
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Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani, best known as Valentino, is an Italian fashion designer and founder of the Valentino SpA brand and company. His main lines include Valentino, Valentino Garavani, Valentino Roma, Valentino was born in Voghera, in the province of Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. Valentino then moved to Paris to pursue this interest with the help of his mother Teresa de Biaggi, there he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts and at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. His first choice for an apprenticeship, in Paris, was Jacques Fath and he found an apprenticeship with Jean Dessès where he helped Countess Jacqueline de Ribes sketch her dress ideas. He then joined Guy Laroche for two years, at Jean Dessès, Valentino sketched furiously, between helping with window dressing and greeting clients for the daily 2,30 pm private showings. Most of his sketches were lost. After five years, Valentino left Jean Dessès over an incident about prolonging a vacation in Saint-Tropez that still makes him uncomfortable today, rescued by his friend Guy Laroche, he joined his tiny, tiny fashion house. After discussions with his parents, he decided to return to Italy, in 1960 Valentino left Paris and opened a fashion house in Rome on the posh Via Condotti with the backing of his father and an associate of his. Valentino became known for his red dresses, in the shade that became known in the fashion industry as Valentino red. On 31 July 1960, Valentino met Giancarlo Giammetti at the Café de Paris on the Via Veneto in Rome, one of three children, Giammetti was in his second year of architecture school, living at home with his parents in the haut bourgeois Parioli section of Northern Rome. That day Giammetti gave Valentino a lift home in his Fiat, the day after, Giammetti was to leave for Capri for vacation and, by coincidence, Valentino was also going there, so they met again on the island 10 days later. Giammetti would shortly thereafter abandon the University to become Valentinos business partner, Valentinos international debut took place in 1962 in Florence, the Italian fashion capital of the time. It made such an impression that Kennedy contacted Ms. Schiff to learn the name of the ensembles designer, in September 1964, Valentino was to be in the United States to present a collection of his work at a charity ball at New Yorks Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Mrs. Kennedy ordered six of his haute couture dresses, all in black and white, from then on, she was a devoted client and would become a friend. Valentino would later design the white Valentino Gown worn by Kennedy at her wedding to Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis, in 1966 he moved his shows from Florence to Rome where two years later he produced an all-white collection that became famous for the V logo he designed. 1990 marked the opening of the Accademia Valentino, designed by architect Tommaso Ziffer, the next year, encouraged by their friend Elizabeth Taylor, Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti created L. I. F. E. An association for the support of AIDS-related patients, which benefits from the activities of the Accademia Valentino. In 2002, Valentino S. p. A. with revenues of more than $180 million, was sold by HdP to Marzotto Apparel, Maison Valentino is controlled since 2012 by Mayhoola for Investments S. P. C
41.
Tapestry, Inc.
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Coach, Inc. is a multinational luxury fashion company based in New York City. Coach was founded in 1941, as a workshop in a loft on 34th Street in Manhattan, with six leatherworkers who made wallets. In 1946, Miles Cahn and his wife Lillian joined the company, Miles and Lillian Cahn were owners of a leather handbag manufacturing business, and were knowledgeable about leatherworks and business. By 1950, Cahn had taken over the business, during the early years, Cahn noticed the distinctive properties and qualities of the leather used to make baseball gloves. With wear and use, the leather in a glove became softer and suppler, attempting to mimic this process, Cahn made a way of processing the leather to make it stronger, softer, and more flexible. Since the leather absorbed dye very well, this also created a richer, deeper color in the leather. Soon after Cahn developed this new process, Lillian Cahn suggested to Miles that the supplement the factorys mens accessories business by adding womens leather handbags. The sturdy cowhide bags were an immediate hit, Miles and Lillian Cahn bought the company through a leveraged buyout in 1961. In 1961, Cahn hired Bonnie Cashin, a sportswear pioneer, Cashin revolutionized the products design, working as creative head for Coach from 1962 through 1974. Cashin instituted the inclusion of side pockets, coin purses, in 1979, Lewis Frankfort joined the company as vice-president of business development. During this time, Coach was making $6 million in sales and products were being distributed through the wholesale channel. He was mentored by the then executive VP of sales, Richard Rose, Richard joined Coach in 1965, and he is credited with making Coach a household name after putting the product in department stores across the United States and abroad. He retired from his position in the company in 1995, in 1981, under Frankforts leadership, the company opened its first directly operated retail location on Madison Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. Coach was then sold to Sara Lee Corporation for a reported $30 million, Lew Frankfort succeeded Cahn as president. Sara Lee structured Coach under its Hanes Group, in early 1986, new boutiques were opened in Macys stores in New York City and San Francisco. Additional Coach stores were under construction, and similar boutiques were to be opened in major department stores later that year. By November 1986, the company was operating 12 stores, along with nearly 50 boutiques within department stores. In 1996, Lew Frankfort was named chairman and CEO of Coach, the following year, under Frankforts leadership, Coach hired Reed Krakoff, whose creative and commercials instincts aimed to make Coach products functional, lightweight, and stylish
42.
Fendi
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Fendi is an Italian luxury fashion house whose specialities include fur, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, fragrances, eyewear, timepieces and accessories. Founded in 1925 in Rome, Fendi is renowned for its fur and fur accessories, Fendi is also well known for its leather goods such as Baguette, 2jours, Peekaboo or Pequin handbags. The house of Fendi was launched in 1925 by Adele and Edoardo Fendi as a fur and leather shop in Via del Plebiscito, since 1946, the five sisters of second generation started entering the company and bought new wave of enthusiasm. Karl Lagerfeld joined Fendi in 1965 and became the Creative Director for Fur, silvia Venturini Fendi, daughter of Anna, joined in 1994 and is the Creative Director for Accessories and Mens lines. Since 2001, Fendi became a luxury fashion brand and member of LVMH group. In 2014, Fendi started making plans to use drones to show its catwalk fashions, Fendi invested more than 2 million euros to help restore the Trevi Fountain in Rome designed by Nicola Salvi in 18th century. The restoration works started June 2014, “It’s about tying us with a city that makes millions of people dream, ” Fendi CEO Pietro Beccari said. Official homepage Fendi – brand and company profile at Fashion Model Directory
43.
Chanel
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Chanel S. A. is a French, privately held company owned by Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, grandsons of Pierre Wertheimer, who was an early business partner of the couturière Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel. Chanel S. A. is a fashion house that specializes in haute couture and ready-to-wear clothes, luxury goods. In her youth, Gabrielle Chanel gained the nickname Coco from her time as a chanteuse, the House of Chanel is known for the little black dress, the perfume No.5 de Chanel, and the Chanel Suit. Chanel’s use of jersey fabric produced garments that were comfortable and affordable, Chanel used colors traditionally associated with masculinity in Europe, such as grey and navy blue, to denote feminine boldness of character. An example of haute couture techniques is the woolen Chanel suit — a knee-length skirt. The complementary accessories were two-tone pump shoes and jewellry, usually a necklace of pearls, Coco Chanel thus could sell to them the hats she designed and made, she thus earned a living, independent of her financial sponsor, the socialite Balsan. Despite that social circumstance, Boy Capel perceived the businesswoman innate to Coco Chanel, because that locale already housed a dress shop, the business-lease limited Chanel to selling only millinery products, not couture. The First World War affected European fashion through scarcity of materials, in 1915 and in 1917, Harper’s Bazaar magazine reported that the garments of the House of Chanel were on the list of every buyer for the clothing factories of Europe. After the First World War, the House of Chanel, following the trends of the 1920s, produced beaded dresses. Originally, a bottle of No.5 de Chanel was a gift to clients of Chanel, the popularity of the perfume prompted the House of Chanel to offer it for retail sale in 1922. In 1923, to explain the success of her clothes, Coco Chanel told Harper’s Bazaar magazine that design simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance, business partners — late 1920s The success of the No. To that end, the businessman Théophile Bader introduced the venture capitalist Pierre Wertheimer to Coco Chanel, moreover, by 1937, the House of Chanel had expanded the range of its clothes to more women, and presented prêt-à-porter clothes designed and cut for the petite woman. Among fashion designers only the clothes created by Elsa Schiaparelli could compete with the clothes of Chanel. A. at 31 rue Cambon, meanwhile, because of the Nazi occupation’s official anti-Semitism, Pierre Wertheimer and family, had fled France to the U. S. in mid-1940. Later, in 1941, Coco Chanel attempted to assume control of Parfums Chanel. Occupied France abounded with rumours that Coco Chanel was a Nazi collaborator, her identity was secret agent 7124 of the Abwehr. At War’s end, upon the Allied liberation of France, Chanel was arrested for having collaborated with the Nazis, in Switzerland, the news revived Coco Chanel’s resentment at having been exploited by her business partner, for only ten per cent of the money. So she established a rival Swiss parfumerie to create, produce, in exchange Gabrielle Chanel closed her Swiss parfumerie enterprise, and sold to Parfums Chanel the full rights to the name Coco Chanel. As a post–War fashion that used some 20 yards of fabric, having decided to do business with Coco Chanel, Wertheimer’s negotiations to fund the resurgence of the House of Chanel, granted him commercial rights to all Chanel-brand products
44.
Tiffany & Co.
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Tiffany & Company is an American luxury jewelry and specialty retailer, headquartered in New York City. Tiffany sells jewelry, sterling silver, china, crystal, stationery, fragrances, water bottles, watches, personal accessories, many of these goods are sold at Tiffany stores, as well as through direct-mail and corporate merchandising. Tiffany is renowned for its goods and is particularly known for its diamond jewelry. Tiffany markets itself as an arbiter of taste and style, and was once a purveyor to the Russian imperial family, founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. The name was shortened to Tiffany & Company in 1853 when Charles Tiffany took control, Tiffany & Company has since opened stores in major cities all over the world. Unlike other stores at the time in the 1830s, Tiffany clearly marked the prices on its goods to forestall any haggling over prices, in addition, against the social norm at the time, Tiffany only accepted cash payments, and did not accept payments on credit. Such practices, fixed prices for ready money, were first introduced by Palmers of London Bridge in 1750, who employed the young Robert Owen, the later social reformer. The first Tiffanys mail order catalog, known as the Blue Book, was published in 1845 in the United States, in 1862, Tiffany & Company supplied the Union Army with swords, flags and surgical implements. In 1867, Tiffany & Co. was the first US firm to win an award for the excellence in silverware at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. In 1870, the built an new store building at 15 Union Square West, Manhattan, designed by John Kellum. It was described by The New York Times as a palace of jewels, Tiffany stayed at this site until 1906. In 1877, an insignia that would become the famous New York Yankees NY logo was struck on a medal of honor by Tiffany & Company. In 1878, Tiffany won the medal for jewelry and a grand prize for silverware at the Paris Exposition. In 1887, Tiffany bought the French Crown Jewels, which attracted publicity, the company revised the Great Seal of the United States in 1885. In 1902, after the death of Charles Lewis Tiffany, his son, Louis Comfort Tiffany, in 1919, the company made a revision to the Medal of Honor on behalf of the United States Department of the Navy. This Tiffany Cross version was rare because it was awarded only for combat, in 1942 the Navy established the Tiffany version for non-combat heroism, but in August 1942 the Navy eliminated the Tiffany Cross and the two-medal system. In 1956, legendary designer Jean Schlumberger joined Tiffany, and Andy Warhol collaborated with Tiffany to create Tiffany Holiday Cards. In 1968 Lady Bird Johnson, First Lady of the U. S. at the time, in November 1978, Tiffany & Co. was sold to Avon Products Inc. for about US$104 million in stock
