Jewelry

Von Maur Corporate Office

Von Maur was founded in 1872 by J.H.C. Petersen and his three sons in Davenport, Iowa. Petersen’s son, William, sold the store in 1916 to R. Harned and the Von Maur brothers. The Von Maur’s assumed complete ownership of the company after Harned passed away in 1937.

Today, the company has 30 locations and offers upscale clothing, footwear, ladies handbags, jewelry, and accessories. Von Maur is known for offering an interest free credit card, free shipping, free shipping for online returns, and free gift wrapping. Most Von Maur stores feature a live pianist playing music during business hours.

Von Maur is continuing to open new stores at a time when many locations are cutting back. The company announced that they would take over the former Nordstrom location in the Mall of Georgia, as well as open a second store in the Minneapolis-St.Paul area in the fall of 2016.

Von Maur

History

Bergdorf Goodman Corporate Office

Bergdorf Goodman was founded in 1899 when a French tailor, Herman Bergdorf, opened a shop in Manhattan, New York. Bergdorf’s apprentice, Edwin Goodman, earned enough money to buy an interest in the business. The company renamed itself Bergdorf Goodman in 1901. The company moved to its present address on 5th Avenue and 58th Street in 1928.

Today, Bergdorf Goodman is one of the most prestigious and popular high end clothing and accessory store in America. The company has two stores, directly across the street from one another. The original store offers women’s designer clothing, jewelry, shoes,and childrens clothing. The newer store, located on the east side of 5th Avenue, features men’s clothing, shoes, and accessories.

Bergdorf Goodman is now a subsidairy of Neiman Marcus, which is owned by the private equity firms Warburg Pincus and TPG Capital. The Neiman Marcus Group had $5.1 billion in revenue in 2015.

Bergdorf Goodman

Bergdorf Goodman is now a subsidairy of Neiman Marcus, which is owned by the private equity firms Warburg Pincus and TPG Capital. The Neiman Marcus Group had $5.1 billion in revenue in 2015.

History

Claire’s Stores Corporate Office

Claire’s was founded in 1961. Originally named Fashion Tress, the company’s main focus was on wigs and hairpieces. In 1973, Fashion Tress purchased Claire’s, a jewelry chain with 25 locations at the time. The company moved away from wigs and placed their focus on costume jewelry and ear piercing.

Most Claire’s locations today are geared towards pre-teens and teenagers. Many locations have a section for children under 7. The company offers costume jewelry, fashion jewelry, hair accessories, clip in hair pieces, teen music band jewelry and body jewelry, such as tongue rings. In America, 95% of all shopping malls contain a Claire’s store.

Claire’s has 3,469 locations throughout the U.S. and globally, including Hong Kong and the U.K. The company had $1.6 billion in sales in 2015 and employs 17,600 persons worldwide.

Claire's

Claire’s has 3,469 locations throughout the U.S. and globally, including Hong Kong and the U.K. The company had $1.6 billion in sales in 2015 and employs 17,600 persons worldwide.

History

Halls Corporate Office

Halls is the store division of Hallmark Cards. The Halls and Hallmark line was founded in 1916 by Joyce Hall in Kansas City, Missouri. Hall originally sold greeting cards from a display case in the lobby of a Kansas City store. The company soon moved to their own store and slowly began adding other merchandise to their line in addition to the very popular greeting cards.

Building a new store in the Crown Center began in 1973. Crown Center replaced the original downtown Halls store. Halls stores feature a wide variety of clothing, jewelry, wedding items, shoes, children and infants clothing, as well as china and crystal glassware.

In 2013, Halls consolidated their two stores into the new Crown Center. The new Crown Center officially opened September of 2014. Halls employs 10,500 full time employees and almost 20,000 part time employees. The company had annual revenue in 2015 of $3.7 billion.

Halls

History

Curacao Corporate Office

Curacao was founded in Burbank, California, in 1978 by current CEO Jerry Azarkman. Originally named La Curacao, the company was popular among lower income Hispanics who were unable to buy on credit. Curacao allowed clients to purchase items with only down payment, then collect money from customers weekly.

Azarkman originally sold out of his home, as well as door to door sales. He spoke very little English and no Spanish at the time, but he learned quickly. Azarkman is known for saying that courtesy and respect are languages everyone understands. Curacao opened its first store in the Pico district of Los Angeles in 1983.

Today, Curacao has more than 11 stores throughout Southern California, two stores in Arizona, with plans to expand to Texas and Nevada. Curacao employs more than 2,180 persons and annual revenue in 2014 of $2.5 million.

Curacao