B. Altman & Co. was a New York City-based department store founded in 1865 by Benjamin Altman and later joined by Michael Friedsam. The company had stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York state, as well as its block-long main store at Fifth Avenue and 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan.

Carl Franz Bally was born in Schonenwed, Switzerland in 1821. He was the son of a silk ribbon weaver, and together with his brother had taken over the family business in 1847. Carl Franz expanded the company to include an elastic tape that was used by shoemakers.

Bonwit Teller was a department store in New York City founded by Paul Bonwit.

Bonwit opened a store at Sixth Avenue and Eighteenth Street in 1895. Two years later he formed a partnership with Edmund D. Teller and relocated their establishment - now known as Bonwit Teller - to Sixth Avenue and Twenty-third Street. The firm was incorporated in 1907 as Bonwit Teller & Company and in 1911 relocated yet again, this time to the corner of Fifth Avenue and Thirty-eighth Street.

In 1881, Daniel Green, a young traveling shoe salesman for the Wallace Elliott Company in New York City, visited Dolgeville New York. He was shown a pair of felt shoes fashioned from waste pieces of piano felt which had been made in the Dolgeville Felt Mill. These felt shoes were worn by many factory workers to keep their feet warm and comfortable on the cold factory stone floors.

This traditional British department store originated in a draper’s business founded in 1778 in London. In 1813, a partnership between William Debenham and Thomas Clark made the store known as ‘Clark and Debenham’. After Mr. Clark’s retirement, William was joined in the business by his son (also William) and Wm. Junior’s brother-in-law, Clement Freebody, hence ‘Debenham, Son and Freebody’ in 1851.
Under the new generation of management, after William Sr.’s retirement, the business became ‘Debenham and Freebody’ in 1863.
The original London draper's shop, which was transformed into a fully-fledged department store in 1905, became the first of over 60 nationwide stores. In 1935, Debenham and Freebody advertised their fashionable model gowns under the tagline: ‘Distinction in Dress at Moderate Cost’

The Delman label, established by Herman Delman in 1919, has long been renowned for finely crafted shoes. It is one of the oldest and most respected salon brands in American footwear. A great many twentieth century style setters, including Katherine Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe and Marlene Dietrich wore Delman shoes.
Today, Delman presents sleek silhouettes, luxuriously finished, that work from Park Avenue to Palm Beach and beyond. Signature styles are updated with contemporary flair and crafted in finest Italian leathers - soft, supple patents and refined suedes and kidskins.

Delman appeals to the woman who appreciates refined, luxurious shoes that are innovative, yet timeless.

George Cox established the company in 1906 in Northamptonshire, home of the finest shoemakers in the world. The company has always combined the quality of Goodyear Welted construction with a flair for originality, working closely with some of the most famous designers of each age.

A refined design manufacturing and retail company established in 1954 in London, Gina Shoes Ltd. have become famous for their exquisite sculptured footwear. Designing couture shoes has been a family trait since 1893.
Master shoemaker Mehmet Kurdash had a dream to create glamorous hand-made shoes, and established Gina Shoes in 1954, naming it after his favourite actress, the alluring Gina Lollobrigida. He was committed to beauty and throughout his life he would never compromise on quality, crafting his own designs out of the most beautiful skins.
Today, his three sons, Attila, Aydin and Altan Kurdash continue this tradition as the driving force behind the exquisite Gina shoes and bags. Coming from a family with a history of couture footwear going back over 100 years, their destiny was to bring to the world a new vision of ladies fashion footwear. The brother’s outstanding talents interweave across the design, manufacture, and retailing of Gina. Now, breathtaking new designs are being created that continue to set the world alight and are the talk of the society pages.

John Wanamaker & Co was an upscale men's clothier. John Wanamaker was born in 1838 (died 1922). He and his brother-in-law first opened Wanamaker & Brown in Philadelphia. Some of the clothing was manufacrured right at the facility. In 1876, he purchased the old location of the Pennsylvania Railroad and opened up "Grand Depot," his very popular second store which carried both clothing and drygoods. In 1896, he was a marketing pioneer, introducing the "Money Back Guarantee", was the first to have a "White Sale" and an in- store restaurant to spark business and expanding to New York City. The store also had a revolutionary "wheel" or "hub" set up. Wanaker died in 1922, but not before expanding, opening a bank and becoming Postmaster General of the United States under President Benjamin Harrison (1889-93) In 1927, the men's store expanded to a second location and at its height, had 16 outlets. No longer able to compete with the low prices of larger retails, the shops were sold by the family in 1978 to Carter Hawley Hale stores, and in 1986 they changed hands again to A. Alfred Taubman, who also bought the Woodward & Lothrop stores which Wanamaker was absorbed into. Two years later Woodward & Lothrop was lost to bankruptcy and two major retail institutions were lost forever.