Henri Bendel

Henri Willis Bendel was born in Louisiana in 1868 and moved to New York to work as a milliner. He married Blanche Lehman, a member of the Lehman family. In 1907, he began branding the brown-and-white striped boxes that are still identified with the company. his nephew became the store's president and served until his retirement in 1954. Bendel's nephew, who later founded Belgian Shoes, died in 1997. Stutz had "a legendary eye for discovering the newest designers and using them first," including Perry Ellis, Jean Muir, Sonia Rykiel, Carlos Falchi, Mary McFadden, and Ralph Lauren. She and her husband, fashion photographer Gösta Peterson, created a weekly ad campaign for Bendel's that ran as a half-page in The New York Times each Sunday. In recent years, the retailer had aimed to grow from an "iconic New York brand" into "a nationally recognized accessories company." Beginning in 2008, the brand expanded beyond the New York store to become a national chain with 28 stores (in addition to the NYC flagship) across the U.S. In 2009, Henri Bendel stopped selling apparel. In September 2018, The Wall Street Journal and other media outlets reported that Henri Bendel had announced the closing of its 23 stores and ending of its brand after 123 years in business. Owner L Brands said the move was part of efforts to improve profitability and focus on brands like Victoria's Secret. On January 19, 2019, all Henri Bendel stores were closed and its website was shuttered on January 28, 2019. ==Flagship store ==

From 1985 until its closing in 2018, the flagship store on Fifth Avenue was located in two adjacent buildings, the Rizzoli Building and Coty Building, as well as a new five-story building. During renovation of the Coty building, 276 "masterwork" panes of glass commissioned from René Lalique in 1912 were restored. Of the building, The New York Times architecture critic Paul Goldberger wrote: "For this mix of new architecture and old, skillfully integrated, holds more promise for the revival of Fifth Avenue than anything that has happened to that troubled boulevard in the last decade." For more than 100 years, Henri Bendel's flagship and only store was located at 10 West 57th Street, accompanied by its famous display windows, brown canopy and brown/white shopping bags. The window artist, Robert Rufino, changed the theatrically designed scenes every Wednesday evening, every week. The doorman of the 1970s until his passing in 1982, "Buster" personally greeted each guest with a smile, typically accompanied by the guest's name, which he managed to memorize. He was so appreciated by the customers that Henri Bendel's sold a stuffed doll in the liking of Buster, which always sold out. Until 1985, the 10 West 57th Street store retained its manually operated elevators. ==Ownership==

After Bendel's nephew, also named Henri Bendel, retired from the company in 1954, the Bendel family sold the store to a group of investors. In 1985, L Brands acquired the Henri Bendel brand. ==References==