Background
The son of the Bavarian-born, German Jewish immigrant Benjamin Bloomingdale and Hannah Weil, Lyman and his brother Joseph were trained in the retailing of ladies clothing at their father"s store.
The son of the Bavarian-born, German Jewish immigrant Benjamin Bloomingdale and Hannah Weil, Lyman and his brother Joseph were trained in the retailing of ladies clothing at their father"s store.
Going into business for themselves, the brothers" new store sold a wide variety of European fashions, anchored through their own buying office in Paris. Their success resulted in the business outgrowing its premises and in 1886 they relocated operations to its famous present-day location at 59th Street and Third Avenue where became one of the most widely recognized brand names in the world. Brother Joseph retired from the business on New Years Day 1896 but Lyman remained involved until his death on October 13, 1905 at Elberon, New Jersey.
A benefactor to a variety of causes and cultural institutions, in 1901 Lyman Bloomimgdale donated a Washington Allston painting to New York"s Metropolitan Museum of Art and in his will written in 1904, left $100,000 (equivalent to $26 million in 2015) for charitable purposes.