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Dec 2019
21m 10s

Macy’s vs Gimbels - The Frontiersman and...

Wondery
About this episode
It's the mid 1800s and two very different young men set out in the world to make their fortunes. A young boy from Nantucket spends four years at sea on a whaling ship, the other becomes an itinerant peddler in the wilds of Indiana. These two adventurers, R.H. Macy and Adam Gimbel, eventually settle down as merchants, and open their own dry goods stores. They ... Show More
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Dec 2019
Macy’s vs Gimbels - Fathers, Sons, and Civil War | 2
<p>As R.H. Macy’s Manhattan emporium and reputation grow during the Civil War, his teenage son rebels and runs away to join the Union army. When the boy goes AWOL, the future of Macy’s burgeoning department store faces jeopardy. But salvation arrives in the form of another recent ... Show More
22m 25s
Dec 2019
Macy’s vs Gimbels - Showdown over Manhattan | 3
<p>It’s nearing the turn of the 19th century, and the Straus Brothers now run Macy’s emporium out of a dozen cobbled together stores in lower Manhattan. The next generation of Straus’s pressure the old guard to build a huge new Macy’s flagship on 34th street, in the still seedy r ... Show More
20m 7s
Dec 2019
Macy’s vs Gimbels - Diversify or Die | 4
<p>It’s the 1920s and wealthy flappers and captains of industry have money to burn for raccoon coats and monogrammed sterling silver hip flasks. Gimbels makes a risky acquisition of Saks Fifth Avenue, that ends up floating Gimbels through hard times and family tragedy during the ... Show More
25m 4s
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