In the Dana McGarry Series, Dana works at legendary department store B. Altman in New York City

content-single Posted on by Lynn Steward

B. Altman

<img src= "department store.jpg" alt= "massive department store with columns and woman walking in front">
B. Altman Department Store New York City

B. Altman and Company was a luxury department store founded in 1865 in New York City by Benjamin Altman. In 1906, it moved its location from lower Manhattan to a full-block building on the corner of 34th Street and Fifth Avenue. It was the only parcel of land that did not apply to the Murray Hill restriction banning commercial real estate development. In deference to the exclusive neighborhood, Mrs. Astor’s mansion was across the street, Mr. Altman had the building designed to replicate a Florentine palace, and the department store’s name did not appear on the outside of the building until the 1950s.

<img src= "staircase.jpg" alt= "ornate wooden staircase with large, tall lamp post with round bulbs">
B. Altman Department Store New York City

The rooms on the executive floor were a facsimile of the 1916 interiors of Benjamin Altman’s Fifth Avenue home,  the reception area was a replica of Altman’s well-known Renaissance room. Fine art adorned the wood-paneled walls beyond the anteroom, with elaborately carved woodwork accenting the hallways. The President’s Room was a reproduction of Altman’s personal library, while the Board Room was a faithful rendering of his dining room. Oriental carpets lay on the polished parquet floor, and Dana never ceased to marvel at the rich interior of the executive suite and its expensive art collection no matter how many times she entered the area. It had the ambience of a corporate cathedral.

<img src= "restaurant.jpg" alt= "Elegant dining room of a restaurant with large columns and a mural with palm trees and a large home in the background. The restaurant looks like a large Southern home ">
B. Altman restaurant Charleston Garden New York
<img src= "elevator.jpg" alt= "ornate wooden elevator with rich carvings">
B. Altman Department Store Elevator – New York City

                     

<img src= "department store.jpg" alt= "massive Christmas tree in the middle of the first floor of a department store with lamps with red shades on the counters zig zagging the selling floor">
The main selling floor at B. Altman New York City