Abraham & Straus

Ghost Corp Apparel — resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

Abraham & Straus — better known simply as A&S — was a Brooklyn department store institution for generations. Founded in 1865 as Wechsler & Abraham, the business grew from a small dry goods store into one of New York’s great department store chains, with its massive Downtown Brooklyn flagship becoming a shopping destination in its own right.

A&S became part of Federated Department Stores in 1929 and eventually expanded beyond Brooklyn with stores throughout the New York metropolitan area. For generations of shoppers, A&S meant holiday shopping, back-to-school trips, furniture departments, crowded escalators, and the kind of enormous department store where you could seemingly buy everything under one roof.

The end came after Federated acquired Macy’s in 1994. With two major department store brands competing in the same market, A&S drew the short straw. In 1995, the Abraham & Straus name disappeared, with most locations converted to Macy’s and others becoming Stern’s.

More than a century of retail history, reduced to a name older New Yorkers still immediately recognize.

Our Abraham & Straus collection celebrates A&S, Downtown Brooklyn, and one of the great department store names swallowed up by the age of retail consolidation.