Jordan Marsh

Ghost Corp Apparel — resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

Jordan Marsh & Company began in Boston in 1841, founded by Eben Dyer Jordan and Benjamin L. Marsh. What started in the dry-goods trade grew into a defining New England department-store name, centered on its sprawling Washington Street flagship in what is now Downtown Crossing. It sold the whole civilized shopping expedition: apparel, housewares, furniture, beauty goods, service with polish, and enough departments to make a sensible person forget why they came in.

The company became part of Hahn Department Stores in 1928 and then Allied Stores in 1935. After World War II, Jordan Marsh expanded through suburban New England, including the memorable domed store at Shoppers’ World in Framingham, Massachusetts, which opened in 1951. Its separate Florida operation began in Miami in 1956 and was ultimately absorbed into Burdines in 1991.

Boston shoppers also knew the softer side of the machine: Jordan Marsh blueberry muffins and the Enchanted Village holiday display. The latter filled the downtown flagship with seasonal spectacle from the 1940s through 1972, then returned in the early 1990s—because apparently a department store could also operate a small, cheerful winter republic.

Following the Campeau-era retail upheaval, Allied merged into Federated Department Stores in 1992. Jordan Marsh joined Macy’s East in 1994, and its remaining Northeast stores were renamed Macy’s in 1996. Our Jordan Marsh collection celebrates Boston retail royalty, suburban-dome optimism, and the magnificent lost art of making a muffin part of the brand architecture.