Ohrbach's

Ghost Corp Apparel — resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

Ohrbach’s began on October 4, 1923, when Nathan M. Ohrbach and dress manufacturer Max Wiesen opened a New York City shop near Union Square. Its trick was beautifully blunt: stripped-down service, volume buying, and fashion sold for prices that did not require a small inheritance. Even-numbered prices were part of the house style—because apparently $20 looked more honest than $19.95.

Ohrbach bought out Wiesen in 1928 and broadened the assortment beyond women’s wear to menswear, children’s goods, and accessories. After World War II, the business spread through the New York area and into California. In 1954, its celebrated Manhattan flagship moved from 14th Street to 5 West 34th Street, across from the Empire State Building and directly into the department-store heavyweight division.

Netherlands-based C. & A. Brenninkmeyer began investing in Ohrbach’s in 1962 and gained full control after Nathan Ohrbach retired in 1965. The chain later operated stores in New York, New Jersey, and the Los Angeles area, while its no-frills value formula wrestled with a market increasingly intoxicated by designer labels.

In June 1986, parent Amcena announced it would discontinue the chain. The Los Angeles-area stores were sold or closed, while five New York-area Ohrbach’s stores shut in January 1987 and reopened that March as Steinbach stores. A sharp retail original took its final markdown.

Our Ohrbach's collection celebrates the brisk, stylish, slightly defiant spirit of a store that made bargain hunting feel like a New York sport.