Arthur was named president of the new company. To handle the success of the mail order operation, a new company-Spiegel, May, Stern, and Company-was formed, allowing the Spiegel House Furnishings Company to devote its limited resources to conventional retailing, rather than assume the debts associated with building up the mail order segment. In 1906, Spiegel's mail-order sales were near $1 million. The new service was reflected by the addition of a word to the company motto, which began to read: "We Trust the People-Everywhere!" This and the fact they did not charge interest on extended credit helped increase their business substantially. After a couple of years of lobbying, Arthur convinced the company hierarchy to open a mail-order department, and in 1905, Spiegel became the first company to offer credit through the mail. In 1903, Joseph Spiegel's third son, Arthur, entered the business with a plan to develop mail-order operations for Spiegel. The company's slogan-"We Trust the People!"-reflected its emphasis on credit merchandising. Another South Side branch went into operation three years later. The new Spiegel was more successful, and in 1898 a branch store was opened on Chicago's South Side. The decision to offer installment plans, and the timing of the decision, made possible Spiegel's expansion over the next several decades. The principal difference was that the new company, like many others in the furniture business, sold on credit. At Modie Spiegel's urging, the company reinvented itself as Spiegel House Furnishings Company of Chicago in 1893. With debts mounting, the company went bankrupt. By 1892, however, the business had taken a turn for the worse, as many customers were slow to pay for their purchases. Because a mail order system did not yet exist, the catalogs served instead to lure people into the downtown store. The catalogs were made available to potential customers who lived outside the city. Spiegel issued its first catalogs in 1888. Joseph Spiegel's two oldest sons, Modie Spiegel and Sidney Spiegel, were brought into the business during this time. In 1885 Spiegel began running regular advertisements in several Chicago newspapers, and the following year the company moved to a larger building on State Street. After the fire, Joseph Spiegel and a partner named Jacob Cahn rebuilt the business, and by 1874 the company was prospering again under the leadership of the two men. In 1871, however, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed most of the area's business district, including the Spiegel store. With Liebenstein's assistance, Joseph Spiegel opened J. Spiegel and Company, a small home furnishings retail operation located on Wabash Avenue in Chicago's loop. After spending the final few months of the Civil War in a Confederate prison camp, Joseph Spiegel settled in Chicago, where his brother-in-law, Henry Liebenstein, ran a furniture business. The company was founded in 1865 by German-Jewish entrepreneur Joseph Spiegel, the son of a German Rabbi and younger brother of Union Army Colonel Marcus M. In 2019, the company website was removed without notice and the company ceased to operate.įor the first 100 years of its history, Spiegel was primarily a family business. The catalog was eventually discontinued in favor of digital marketing. Spiegel's buyers, who went to Paris fashion shows, introduced American women to European fashion trends.Īfter encountering financial difficulty in the early 2000s, the company was purchased by Patriarch Partners and focused on women's style and fashion products. Spiegel delivered its first mail order catalog in 1905 and by 1925, the retailer had 10 million customers. They also operated brick-and-mortar stores. Their company brands included Newport News, Shape FX, and Old Kraftsman, among others. Spiegel published a catalog, like its competitors Sears and Montgomery Ward, which advertised various brands of apparel, accessories, and footwear, as well as housewares, toys, tools, firearms, and electronics. Spiegel was an American direct marketing retailer founded in 1865 by Joseph Spiegel.
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