Alexander's, Inc. is a real estate investment trust that owns 7 properties in New York metropolitan area, including 731 Lexington Avenue, the headquarters of Bloomberg L.P.

In 1928, George Farkas, a Brooklyn native, opened a store on Third Avenue in the Bronx with $7,500 (~$105,163 in 2023) and named it for his deceased father, Alexander.

[7][8] Catering to the well-to-do middle class, the store offered discounted designer clothing and high-quality private label goods.

[14] In 1984 at the request of Interstate Properties, then holding a 13% stake, Alexander Farkas resigned as CEO and was succeeded by his brother, Robin (1933-2018).

[9] The bankruptcy was also triggered by a put option Gruss family held to sell its 18% interest in the partnership that owned the 59th street store to Alexander's for $35 million and the company did not have the money.

[18] In November 2012, the company sold the Kings Plaza mall in Brooklyn to Macerich for $751 million and used the proceeds to pay a $122 per share dividend to stockholders.

[20] George Farkas had approached artist Salvador Dalí to paint a mural for the Paramus location and the two had agreed to terms on a contract.

Knapp’s theme was a map of the world painted as he viewed it during his time as a pilot in the Royal Air Force after his emancipation from a Soviet prison camp.

In 1996, Steven Roth, the chairman of Vornado Realty Trust, announced that the store would be redeveloped into a shopping center anchored by Ikea.

Will Roseman, mayor of nearby Carlstadt, New Jersey and a director of the Bergen Museum of Art & Science contacted Roth in an attempt to save the mural.