Bamberger's

Bamberger's was a department store chain with branches primarily in New Jersey and other locations in Delaware, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania.

By 1892, Newark was the fourth largest American city and it manufactured products from leather to jewelry along with it being a rail hub.

[5] On October 16, 1912, the company opened its flagship store, designed by Jarvis Hunt, at 131 Market Street in downtown Newark.

[4] The massive building covered an entire city block, bounded by Market, Washington, Bank and Halsey Streets, encompassing 1.2 million square feet.

[6] The phone exchange, 565, was devoted solely to Bamberger's,[7] with local direct-dial numbers for most of New Jersey's suburbs for telephone orders, known as "TeleService".

[2] Dining service for customers continued at The Dinette, a counter style room on the first basement level and snack bars on the first and fourth floors.

[2] Eventually the lower-level eatery was remodeled into a formal restaurant named the Garden State Tea Room.

[14] The flagship store in Newark became 165 Halsey Street and serves the telecommunication, colocation, and computer support industries.

A 1922 illustration of the Newark store , where Bamberger's launched WOR radio on the sixth floor to sell more radios