Weber & Heilbroner, 6th Ave. between 34th and 35th Sts. (1992)

Weber & Heilbroner, Haberdashers, were founded in 1902 by Milton Weber (1876-1936) and Louis Heilbroner (1878-1924). Louis Heilbroner, men's furnishing, was located at 920 3rd Ave. (corner of 53rd St.) in 1899. The original (1902) Weber & Heilbroner stores were located at 920 3rd Ave. and 757 Broadway (corner of 8th St.). Within a few years the business expanded to stores downtown at 58 Nassau St. (corner of Maiden Lane), 150 Nassau St., and 369 Broadway. This display ad from the New York Times, 29 July 1904, mentions 58 Nassau St. & 757 Broadway. Also this one from the New York Times, 17 Sep. 1904. This ad for Weber & Heilbroner Hat Agencies appeared in The Clothier and Furnisher, vol. 86, no. 5, June, 1915.

Yet another ad, this one from 1910, listed nine Manhattan locations for Weber & Heilbroner, beginning with 42nd St. and 5th Ave.

Weber & Heilbroner opened a store at 6th Ave./Broadway at 34th St. around 1923. Space in the Marbridge Building became available in 1922 when Rogers, Peet & Co., who had occupied the building from its inception, moved across 6th Ave. to the former Herald Building (New York Times, 18 April 1922). Weber & Heilbroner's store at 34th St. and 6th Ave./Broadway was one of four or five that survived until the 1970s when Weber & Heilbroner went out of business.

Milton Weber's obituary in the New York Times, 30 Jan. 1936, p. 19, read, "Milton Weber, retired merchant, a founder of the firm of Weber & Heilbroner, one of the largest retail dealers in men's furnishings in New York, died yesterday at his home, Dobbs Towers, Scarsdale, of a complication of ailments after an illness of three weeks. He never really recovered from the effects of an illness of a year ago. Born in New York City fifty-eight years ago, Mr. Weber and the late Louis Heilbroner, in about 1900, established the single haberdashery store at Third Avenue and Fifty-third Street which formed the initial unit of the present large chain of establishments familiar to New Yorkers. Mr. Weber retired from the company twenty years ago. He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Sadie L. Jacobsen Weber; a daughter, Joan; two sons, Robert and James Weber, and two sisters, Mrs. Blanche Waldman and Miss Lillian Weber."

A photograph from the late 1920s, published in New York, Empire City 1920-1945, by David Stravitz, shows the Weber & Heilbroner sign on this building in an earlier form, reading, Weber / and / Heilbroner / Clothiers, Hatters / Haberdashers. (The photographs in this work are thought to be the work of Alfred E. Peyser and August L. Patzig.)

The Marbridge Building was constructed in 1908. It was described in a new building permit filed with the New York City Dept. of Buildings in 1906 as an "11-sty brk and stone store and loft bldg, 84.1 × 138.3." Its cost was estimated to be $1,000,000. Its location was "Broadway, n e cor 34th st, through to 35th st, Nos 66-70 W." The owner was William R. H. Martin, and architects were Townsend, Steinle & Haskell. (Office for Metropolitan History, "Manhattan NB Database 1900-1986," (June 2011), http://www.MetroHistory.com.) The 34th St. side of the building has the address 47-57 W. 34th St. A photograph with great detail of Herald Square dated 1908 shows the building in what must have been its earliest days. This can be viewed at the Shorpy Historic Photo Archive (view full size). This shows signs for Rogers, Peet Co. on the building. The real estate owner/developer, William R. H. Martin, built other properties in the 34th St. area. Marbridge is probably derived from his name. So also is the name of the Martinique Hotel at Broadway & 32nd St. William R. H. Martin was also one of the founders of the Rogers, Peet men's clothing company.

A photograph in the New York Public Library's Digital Collections dated 1928 shows a Weber & Heilbroner store at Fulton and Adams streets, Brooklyn.

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