In 1890 Edward and Josephine Nordhoff moved from Chicago to Seattle and opened their store the Bon Marché. The name means “good market” and was chosen as a reference to the Maison à Boucicault au Bon Marché, a store Nordhoff had greatly admired as a young man living in Paris. Originally located in the Belltown district of Seattle at First and Cedar streets it moved downtown in 1896. Starting with the Nordhoff’s savings of $1,200, thirty-three years later in 1923 annual sales were up to $8 million. The Nordhoffs worked together in striving for success keeping the store open from 7am to 9pm most days. Josephine worked in the store and learned the Chinook trade language to better help Native American customers. Edward brought pennies from the East Coast, introducing the one-cent coin to Seattle shoppers and thus was able to price products for less.
After moving downtown the Bon acquired an entire block and expanded upward with notable construction happening in 1911, 1929, 1950, and 1955. In 1911 an eight-story building designed by John Graham Sr. was erected connecting with two other buildings also belonging to the Bon. In 1929 an Art Deco building also designed by Graham Sr. was erected taking up an entire block and cementing the Bon’s place as an important downtown landmark. The Northgate branch opened in 1950 and it was an integral part of one of the first malls in the nation. In 1955 the downtown store expanded upward by three floors creating the seven-story building found there today.
After Edward Nordhoff’s death in 1899 Josephine remarried to Frank McDermott and they along with Edward’s brother Rudolf Nordhoff continued to run the Bon until 1928 when it was sold to Hahn Department Stores. Five years later Hahn Stores was bought by Allied Stores Corporation. The store continued to do well with branches opening all over Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. In 1992 Federated Department Stores, Inc., which also owned Macy’s, bought Allied Stores Corp.. It wasn’t until 2003 that a name change was introduced; the Bon-Macy’s name didn’t last long and in 2005 it was officially changed to Macy’s.
From the guide to the Bon Marché Collection, 1889-1999, 1905-1970, (Museum of History & Industry Sophie Frye Bass Library)
