Gimbel, Adam (1817-1896)
Dates
- Existence: 1817-1896
Biography
Born to a Bavarian family in 1817, Gimbel immigrated to the United States in 1833. Working as a ship hand to pay for the voyage, he settled in New Orleans where he found employment as a dock worker. Paying attention to the various pettlers that sold their wares along the coast, Gimbel began to save his earnings to purchase an inventory of needles, thread, and cloth. After amassing an inventory he headed north along the Mississippi River. After five years of selling his wares along the river, he was able to afford a horse and cart to more easily sell his goods and increase the variety of his inventory. In 1842, Gimbel arrived in Vincennes, Indiana where his sales were so successful he decided to settle in the town and purchased a small house which would serve as his home and storefront named The Palace of Trade. The store continued to increase its inventory and sold all kinds of goods including: nails, gunpowder, harnesses, shawls, shows, cloth, and pelts. In 1869 he expanded his business by opening a store in Danville, Illinois. In 1887, after selling his store in Vincennes, Gimbel moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he purchased a four-story store on the corner of Wisconsin and Grand. The Gimbels store became the largest dry goods vendor in the city, with its own elevator and 40-75 salespeople. In 1894, the Gimbel Brothers Company expanded by purchasing another location in Philadelphia. Adam Gimbel died two years later in 1896 at the age of 79.