To say that I am not the audience for this book would be a massive understatement. 13 years of Catholic School, and then right into the Army after that, means fashion is my ultimate weakness. I know my belt should match my shoes or something. I digress. Julie Satow would need to do a lot of work to make When Women Ran Fifth Avenue appealing to my brain. Somehow, she did it!

Satow follows the career paths of three main women of fashion in New York throughout the early to mid-1900s. Each woman gets her own part biography and then a look at the changes she made to the fashion industry but mostly focused on their specific employers at the time. Interspersed are some smaller chapters on different people and topics related to the fashion industry but not the overall narrative. Satow writes all of this quite well by never leaning too hard into any one thing. Some of it is biography but also business, fashion, and personal relationships.

Another interesting aspect is Satow's willingness to tell the whole story. There is a version of this book where it is marketed as a celebration of feminism with inconvenient details papered over. Satow doesn't hide from the fact that one of her main characters disavows her business career later in life. It makes the narrative more interesting and lets the reader draw their own conclusions when given the whole story. Needless to say, (but I will anyway) Satow did the impossible. She made a fashion book even I could enjoy.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and the publisher.)

A peek at the glory days of department stores and how women impacted their destinies

There was a time when department stores were places of wonder, where beautiful clothing and objects were on offer and salespeople were both plentiful and helpful. Maybe you remember going to such a store with your mother or your grandmother, when it was An Occasion; possibly you even had lunch or tea there, or watched as your mother or grandmother had their hair done in the salon right inside the store. If you're too young to have done so, and your impression of department stores is what we experience in today’s world….I am so sorry that you missed it. I remember going into Boston with my grandmother to Jordan Marsh, a store which sadly no longer exists, and coming home with a box of their freshly baked blueberry muffins tied up with baker’s twine as a treat for coming along. Years later, my first job out of college would be as a sales manager at that very same store, and going on to work in their buying offices. By that time, retail stores had already changed a great deal from the heyday of the early to mid 1900’s, but there were still some touches in place that harkened back to those times. In this new book from author Julie Salow, I learned more about the influence department stores had on society, and that society had on the stores (particularly when it came to women) during those years, as well as the story of several women, three in particular, who had leadership roles at three of these iconic stores. They took different paths to reach those positions, and had differing motivations for the career each would have….and I had never heard of a single one of them prior to starting the book although I knew of the store each had led. There was Hortense Odlum, whose husband’s finances survived the stock market crash of 1929 so he had the resources to buy up companies that financially struggled in the following years. One such company was Bonwit Teller, and in the 1930’s Hortense would be persuaded to go look around and see if she had any ideas on how to change things around to make the store profitable. Despite having no business background or experience in retail, she would not only devise and initiate improvements that would result in the tripling of sales figures, she would become first president of the company and later chairman of the board. In the 1940’s, another woman would rise to the top of a major store, in this case Lord & Taylor. Dorothy Shaver was an ambitious young woman who arrived in NYC with her younger sister Elsie, and through a combination of talent, connections and hard work she had the opportunity to rise to a position of influence, becoming a major champion of American designers when women relied solely on European houses for inspirations, leading Lord & Taylor to the heights of fashion and retail success, and becoming the first businesswoman to earn a million dollar salary. The third woman, Geraldine Stutz, went from being a fashion magazine editor to, with the backing and support of a business mogul who recognized her talents, heading Henri Bendel and creating the It store for the 1960’s and 1970’s.
Through much of the twentieth century, retail stores were one of the few places where women could have a lifelong career with opportunities for advancement. As someone who spent a decade in that business, I was intrigued to learn about these women and others who made their mark in a pre-women’s liberation world, who had insight and created a vision that revitalized their companies and provided a trail for other women to follow. For readers who are interested in the world of fashion and/or department stores, in the history of New York City in the 1920’s through the 1970’s and beyond, who enjoyed watching Mad Men or Selfridge’s, or enjoyed a book like Margot Lee Shetterly”s Hidden Figures, then I encourage you to give When Women Ran Fifth Avenue a try. Many thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for allowing me early access to this book that brought back memories of a different world.

Julie Salow brings us an extensively researched offering of women who forged the way in department stores on Fifth Avenue New York in the 20th Century. This is a work of nonfiction that reads like a fiction novel, so it was very interesting to learn about these three department stores that started to flourish with the touch of the women who took over. There is so much fascinating information on how the changes in times of war, women's rights, racial inequalities and the like affected the success of these stores. This was an enjoyable read.

Thank you to Doubleday Books and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.

I am grateful to have lived through the years when shopping at a department store in New York City was a true experience. From the beautiful merchandise to the décor as well as the huge escalators and elevators, each with its own attendant. As a young girl, I was overwhelmed. It is hard not to be nostalgic about those days and those incredible shopping palaces. NYC kids had Coney Island, but we also had Fifth Avenue, a whole different type of amusement. In When Women Ran Fifth Avenue: Glamour and Power at the Dawn of American Fashion, author Julie Satow brings those memories rushing back as she also tells the fascinating stories of three women who were true mavericks in retail and fashion: Hortense Odlum of Bonwit Teller, Dorothy Shaver of Lord & Taylor and Geraldine Stutz of Henri Bendel. While each of the women had different backgrounds and paths to their impressive careers, the one thing they all had in common was talent. Ambition was also at play, but first and foremost, these women were able to creatively find the right recipes for success for their stores given the times.

This is quite a fascinating, entertaining and well-researched book. In addition to learning about these three tenacious women, you'll also learn about the designers they championed and the stores they elevated. Having worked in marketing in the retail real estate sector, this book was right up my alley (I enjoyed being interviewed by the author for an article she wrote for the NY Times.) Anyone who loves to shop and appreciates stories of trailblazing women will want to check this book out. Shopping online is convenient and time saving but oh what fun it was walking through the Street of Shops on the ground floor of Henri Bendel.

“When Women Ran Fifth Avenue” is the comprehensive history of the American department stores and the women behind the scenes. Satow’s provides amazing insight into fashion and consumerism from post World War 1 to the 1960’s with fascinating guest appearances from famous American women who needed to look their best.

This book is thoroughly researched and highly detailed, making it both interesting, and somewhat weighed down. The women featured have amazing stories, but also different enough, that flipping back and forth between them on the journey seemed somewhat disjointed and confusing at times. At time, I struggled to maintain a sense of time and place due to side journeys into family life or other characters stories. Despite all of that, it was fascinating book that provided a ton of interesting facts including how Black Friday was started! This is a book best read while taking notes and is a wonderful read for anyone interested in fashion and consumerism in America or the rise of women in the workplace

When Women Ran Fifth Avenue by Julie Satow

Why I Chose It: Books about trailblazing females always grab my attention.

This book took me back to the glitz and glamour of New York City in the 20th Century. This book was expertly researched, and it was organized in a way that felt like a story, not a textbook.

While I know history is tied together, I found it fascinating that this history was so interwoven with WWI, the Great Depression, WWII, etc. The author did a fantastic job of tying all these events together with what was going on in department stores. I loved finding out little things like why revolving doors were added and why things were positioned like they were. The sociological aspect of this book was a real winner for me.

This story was anchored by three women - Hortense Odlum, Dorothy Shaver, and Geraldine Stutz - but the author also highlighted many more women who made their name in the fashion industry. All in all, this was a book that revered women in fashion and highlighted them so that their contributions won’t be forgotten.

If you’re a fan of trailblazing females, glamorous New York City, or fashion history, you’ll enjoy this.

Ok, you need to stop what you're doing and read this book. It's all about Henri Bendel, Lord & Taylor, and Bonwit Teller. What you learn from this book is that at their peak they were run by women. Julie Satow brilliantly describes how they came to be and te struggles and successes they had. This book should be taught in a women's studies class. It would be such an inspiration for young girls to read and learn that women had history that wasn't just taking care of men. She historically shows that when men ran out of ideas on how to run these type of stores that they brought women in to figure things out. There are so many omg I didn't know that moments in this book. Ms. Satow also talks about other women and the stores they ran and the other things created by them that you may not know. I expect that this will be one of those summer books that every local beach town book store will be trying to get copies of for their clients. I truly can't say anything critical of this book except say I wish it was longer!!! Thank you to #doubleday and #netgalley for the ARC! READ THIS BOOK!!!!

What a treat for those of us who shopped Fifth Avenue when these stores were the elite! But even if you didn't buy anything (or even window shop), this meticulously researched history will engage those interested in the business of retail. Hortense Odlum of Bonwit Teller, Dorothy Shaver of Lord & Taylor and Geraldine Stutz of Henri Bendel each had their niche customer but they shared the promotion of new designers, accessible and outrageous fashion and just really neat windows. For all that this is about the business, it's really about the women I was familiar with Stutz, who had a knack for self promotion but not the others. I learned quite about not only about department stores but also about the designers. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A great read.

I grew up thinking I wanted to pursue a career in fashion. I grew up shopping in department stores, as well as reading every woman's fashion magazine. I love the title "When Women Ran Fifth Avenue" and was so excited to read. I feel embarrassed to admit that I did not enjoy the book. It felt very dry to me and so much information crammed together that I had trouble concentrating. Reading it felt like a chore, like I was back in school reading a text book. I keep asking myself did I read the same book as the writers who supplied pull quotes? I'm rating it a 3 because it was well researched and a wonderful topic that others should enjoy. But for whatever reason, it was a miss for me.

Thank you Doubleday and Netgalley for access to this arc.

Unfortunately my solo shopping days post-dated the golden age of the select department stores with names that evoked glamor and style. In this book, readers can catch a glimpse of it. You could also watch older movies such as “The Shop Around the Corner,” “Holiday Affair,” or “Bachelor Mother” to see them in action. High end but not quite bespoke clothes (pirating Parisian fashions was common until WWII shut off French haute couture), tea rooms, well paid and highly trained staff ready to find you whatever you needed and then ring you up there (rather than having to chase down a salesperson as we do now) – these stores not only catered to women, they employed them and paid fairly well. Beginning in the late Victorian age, many of these storied and multi-storied places of wonder grew to cover almost any need and lasted through world wars and the depression. Then came the rise of suburbia, cheaper department stores, and discount bargain stores which turned them into stuffy elephants that could no longer pivot with the latest fads. High retail space costs and Covid did for many that had managed to cling to a bit of their former glory.

But there was a time when women – the book focuses on three but many others including forward thinking African American and Jewish women are mentioned – actually ran things. And ran them well. Odlum, Shaver, and Stutz were not only fashionable women but savvy businesswomen who took moribund stores and turned them around. They knew what women wanted, how they wanted it, and gave it to their loyal customers. They also figured out how to get women to want beyond what they needed which is how to really make money. They changed how American women shopped and what they shopped for. They also had salaries and responsibilities that were, at the time, amazing. The background of these women and the stores are interesting and obviously well researched if a bit tedious after a while – maybe a result of an excess of research riches. But it is thrilling to see what women were ably doing in such a cutthroat industry long before the 70s/80s. B

I have never read a book quite like this one before. I enjoyed reading how three women each ran high end department stores and the expertise they had at what they did.
It was fun to step in to their lives and see this side of business that is usually dominated by men. These three women showed other women that if you put your mind to doing a tough job you can do it better than so many others.
Julie Satow was able to pull by the cover and show us how things were accomplished and who exactly was the powerhouse in the department stores. I want to thank the author for giving the readers a look at a world we never have the chance to see.
Thank you NetGalley, Julie Satow and Doubleday Books for the copy of the book When Women Ran Fifth Avenue. This is my personal review.

This is a very enjoyable history of department stores through the lens of three female executives whose careers covered most of the twentieth century. They had impressive tenures when that was extremely unusual and the way they individually regarded their careers says a lot about the times. The book is very well researched and is an engaging read. I would recommend to readers who like histories on the time and place.

This nonfiction book tells the story of Hortense Odlum, Geraldine Stutz, and Dorothy Shaver, three revolutionary women in the world of New York City department stores. These women, who helmed Bonwit Teller, Henri Bendel, and Lord & Taylor, helped to revitalize a dying industry by meeting the needs of their ideal customers – women like them.

While each department store was known for something different, their success was all based on the women in charge and their unique business savvy.

Why I Like It: I had fun getting a peek behind the curtain of some of the most well-known department stores in the world. While none of these stores have survived to the present day, it was still nice to learn about their storied history.

"A glittering portrait of the golden age of American department stores and of three visionary women who led them, from the award-winning author of The Plaza.

The twentieth century American department store: a palace of consumption where every wish could be met under one roof - afternoon tea, a stroll through the latest fashions, a wedding (or funeral) planned. It was a place where women, shopper and shopgirl alike, could stake out a newfound independence. Whether in New York or Chicago or on Main Street, USA, men owned the buildings, but inside, women ruled.

In this hothouse atmosphere, three women rose to the top. In the 1930s, Hortense Odlum of Bonwit Teller came to her husband's department store as a housewife tasked with attracting more shoppers like herself, and wound up running the company. Dorothy Shaver of Lord and Taylor championed American designers during World War II - before which US fashions were almost exclusively Parisian copies - becoming the first businesswoman to earn a $1 million salary. And in the 1960s Geraldine Stutz of Henri Bendel re-invented the look of the modern department store. With a preternatural sense for trends, she inspired a devoted following of ultra-chic shoppers as well as decades of copycats.

In When Women Ran Fifth Avenue, journalist Julie Satow draws back the curtain on three visionaries who took great risks, forging new paths for the women who followed in their footsteps. This stylish account, rich with personal drama and trade secrets, captures the department store in all its glitz, decadence, and fun, and showcases the women who made that beautifully curated world go round."

It's not just the glamor of a bygone era, it was a whole way of life that changed.

Wonderful book. The author did a great job of taking non-fiction and letting it read like a story. I liked getting to follow different women on their journey and compare them along the way. I appreciated that we were able to see the stores from creation to present day and really got the whole picture. I do wish there were a few more pictures to help the reader visualize the stores in their prime but the author did a good job of describing them. It was interesting to see how various women were impacted through the store changes and who women handled their leadership differently, both appreciating and regretting their historical significance. This book would be great for people to learn more about women in historically significant roles but also of the fashion/shopping history of the US.

I loved this. I love history that brings in pop culture and fashion and personality and Satow does just that. I am nostalgic for an era I was at least two decades late for. Highly recommend this for new yorkers and fashion lovers

Thanks to Net galley and the publisher and author for the ARC

Yes!! What a wonderful change of pace from historical fiction to read the true story of three amazing women who revolutionized department stores in America. This book was filled with facts, details, and statistics but read like a novel. The three unheralded women truly made their mark on the American way of life and economy. I will be presenting this book to my book club this week and highly recommend it to everyone who enjoys shopping, fashion, and American history.

Beautifully written and evocative descriptions. I am not going to be able to finish it before my copy expires, but the part that I read was really enjoyable.

I am so delighted I was asked to read and review Julie Satow’s When Women Ran Fifth Avenue: Glamour and Power at the Dawn of American Fashion. Satow focuses most closely on Hortense Odlum of Bonwit Teller, Dorothy Shaver of Lord & Taylor, and Geraldine Stutz of Henri Bendel. Although very different, these women represent those who were making their way into corporate leadership positions in the world of Department stores and fashion. Through exploring these lives we gain entrance into the fascinating world of 5th Avenue - watching the evolution of the department store and women’s fashion. The era here is one that I love to read about. For me it evoked feelings of PBS’s Mr. Selfridge which was fascinating to me and of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - I mean, who wouldn’t want her fashion style and access to those clothes?

I was born when these department stores were considered the pinnacle for shoppers, but by the time I was shopping, these kinds of stores were struggling to maintain their relevance (which I learned from this book). To be clear, I didn’t live near 5th Avenue, nor did we have the economic freedom to shop for designer clothing. But, oh, I remember Brody’s - a department store in a nearby small town. I remember shopping there with my grandmother, who had a bit more spendable money. We would descend into the basement of the store where pop music would be playing and the decor was all silver and lucite. Here was the world of the teen shopper. I can even - pretty accurately - describe some of the clothes I got there. I was a bit entranced. I was entranced in much the same way by the contents of this book. I would love to walk the corridors of one of the early department stores. Satow describes the executives, the shoppers, and the facilities in a way that they come alive. The inclusion of a number of photographs enhance the reading.

The ladies that Satow focuses on are charting new territory. Odlum is a housewife who becomes involved at the urging of her husband who bought Bonwit Teller and wanted to revitalize it. Dorothy and her sister Ellie came to New York City on a whim and stayed. Dorothy worked her way up the ladder at Lord & Taylor. She loved her career and was, of course, excellent at it. In many ways Geraldine Stutz had the most difficult job to revitalize Henri Bendel because of the unique structure and small size of the building. She had to be very creative and her ideas were often the stuff of criticism - right up until the point where she consistently succeeded. These ladies had to fight for respect by working hard for much less money than corporate men were getting.

I learned a great deal of history as well. This paragraph will read a bit like a list, but I’d love to whet your appetite to read the title. I didn’t know that the Nazi’s attempted to weaponize women’s hats and fashion. I learned about the circumstances that surrounded the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and the tragic loss of life. For someone who wielded her fashion plates with aplomb, I was also delighted by the history of American fashion as it were - the spying, the thievery, the high stakes copying in Paris. I was unaware of Eleanor Roosevelt’s involvement in its development. Having just visited the Andy Warhol museum for the first time - I was especially interested in reading about his early shoe work for department stores. Other prominent names involved in this era include: Salvador Dali, L. Frank Baum, Amelia Earhart, Jackie Cochran, Christie Brinkley, and Mary Tyler Moore. The history of mannequins and decorated windows are a part of this book. I have vague memories of decorated windows in Pittsburgh department stores.) One mannequin designer often took one of his favorites to social events! I read about the first paper catalog created by Geraldine Stutz to help keep her store relevant. (Evoking for me memories of the yearly arrival of the JCPenney Christmas Catalog) Finally, Satow outlines the advent of the discount department store - Walmart, Kmart, etc. and of course shopping malls are also explored here. These signaled the demise of the department stores. The fall of these department stores and the change in the careers of these three women are also explored. The loss of actual historical buildings like that of Bonwit Teller was a tragic consequence.

Satow concludes that the three ladies that she has featured as trailblazing (2 of whom devoted their entire careers to keeping their stores relevant) would not be overly sad at the demise of the traditional department store. In part because so many other opportunities for women to advance in the corporate world exist now. She also suggests they might be pleased with the democratization of American fashion through avenues like Etsy and social media.I might also add that the current uptick in the appreciation of vintage fashion might be pleasing for the ladies as well. I am new to vintage shopping but am enjoying exploring the clothes from the very eras that this book features. I love having time to create a “fit” that features a vintage piece in what I would consider an updated way. Perhaps now, I can picture myself in the dressing room of one of these upscale department stores just taking it all in. I appreciate Julie Satow’s When Women Ran Fifth Avenue: Glamour and Power at the Dawn of American Fashion - excellently researched, well written, informative, and for me memory evoking. Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday for the Advanced Reader Copy

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy for me to read and review. I loved this book. It took me back to the days when I shopped at many of the stores mentioned. I still remember the fabulous shoe selection at I. Miller and the passage way of unique shops at Henri Bendel. What I didn’t know about was all the amazing women that ran these stores. it was interesting hearing how they climbed the corporate ladder well before many women have since done so. I also learned more about the demise of these stores, including the recent one of Lord & Taylor. I highly recommend this book to those that love New York City, the retail world and shoppers of these past renowned establishments. The book is easy to follow and fast pace. I listen to an audio version of it. Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to read this.