Spiegel - Fashion Company Profile
Spiegel was Chicago's great mail-order fashion house - founded in 1865, mailing its first catalog in 1905 to reach 10 million customers by 1925 - which survived a 2003 bankruptcy as Spiegel Brands before ceasing operations in 2019.
Company Snapshot
- Status
- Closed - Spiegel ceased operations in 2019 and its website was removed; the catalog business had passed through several owners after the 2003 bankruptcy
- Type
- Private at closure - last operated as Spiegel LLC under Patriarch Partners (from 2009); the catalogs traded as Spiegel Brands, Inc. from 2004
- Headquarters
- Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Founded
- 1865, in Chicago, Illinois, by Joseph Spiegel; first catalog mailed in 1905
Company Profile
Spiegel no longer operates and has no official website to link. The linked history page keeps the record as recorded: the Paris buying trips that made Spiegel the first catalog to bring European trends to American homes, the wardrobe-building catalogs - Spiegel, Newport News and Shape FX - the pioneering 1995 website, the 2003 bankruptcy and 2004 sale of the catalog businesses, and the Spiegel Brands, Granite Creek and Patriarch Partners years that ended with the quiet 2019 shutdown. It is kept because a company that taught America to shop by mail for 154 years belongs in a fashion company directory even after its last catalog.
The direct marketer's later structure paired the flagship Spiegel catalog with Newport News and Shape FX, in print and online. Ever the innovator, the filing notes, Spiegel launched its website in 1995, making at-home shopping more immediate - an early move for a catalog house, made a full generation before e-commerce finished the industry Spiegel had helped invent.
Spiegel History
The earlier record for this company - its history, past brand line-ups, figures and photographs from the periods described - is kept on a separate page for historical reference.
Spiegel History & Historical Profile →Common Questions
When was Spiegel founded, and when did it mail its first catalog?
Joseph Spiegel founded the company in Chicago in 1865; the first Spiegel catalog was mailed in 1905, and by 1925 the retailer had 10 million customers.
What happened to Spiegel in 2003?
Spiegel filed for bankruptcy and reorganization in 2003. In 2004 Golden Gate Capital Partners and Pangea Holdings bought the Spiegel and Newport News catalog businesses, which then traded as Spiegel Brands, Inc.; the old parent kept Eddie Bauer and took its name.
Does Spiegel still operate?
No. After sales to Granite Creek Partners (2008) and Patriarch Partners (2009), Spiegel ceased operations in 2019 and its website was removed.
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