Going into the retail business for themselves, on April 17, 1872, the Bloomingdale brothers opened their first store at 938 Third Avenue, New York City, between 56th and 57th Streets. With Lyman as the sole proprietor, the Bloomingdale brothers' new store sold a wide variety of European fashions, anchored through their own buying office in Paris. Their success resulted in the business outgrowing its premises and in 1886 they relocated operations to 59th Street and Third Avenue. His brother Joseph retired from the business on New Year's Day 1896, but Lyman remained involved until his death. By 1898, the first of Jesse W. Reno’s patented "inclined elevators" (early escalators) were incorporated into the Bloomingdale Bros. store at Third Avenue and 59th Street. This was the first retail application of the devices in the US, and no coincidence, considering that Reno's primary financier was Lyman Bloomingdale.Gusrae, G. B. "Moving Sidewalks", Architectural Record, June 1956: 220.
