Bloomingdale was born to Lyman Bloomingdale, founder of the Bloomingdale's department store, and Hattie Colenberg Bloomingdale, on June 17, 1873, at 938 Third Avenue, the first location of the family-owned department store. He was educated at private schools and graduated from Columbia University in 1895, where he studied architecture. However, after consultation with Dean William Robert Ware of the Columbia School of Architecture, he decided against becoming an architect and joined the family business.
