Abraham & Straus was a Brooklyn, New York based department store chain. It started in 1865 as Wechsler & Abraham, founded by Abraham Abraham (1843-1911) and Joseph Wechsler (1837-1896) in downtown Brooklyn. In 1893, the Straus family, part owners of R.H. Macy and Company, bought out Wechsler, and the name changed to Abraham & Straus. In 1929, Abraham & Straus was one of the four department stores that joined to form Federated Department Stores, Inc., a retail holding company. Like most successful department stores, Abraham & Straus expanded into the suburbs after World War II. In 1994, Federated acquired a bankrupt Macy’s and the following year decided to drop the Abraham & Straus name for the more recognizable Macy’s and Abraham & Straus disappeared from the retail landscape as all their stores were converted to either Macy’s or Federated’s lower-end store, Stern’s.