Lillie Rubin

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Lillie Rubin

Industry	Retail
Founded	1946 (1946)
Founder	Lillie Rubin
Defunct	1999 (1999)
Fate	Purchased by The Forgotten Woman and subsequently liquidated alongside it
Headquarters	Miami Beach, Florida, United States
Number of locations	1 (1946) 2 (1955) 50 (1984) 79 (1994) 59 (1996, pre-bankruptcy) 38 (1996, post-bankruptcy) 25 (1998)
Products	Women's dresses, sportswear, and suits

Lillie Rubin was a U.S.-based chain specializing in women's apparel, operating from 1946 through 1999.

History

The origins of Lillie Rubin trace back to 1946 with the establishment of its inaugural store at 1037 Lincoln Road in Miami Beach, Florida, a site now occupied by an Apple Store. The brand expanded with a second location opening in Palm Beach, Florida on December 15, 1955.

Founder Lillie Rubin passed away at age 90 in 1984; by that time, the chain had grown to encompass 50 stores. In 1995, the company faced potential legal action from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after a complaint was lodged in Phoenix, Arizona the previous year alleging gender-based hiring discrimination against a male applicant. Nevertheless, this case was quietly resolved by 1996. That same year, Lillie Rubin filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, resulting in a reduction from its peak of 79 stores in 1994 down to 59. Subsequently, investor Asher Fensterheim from Elmsford, New York acquired the company's assets for $7 million and restructured it into Lillie Rubin Fashions to operate a network of 38 outlets.

In February of 1998, the firm entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection once again. At that point, its remaining 25 stores were sold to The Forgotten Woman—a New York City-based retailer specializing in plus-size women's clothing with nine locations. Although plans were made to maintain most stores under the Lillie Rubin brand name, The Forgotten Woman itself filed for bankruptcy the following year and shuttered all thirty of its stores by 1999.