De Bijenkorf – the first department store in the Netherlands – originated on Nieuwendijk. Simon Philip Goudsmit and Abraham Salomon Polak opened a drapery shop here selling threads, tape and knitting wool. They later added ladies’ ready-to-wear clothes to the range. When the new building on nearby Dam Square opened its doors in 1914, it looked like a huge palace – imposing but at the same time alluring, with doormen in uniform at all the entrances. At that time, the department store had nineteen departments spread over four floors. The area open to the public totalled 8000 square metres and included a tea room, a library and a post and telegraph office. De Bijenkorf was well known for its fabric department – and hence fashion – and the window displays. In 1915 de Bijenkorf introduced something new, the sale of sewing patterns by size. Customers could ask a cutter/fitter to fit the garments they had made themselves. Soon after opening, de Bijenkorf engaged professional window dressers and from 1918 the first shop-window dummies were used to entice the public into the fashion departments. From 1926 several branches opened all over the Netherlands. World War II was a period of crisis for de Bijenkorf. Many Jewish employees were deported and most of the management was sacked. Nevertheless, de Bijenkorf succeeded in re-establishing a certain level of luxury and prestige after the war. Social change contributed to the department store becoming less exclusive than before and more ordinary people dared to pass through the doors. De Bijenkorf is now part of a large group of shops and department stores.