Albert Steinfeld
From left to right: Albert Steinfeld, 1882, L. Zeckendorf & Co. Store, 1870s, Albert Steinfeld & Co. Wagon, Steinfeld’s Store in the mid-20th century, Bettina Steinfeld, ca. 1880, Albert Steinfeld & Company store at the corner of Stone and Pennington, early 20th century
Born in Hanover, Germany on December 23, 1854, Albert Steinfeld would eventually become known as Tucson’s Merchant Prince. His journey to the Arizona Territory began at the age of 17 when Steinfeld set out alone from his parent’s home in Denver, Colorado to work for his uncle, Louis Zeckendorf, in the family’s dry goods store. The long and difficult journey began with a train ride to San Francisco where he boarded a boat to San Diego to then catch the six-day stage to Tucson.
It was 1872 and his first impression of Tucson after his exhaustive trip was less than favorable; he wrote in his journal that he cried himself to sleep upon seeing his new home and the store in which he was to work. But, by the next morning, Steinfeld would channel his venturesome spirit and continue, “I was somewhat refreshed in the morning, the sun was shining warmly and I made up my mind that I was going to make the best of the situation, and even if I didn’t like it, I was going to teach myself to like it.”
Steinfeld set to the task of turning the store around. So great were his efforts and business acumen that within two years, his Uncle Louis had made him a full partner in the store and changed the name to L. Zeckendorf & Company. By the age of 26, Steinfeld was manager of the Zeckendorf store. In 1883, Steinfeld married Bettina V. Donau and their home became a place of not only devoted family life but also a center of cultural, social, and philanthropic pursuits as well.
In 1904, Steinfeld purchased the store outright from his uncle and moved it to a new downtown site at Stone Ave and Pennington Street. Steinfeld was so successful that he would become one of the first millionaires in Arizona.
Louis Zeckendorf and his nephew would eventually further their business dealings outside of the dry goods and retail industry to include mining operations. Sadly, that part of their partnership ended in a legal battle that would go all the way to the United States Supreme Court. The case was extremely complicated and, while Albert’s uncle Louis would prevail legally, there were no real winners. The business that Louis and his brothers had founded on Jewish family unity or mishpacha was no more.
On March 14, 1906, the old Zeckendorf store at Main and Pennington streets closed its doors forever and, on the following day, Albert Steinfeld & Company held a magnificent grand opening of its new modern department store on Stone Avenue. It was reports that 5,000 people – more than half the population of Tucson—turned out for the event and the first 2,500 customers received souvenir silver bowls.
The Citizen wrote about the opening, "When Steinfeld arrived in Tucson, thirty-four years ago, the Zeckendorf business amounted to only $40,000 per year. It had just two clerks to wait on customers and keep the books. Now the annual business of A. Steinfeld & Co. aggregated $1,500,000 and required a force of 150 people."
Steinfeld would also be successful in many other business ventures, including serving as President of Consolidated Bank, owning one of the largest cattle operations South of Tucson, farming in Safford, and property management all across the state.
For all of his success, Albert never got over the pain of the court battle that tore the Zeckendorf and Steinfeld families apart. When Albert Steinfeld died in 1935, his children, Harold, Irene and Viola, found the mountains of papers and business records from the lawsuit that he had kept in his office and made the decision to burn everything in a bonfire behind the Steinfeld mansion.
Zeckendorfs and Steinfelds: Merchant Princes of the American Southwest by Bettina Lyons
Cholent and Chorizo, by Abraham Chanin
Jewish Settlers in the Arizona Territory, by Blaine Lamb
Pioneering Jews: A New Life in the Southwest, by Harriet and Fred Rochlin
Photo credits: Bloom Southwest Jewish Archives