Marvin Traub

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Marvin Traub (1925–2012)

Marvin Traub was an American businessman and writer who helped shape American retail. He is best known for serving as the CEO and President of Bloomingdale’s, a role he held for 22 years until 1992. After leaving Bloomingdale’s, he started his own consulting firm, Marvin Traub Associates, and later joined with Financo, Inc. in a joint venture from 1994 to 2000.

Traub was born in New York City to a Jewish family. His father, Sam D. Traub, ran a corset company, and his mother, Bea Bruckman, worked at Bonwit Teller. As a teen, he was friends with Stanley Kubrick and shared an interest in photography. He studied at Harvard University, graduating in 1947 after serving in Europe during World War II, and then earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1949.

In addition to his Bloomingdale’s leadership, Traub held other significant roles. He was Vice Chairman of Federated Department Stores from 1988 to 1992 and served as a trustee of the American Health Foundation from 1975 to 1978. He also contributed to the Harvard School of Public Health and led SD Retail Consulting, a unit of The Hilco Organization.

Traub received several honors, including the National Retail Federation’s Gold Medal in 1991, as well as France’s Légion d’Honneur and Ordre national du Mérite, and Italy’s Commendatore della Repubblica.

He authored two books about retail and his experiences: Like No Other Store...: The Bloomingdale’s Legend and the Revolution in American Marketing (1993) and Marvin Traub: Like No Other Career (2008).

Traub married Lee Laufer in 1948. She studied dance with Martha Graham and later became chair emerita of the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance. They had three children: Andrew, James, and Margaret.

Marvin Traub died of bladder cancer in Manhattan, New York, on July 11, 2012, at age 87.