Flint & Kent was an upscale department store based in Buffalo, New York

Buffalo, New York

Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...

. It had its roots in a dry good store opened in 1832 by Benjamin Fitch at 288 Main Street in that city. It was named Flint & Kent in 1865. In 1897, it moved to its flagship store at 554 Main Street, to a building that was designed by noted Buffalo architect Edward Austin Kent

Edward Austin Kent

Edward Austin Kent was a prominent architect in Buffalo, New York. Born in Bangor, Maine, Kent moved with his family to Buffalo after the Civil War, where his father opened a successful department store, Flint & Kent. Kent was educated at Yale and then at the L'Ecole de Beaux Arts in Paris. ...

, who would perish on the RMS Titanic. In 1954, the company was sold to Charles Jack Hahn, whose father owned Sattler's

Sattler's

Sattler's was a regional department store chain headquartered at 998 Broadway, Buffalo, New York, two miles from the downtown core. They pioneered "bargain basement" retailing in the Buffalo area. Sattler's was founded in 1889 by 17-year-old John G. Sattler when he opened a one-room shoe store in...

. The company was sold in 1956, to The Sample

The Sample

The Sample, also known as The Sample Dress Shop or The Sample Shop, was a family-owned, ladies clothing and furnishings store based in Buffalo, New York. The original store was established by Anne W. Bunis on Hertel Avenue in North Buffalo in 1928. The company started when Mrs...

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