 It was both widely known and acknowledged that blacks were not welcome at the flagship store and in fact, were not permitted to try-on clothing.This may in fact have hurt the store during the latter part of the 20th century; newly-prosperous blacks may have been inclined to ignore the store.Unlike its local retail competitors, the Hecht Company, Woodward & Lothrop, and Lord & Taylor, Garfinkel's did not open numerous suburban locations during the heyday of the 1950s and 1960s.