Along with the Dodgers and Prospect Park, the Abraham & Straus department store was a legendary piece of Brooklyn's history and identity.

From Abraham Abraham's modest store of 1865, A&S developed into one of America's largest department stores, eventually becoming a charter member of the powerful Federated Department Stores Corporation in 1929. Known for unparalleled customer and employee loyalty, the stores rode a wave of demographic and economic changes. Today, the former Fulton Street Abraham & Straus operates as a Macy's and remains one of America's last downtown department stores. Author, historian and lecturer Michael J. Lisicky chronicles the rise and fall of Brooklyn's iconic store.

Michael Lisicky is a nationally recognized department store historian, lecturer and author. His books have received critical acclaim in such major newspapers as the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Boston Globe, the Newark Star Ledger, the Bergen Record and the Baltimore Sun. His book Gimbels Has It! was cited as one of the freshest reads of 2011 by National Public Radio's Morning Edition program. Mr. Lisicky has given lectures at such locations as the New York Public Library, the Boston Public Library, New York Fashion Week, the D.C. Public Library and at the 2011 Wanamaker Organ Centennial Week celebration in Philadelphia. He also served as a historical consultant for the Oscar-nominated film Carol and has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, on National Public Radio and CBS's Sunday Morning television program. Mr. Lisicky resides in Baltimore, where he is also an oboist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He is also the author of Baltimore Symphony Orchestra: A Century of Sound.