High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Abraham & Straus (or A&S) was a major New York City department store, based in Brooklyn. Founded in 1865, in 1929, it became part of Federated Department Stores, which eliminated the A&S brand shortly after its 1994 acquisition of R.H. Macy & Company. Most A&S stores took the Macy`s name, although a few became part of Stern`s, another Federated division that offered lower-end goods than did Macy`s or A&S.