Final Shopping Spree Begins at Garfinckel’s : Retailing: Stiff competition forced the Washington institution to hold a liquidation sale. The event drew a well-heeled crowd.

Hundreds of nostalgic, white-gloved matrons and sweaty bargain hunters swarmed into Garfinckel’s department store Wednesday to offer last rites to the grand old lady of Washington retailers at a tumultuous liquidation sale.

The polished bronze doors of Garfinckel’s flagship downtown store, an elegant Washington institution for 85 years, swung open at noon to the cheers of shoppers who raced inside to snap up Hermes scarves, Godiva chocolates, Waterford crystal and Givenchy panty hose--all marked 20% off.

A well-heeled mob scene quickly ensued. Within 15 minutes, the front doors were closed temporarily to contain the throng, swollen by nearby office workers on their lunch hour. Within 30 minutes, two wood-paneled elevators had stalled under the crush.

“It’s symbolic of a lost era,” said Carole Melham, who has been shopping at Garfinckel’s since she was a little girl in suburban Chevy Chase, Md. She returned Wednesday with her small son Timothy.

“I was raised on Garfinckel’s,” she said. “Shopping was a major event when I was growing up. My mother bought me tons and tons of things here. I remember when there was a doorman to greet you.

The victim of aggressive competition from Bloomingdale’s, Neiman-Marcus, Nordstrom and other major national department stores that have muscled into the Washington area in recent years, Garfinckel’s filed for protection from its creditors in federal bankruptcy court last week.

Plans were made to sell off Garfinckel’s entire inventory of upscale merchandise, valued at $22 million. Sale proceeds, estimated between $9 million and $10 million, were expected to go directly to one of Garfinckel’s principal secured creditors.

Officials of Schottenstein Stores Corp. of Columbus, Ohio, a prominent retail liquidator handling the Garfinckel’s sale, said the local chain’s store shelves and display cases should be cleared of merchandise within 60 days. Shoppers will be lured with more drastic price slashing as the sale winds down, they said.

The Garfinckel’s downtown store, situated at the busy intersection of 14th and F streets across the street from the Willard Inter-Continental Hotel and two blocks from the White House, once boasted the most wealthy, powerful and stylish clientele in Washington.

But retail industry analysts said the chain had lost business steadily since the 1970s to the large national chains that moved into Washington’s affluent suburbs.