Who? The magic words are "dry goods." A well-sourced Wiki summarizes:
He was a business genius, and by 1848 he had built a large marble-fronted store on Broadway between Chambers Street and Reade Street, which was devoted to the wholesale branch of his business, and the largest retail store in the world at that time. Stewart also had branches of his company in different parts of the world and owned several mills and factories. Stewart had an estimated annual income of $1,000,000 in 1869.Stewart created "The Marble Palace" at 280 Broadway in Manhattan, by some accounts the first department store. The building is still there, a National Historical Landmark. Stewart had other interests, though hardly the globe-girdling monopoly that you might expect to associate with such wealth. Oddly, it seems there were three other department store chains bearing the name of "Stewart," none of those Stewarts related to Alexander. Oh, and he had a grandmother named "Martha Stewart."
Stiles doesn't press his point about Stewart; other sources say the plaudit belongs to an "Astor," but again there may be a surprise here. John Jacob Astor, the founder of the Astor dynasty, had died in 1848; the incumbent dynast in 1870 was a son, William Backhouse Astor. Here's a listing that puts Astor and Stewart in a tie
