Birks & Mayors Inc.

Birks & Mayors Inc. is a manufacturer and retailer of jewellery, timepieces and silverware, with stores and manufacturing facilities located in Canada and the United States. It operates stores under three different retail banners: 37 "Birks" stores across Canada, 31 "Mayors" stores in Florida and Georgia, and 2 "Brinkhaus" stores in Vancouver and Calgary. [ [http://www.birksandmayors.com/about_birksMayors.htm# About Us] , Birks & Mayors official site, Retrieved 2008-07-31.] The company is headquarted in Montreal, Quebec, with American corporate offices located in Tamarac, Florida.

Birks & Mayors was created in November 2005 through the merger of the Canadian "Henry Birks and Sons Ltd." and the American "Mayors Jewelers Inc."

History

Birks & Mayors traces its origins to the opening by Henry Birks of a small jewellery shop in Montreal in 1879.."Birks, Henry." " [http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=42031 Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online] ". Retrieved 2008-07-30.]

Henry Birks and Sons

With an investment of CAD$3000, Birks opened his own small jewellery shop in 1879 on Saint Jacques Street in the heart of Montreal's financial and commercial district. In 1893, Birks went into partnership with his three sons (William, John and Gerald), and the name of the firm became "Henry Birks and Sons". As the focus of Montreal's commercial centre moved northward towards Saint Catherine Street, the Birks store moved to new premises on Phillips Square in 1894, where the company still maintains a store and corporate offices. Commencing in 1901, Birks oversaw the expansion of the company across the country, with stores opening in Canada's largest cities.

Mayors

The Mayors chain was founded in 1910 in Ohio.

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