Franklin Simon

Franklin Simon (February 7, 1865 – October 4, 1934) was the owner of Franklin Simon & Co., a department store in Manhattan. The store was founded in February 1902, and his business partner was Herman A. Flurscheim. cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=H.A. Flurscheim Dies. |url= |quote=Pioneer Dry Goods Merchant and Art Collector Was 63 Years Old. Flurscheim wed Miss Bella Goldsmith, of this city, in 1876. She died four years ago leaving five children who now survive him. They are Mrs. Ansel Strauss, Mrs. Otto Loeb, Mrs. Harry Cowen and Bernard and Harry Flurscheim. |publisher=New York Times |date=August 20, 1914 |accessdate=2007-06-18 ]

Biography

He was born in New York City to Henry Simon, an immigrant from Frankfurt, Germany who worked as a wood carver and a cigarmaker. Franklin had a brother: Julius Simon. In 1878, he worked in Stern Brothers' dry goods store at 32-36 West 23rd Street run by Louis Stern. In 1902 he started the Franklin Simon Specialty Shops with the concept "to import much of his merchandise [from Europe] with a view to selling the imported goods as cheaply, if possible, as the domestic." [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Franklin Simon |url= |quote=Against a great name in the mercantile history of New York "the fatal asterisk of death is set." The long and successful business career of Franklin Simon, from its humble beginnings up, was marked by keen intelligence, persistent enterprise and absolute integrity. |publisher=New York Times |date=October 5, 1934 |accessdate=2007-08-21 ]

Franklin Simon married Frances and had three children: Arthur J. Simon (1892-1968); Helene Simon (1895-?); and George D. Simon (1898-1944). His two sons, and his son-in-law, Laurence Magee Lloyd (1893-1972), served as officers in the company. Simon bought the home of Mrs. Orme Wilson, sister of John Jacob Astor, at 414 Fifth Avenue and opened his store there. Franklin's widow died in 1949.

Civic minded, he was chairman of the centennial committee of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association. He was a director of the Hospital for Joint Diseases and a member of the board of governors of the Stuyvesant Square Hospital. Simon was a member of the Empire State Luncheon Club, The Westchester Biltmore Country Club, Quaker Ridge Golf Club, Uptown Club and the National Democratic Club. By 1932, he was spending time in Palm Beach, Florida, where he opened a resort shop. [cite news
author=
title=Fifth Avenue to Greenwich
date=1932-04-04
work=Time Magazine
url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,743481,00.html
accessdate=2008-08-09] He was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York. [ [http://www.museumplanet.com/tour.php/nyc/wc/86 Museum Planet tour of Woodlawn Cemetery, with biography of Franklin Simon (retrieved Sep 1, 2008)] .]

References

External links

* [http://www.14to42.net/38street1.5.html Faded sign for Franklin Simon & Co. (retrieved Sept 1, 2008).]