Franklin Simon & Co.

Infobox Defunct Company
company_name = Franklin Simon & Co.
company_
fate = Bankruptcy
foundation = 1902
defunct = 1979
location = New York, New York
industry = Retail
key_people = Franklin Simon, founder
products = Fashion apparel, shoes, accessories, and cosmetics.
num_employees =
parent = City Stores Company
subsid =

Franklin Simon & Co. was a department store chain specializing in womans fashions and furnishing based in New York City. The store was conceived as a collection of specialty shops rather than a traditional department store. Each "shop" had a specialty like those that sold ready-to-wear apparel for women, misses, girls, boys, men, young men and infants. [ [http://www.14to42.net/38street1.5.html Franklin Simon & Co., 2003 photograph of fading outdoor sign at 16 W. 38th Street, New York, with company history. (retrieved Sep 1, 2008)] .]

History

The chain was founded in February 1902, as Franklin Simon Specialty Shops by Franklin Simon (1865-1934) and his business partner 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 ] Leroy C. Palmer became president of the company in 1934 at the death of Franklin Simon, and Benjamin Goldstein was the head of Franklin Simon until 1963. The store's concept was "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 ] In 1993, Dover Books on Costume, reissued the "Franklin Simon Fashion Catalog for 1923" [ [http://store.doverpublications.com/0486278549.html DoverPublications.com link for 1923 Franklin Simon catalog (retrieved Sep 1, 2008)] .]

In 1936, the chain was purchased by Atlas Corporation from the Simon family for $2 million. [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,848657,00.html "Storekeeping Atlas," "TIME Magazine", Oct. 12, 1936 (retrieved Sep 1, 2008)] .] In 1945, Franklin Simon & Co. was acquired by City Stores Company of Philadelphia. Oppenheim, Collins & Co. merged with Franklin Simon, but the two chains continued to operate under separate trade names and as separate divisions under the newly formed City Specialty Stores. In 1961/1962, City Stores changed the name of the Oppenheim, Collins & Co. stores to Franklin Simon. City Stores filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 1979. Under the reorganization plan, City Stores closed the 42 Franklin Simon stores. [ [http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/CSS-Industries-Inc-Company-History.html CSS Industries, Inc. - Company history (retrieved Sep 1, 2008] .]

Flagship Store

The main store was established in 1903, at 414 Fifth Avenue at 38th Street, the former home of Mrs. Orme Wilson, sister of John Jacob Astor. It was the first big Fifth Avenue store above 34th Street. The store closed in 1977. [Trager, James (2004) "The New York Chronology: The Ultimate Compendium of Events, People, and Anecdotes from the Dutch to the Present", HarperCollins (p. 736). ISBN 9780060740627] The 280,000-square-foot building later became the flagship store of W. & J. Sloane, another subsidiary of City Stores.

Branch Stores

In 1932, Franklin Simon & Co. opened its first branch store in Greenwich, Connecticut. [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] Other early branch locations were at Westport, Connecticut, on the Boston Post Road, near the intersection of South Compo Road, and Manhasset, New York (on Long Island). There were also stores in the Green Acres Shopping Center in Valley Stream, New York, Central Avenue in East Orange, New Jersey, and the Livingston Mall, in Livingston, New Jersey. Founder Franklin Simon also operated a resort shop at Palm Beach, Florida in 1932. Branch stores also operated in the Buffalo, New York area. [Rizzo, Michael F. (2007) "Nine Nine Eight: The Glory Days of Buffalo Shopping" Lulu Enterprises, Inc.; Morrisville, North Carolina. ISBN 978-1-4303-1386-1.] When the chain closed in 1979, there were 42 stores.

Former locations

[Locations partially compiled from: "U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York: Bankruptcy Notice of Sale of Leases," "The Washington Post", Sep 28, 1979, p. D8.]

Connecticut

* Milford - Connecticut Post Shopping Center (Store 239/31)
* Stamford - Grand Central Shopping Center (Store 237/70)
* Westport - Compo Acres Shopping Plaza (Store 238/47)

Washington, D.C.

* Washington, D.C. - 1211 Connecticut Ave., N.W. (Store 571/102)

Georgia

* Atlanta - Cumberland Mall (Store 676/92)
* Atlanta - Greenbriar Shopping Center (Store 675/21)
* Atlanta - Lenox Square Shopping Center (Store 677/27)
* Atlanta - Peachtree Center (Store 698/78)
* Atlanta - Perimeter Mall (Store 957/83)
* Decatur - South DeKalb Mall (Store 678/74)
* DeKalb - Northlake Mall (Store 697/77)

Maryland

* Baltimore - Security Square Shopping Mall (Store 560/86)
* Baltimore - Mondawmin Mall (Store 561/32)
* Bethesda - Montgomery Mall (Store 570/64)
* Hyattsville - Prince George's Plaza (Store 574/39)
* Rockville - Rockville Mall (Store 563/100)
* Towson - Towson Plaza (Store 562/43)
* Wheaton - Wheaton Plaza (Store 573/48)

Michigan

* Detroit - Eastland Center (Store 493/16)
* Southfield - Northland Shopping Center (Store 492/36)
* Taylor - Southland Center (Store 494/68)
* Troy - Oakland Mall (Store 496/62)
* Westland - Westland Shopping Center (Store 495/46)

New Jersey

* East Orange - 544 Central Avenue (Store 441/14)
* Eatontown - Monmouth Mall (Store 443/17)
* Livingston - Livingston Mall

New York

* Buffalo - 534 Main Street "(formerly Oppenheim Collins)"
* Cheektowaga - Thruway Plaza "(formerly Oppenheim Collins)"
* Garden City - Roosevelt Field Shopping Center (Store 336/40)
* Hicksville - Mid-Island Shopping Plaza (Store 335/25)
* Manhasset - Americana Shopping Center (Store 333/28)
* Nanuet - Nanuet Shopping Mall (Store 431/73)
* New York - 414 Fifth Avenue at 38th Street "(opened 1903, became W. & J. Sloane)"
* Valley Stream - Green Acres Shopping Center store was demolished to make access for the new wing into the parking lot for Green Acres Mall
* Yonkers - Cross County Center (Store 229/12)

North Carolina

* Charlotte - Charlottetown Mall (Store 879/9)
* Charlotte - South Park Shopping Center (Store 890/75)

Ohio

*Cleveland - Shaker Square Shopping Center (Store 583/10)
*Parma - Parmatown Shopping Center (Store 584/58)
*Richmond Heights - Richmond Mall (Store 582/56)

Pennsylvania

* Germantown - 36 West Chelten Avenue (Store 467/20)

Tennessee

* Memphis - Poplar-Highlands Plaza (Store 881/29)
* Memphis - Raleigh Springs Mall (Store 880/84)
* Memphis - Southland Mall (Store 889/71)

Virginia

* Falls Church - Seven Corners Shopping Center (Store 572/41) "(opened 1956)"

References

External links

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