| Industry | Activities of holding companies Financial service activities, except insurance and pension funding  |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1928 United States |
| Headquarters | United States |
The Atlas Corporation is an American investment firm that was formed in 1928. Atlas invested in and managed a number of major US companies during the 20th century and has a number of investments in natural resources.[ citation needed ]
Atlas corporation was formed in 1928, in a merger of the United Corporation, an investment firm started in 1923 with $40,000, with Atlas Utilities and Investors Ltd. The corporation specialized in capital formation and management. In 1929, Atlas was a $12,550,000 investment trust. [1] The company was able to shrewdly weather the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and continue to grow through the 1930s and 1940s. The corporation was founded by Floyd Odlum and his brother-in-law Boyd Hatch.
With Floyd Odlum as president and Boyd Hatch as vice-president, Atlas invested, managed or controlled numerous industries, including Greyhound Lines, Bonwit Teller (acquired 1934) and Franklin Simon & Co. (acquired 1936) ladies' apparel stores, Madison Square Garden, and various mines, utility companies, aviation related businesses, and banks. [2] [3] [4] After Atlas Corporation acquired the Bonwit Teller ladies' apparel stores, Floyd Odlum convinced his wife, Hortense Odlum, to become involved in the store's operations. She became the first female president of a major department store chain when she became president of Bonwit Teller in 1934. [5] [6] [7] In 1948, Howard Hughes acquired controlling interest in RKO Pictures from Atlas. [8] [9] The Atlas Missile program was named after the Atlas Corporation, [10] the contractor through its Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, (later Convair) subsidiary, which was used in the Mercury missions to send astronauts into orbit.
Today, the company has ownership in natural resources investments.
Howard Robard Hughes Jr. was an American aerospace engineer, businessman, filmmaker, investor, philanthropist, and pilot. He was best known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in the world. He first became prominent as a film producer, and then as an important figure in the aviation industry. Later in life, he became known for his eccentric behavior and reclusive lifestyle—oddities that were caused in part by his worsening obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), chronic pain from a near-fatal plane crash, and increasing deafness.
The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded on February 14, 1934 by Howard Hughes in Glendale, California, as a division of Hughes Tool Company. The company was known for producing, among other products, the Hughes H-4 Hercules aircraft, the atmospheric entry probe carried by the Galileo spacecraft, and the AIM-4 Falcon guided missile.
Floyd Bostwick Odlum was an American lawyer and industrialist. He has been described as "possibly the only man in the United States who made a great fortune out of the Depression".
Genesco Inc. is an American publicly owned specialty retailer of branded footwear and accessories and is a wholesaler of branded and licensed footwear based in Nashville, Tennessee. Through its various subsidiaries, Genesco operates more than 1,455 retail stores throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland and wholesales branded and licensed footwear to more than 1,050 retail accounts. Founded as the Jarman Shoe Company in 1924 as a footwear manufacturer, the company changed its name to the General Shoe Company in 1931 and became a public company in 1939. The company took its current name, Genesco, in 1959. Genesco exited footwear manufacturing in 2002 and now contracts with independent, third parties located outside the United States to manufacture its branded and licensed footwear. In June 2011, Genesco acquired U.K. retail chain and web business Schuh. This was seen as a huge step for the business as it gave them an already well-established grounding in a market outside of the U.S.
The Sikorsky S-38 was an American twin-engined ten-seat sesquiplane amphibious aircraft. It was Sikorsky's first widely produced amphibious flying boat, serving successfully for Pan American Airways and the United States military.
Summa Corporation was a holding company for the business interests of Howard Hughes after he sold the tool division of Hughes Tool Company in 1972. Its holdings included casino hotels, aviation businesses, and television channels. After Hughes's death in 1976, most of the company's assets were sold off, and it focused on developing the master-planned community of Summerlin, Nevada. Summa was renamed as The Howard Hughes Corporation in 1994. It was acquired by The Rouse Company in 1996.
Forest Fair Village was a shopping mall in the northern suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is situated on the border between Forest Park and Fairfield, at the junction of Interstate 275 and Winton Road. The mall, built in phases between 1988 and 1989 as Forest Fair Mall, has become noted for its troubled history; despite being the second-biggest mall in the state and bringing many new retailers to the market, it lost three anchor stores and its original owner LJ Hooker to bankruptcy less than a year after opening. The mall underwent renovations throughout the mid 1990s, attracting new stores such as Kohl's, Burlington Coat Factory, and Bass Pro Shops. Mills Corporation renamed the property to Cincinnati Mills in 2002 and renovated the mall once more in August 2004. Following the sale of Mills's portfolio to Simon Property Group, the mall was sold several times afterward, while continuing to lose many of its key tenants. After having been renamed to Cincinnati Mall and again to Forest Fair Village in the 2010s, the property received significant media attention as an example of a dead mall. It also received a number of proposals for renovation, none of which were realized. Following years of tenancy decline, it closed to the public on December 2, 2022.
Vultee Aircraft, Inc. was an aircraft manufacturer founded in 1939 in Los Angeles County, California, when the Vultee Aircraft Division of the aviation holding company AVCO was reorganized as an independent company. It had limited success before merging with the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation on March 17–18, 1943, to form the Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation − or Convair.
VF Corporation is an American global apparel and footwear company founded in 1899 by John Barbey and headquartered in Denver, Colorado. The company's 13 brands are organized into three categories: Outdoor, Active and Work. In 2015, the company controlled 55% of the U.S. backpack market with the JanSport, Eastpak, Timberland, and The North Face brands.
Bonwit Teller & Co. was an American luxury department store in New York City, New York, founded by Paul Bonwit in 1895 at Sixth Avenue and 18th Street, and later a chain of department stores.
Hortense McQuarrie Odlum was the first woman president of Bonwit Teller Department Store in New York City and the first wife of financier Floyd Odlum.
Paul Joseph (Josef) Bonwit was a Kingdom of Hanover-born American businessman. He was the founder of Bonwit Teller department store in New York City. Bonwit controlled the company bearing his name from its founding in 1895 until its sale in 1934.
Henri Bendel, Inc., established in 1895, was a women's department store based in New York City which in its later history sold women's handbags, jewelry, luxury fashion accessories, home fragrances and gifts. Its New York City store was located at 10 West 57th street. In 1985, when purchased by Limited, the new owner moved the store to 712 Fifth Avenue.
Edward John DeBartolo Sr. was an American businessman. In 1971, his Ohio-based corporation was ranked as 47th among the nation's top 400 construction contractors. In 1983, DeBartolo was included on Forbes magazine's first Forbes 400 list of richest Americans.
Bankers Securities Corporation (B.S.C.) was a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based investment company formed in 1927, by Albert M. Greenfield for general investment banking and trading in securities. It eventually became the parent company for virtually all of Greenfield's financial interests. B.S.C. bought control of Lit Brothers department store, then subsequently sold it to City Stores Company. On December 1, 1931, City Stores Company could no longer meet its financial obligation to B.S.C. and Greenfield took control of City Stores. Greenfield was now a retail magnate. B.S.C bought other stores outside the City Stores umbrella including: N. Snellenburg & Company; Bonwit Teller & Company; Tiffany & Co.; and Loft Candy Corporation. The Greenfield B.S.C. empire also included a number of Philadelphia based hotels including the Bellevue-Stratford, Benjamin Franklin, Sylvania, Adelphia, Essex, John Bartram and the Ritz-Carlton in Philadelphia and Atlantic City, New Jersey. Greenfield resigned as chairman of B.S.C. in March 1959, and was succeeded by Gustave G. Amsterdam.
Helen Galland was an American retail executive and businesswoman who served as president of Bonwit Teller from 1980 to 1983. The New York Times described her as "one of the few women of her time to run a fashion-oriented retailer". She was also the first woman to serve on the board of the Whitman Corporation.
Harzfeld's was a Kansas City, Missouri-based department store chain specializing in women's and children's high-end apparel.
Harold's Stores, Inc. was a Norman, Oklahoma- and later Dallas-based chain of traditional, high-end classic styled ladies and men's specialty apparel stores. The chain operated 43 stores in 19 southern, western, and mid-western states in the United States. Prior to its bankruptcy filing, the company employed 624 people. The company was granted bankruptcy liquidation on November 10, 2008.
The Blum Store was a women's specialty store on the corner of 13th and Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with three branch locations in the Philadelphia suburbs. The store was comparable in quality, style, and reputation to larger chains Bonwit Teller and Lord & Taylor and was one of the premier chains headquartered in Philadelphia, selling women's clothing and accessories and children's clothing.
The Shops at Palm Desert is a shopping mall located in Palm Desert, California which serves the Coachella Valley. The mall features the traditional retailers Macy's, JCPenney, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Barnes & Noble, with 122 inline stores. In addition, the mall includes a food court and Tristone Palm Desert 10 Cinemas. The cinema has closed as of February 5, 2023. Numerous theater chains have been in discussion.