Michael C. Fina

Last updated
Michael C. Fina Recognition Michael C Fina OneSource Logo RGB.jpg
Michael C. Fina Recognition

Michael C. Fina was a family-owned fine goods retailer and worldwide employee recognition company, based and operated in New York City and known for its online store for bridal registries and home goods.

Contents

The company was last run by the third generation of the Fina family. Steven Fina was President and Chief Merchant of the retail division. [1] Ashley Fina, was Owner and President, she also led Michael C. Fina Recognition, a separate business that existed under the Michael C. Fina brand. [2]

History

Michael C. Fina was founded by Michael Charles Fina and Rose Rosenblatt in 1935, Michael C. Fina opened on the fourth floor of 580 Fifth Avenue at 47th Street in Manhattan when Rosenblatt negotiated a partnership in exchange for investing in the company. The two later married and had two sons, George and Charles. [3]

During the 1950s the company expanded into the retail market. Outgrowing the original fourth floor location at 580 Fifth Avenue, the company moved down two floors in the same building to the second floor location that would become the company's home for the next several decades. [4] The second floor housed a larger showroom, a jewelry department, and a shipping department. During their years in this store, the phrase "Upstairs at Michael C. Fina" was coined. [5]

They remained at 580 Fifth Ave. until 1998 before moving to 545 Fifth Avenue and ultimately 500 Park Avenue and their target market shifted from discounter to luxury as they changed locations. [6]

Michael C. Fina was one of the first companies in New York City to enter the bridal registry business. [7] At its peak the company registered over 10,000 brides per year.

Closure

In 2016, the company closed its physical store due to a drop in foot traffic and transformed into an online-only retailer partnering with Amazon and Zola. [1] The company ceased operations in April 2019. [8]

Employee Recognition

Entering the recognition business in the 1960s, the Finas incorporated lifestyle gifts alongside more traditional recognition items such as tie tacks and desk clocks and by 2015 provided rewards to Fortune 1000 companies. [9] In 2017, it was acquired by HALO Branded Solutions and became known as Michael C. Fina Recognition - A HALO Company. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saks Fifth Avenue</span> Multinational department store chain founded in the United States

Saks Fifth Avenue is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street shopping district of Washington, D.C. in 1867. Saks expanded into Manhattan with its Herald Square store in 1902 and flagship store on Fifth Avenue in 1924. The chain was acquired by Tennessee-based Proffitt's, Inc. in 1998, and Saks, Inc. was acquired by the Canadian-based Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in 2013.

Future Shop was a Canadian electronics store chain. It was established in 1982 by Hassan Khosrowshahi. By 1990, the chain had become the country's largest retailer of computer and consumer electronics. In January 2013, the company operated 139 locations across Canada.

Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids and various others. The company was founded in 1957; its first store was built in April 1948, with its headquarters located in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montgomery Ward</span> Retailer in the United States

Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a world-pioneering mail-order business and later a leading department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001. The current Montgomery Ward Inc. is a national online shopping and mail-order catalog retailer that started several years after the original Montgomery Ward shut down.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kohl's</span> American department store chain

Kohl's is an American department store retail chain, operated by Kohl's Corporation. It currently has 1,165 locations, operating stores in every U.S. state except Hawaii. The company was founded by Polish immigrant Maxwell Kohl, who opened a corner grocery store in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1927. It went on to become a successful chain in the local area, and in 1962 the company branched out by opening its first department store. British American Tobacco Company took a controlling interest in the company in 1972 while still managed by the Kohl Family, and in 1979, the corporation was sold to BATUS Inc. A group of investors purchased the company in 1986 from British American Tobacco and took it public in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bloomingdale's</span> American luxury department store chain owned by Macys Inc

Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain founded in 1861 by Benjamin and Lyman Bloomingdale. It was acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1930, which acquired the Macy’s department store chain in 1994, when they became sister brands. Ultimately, Federated itself was renamed Macy’s, Inc. in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lord & Taylor</span> American department store

Lord & Taylor is an American e-commerce retailer which was originally the oldest surviving department store in the United States. Founded in 1826, the retail chain declared bankruptcy in 2020, ceasing brick-and-mortar operations in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gimbels</span> Defunct American department store

Gimbel Brothers was an American department store corporation that operated for over a century, from 1842 until 1987. Gimbel patriarch Adam Gimbel opened his first store in Vincennes, Indiana, in 1842. In 1887, the company moved its operations to the Gimbel Brothers Department Store in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It became a chain when it opened a second, larger store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1894, moving its headquarters there. At the urging of future company president Bernard Gimbel, grandson of the founder, the company expanded to New York City in 1910.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barneys New York</span> American luxury sub brand

Barneys New York is an American department store chain founded in 1923 by Barney Pressman. The company operated full-line department stores in the United States from 1923 until 2020. Authentic Brands Group acquired Barneys' intellectual property in 2019, and has licensed the brand to Saks Fifth Avenue for specialty departments within its flagship stores since 2021.

Strawbridge's, formerly Strawbridge & Clothier, was a department store in the northeastern United States, with stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. The Center City Philadelphia flagship store was, in its day, a gracious urban emporium. The retailer started adding branch stores starting in the 1930s and, by their zenith in the 1980s, enjoyed annual sales of over a billion dollars By the 1990s, Strawbridge's became part of the May Department Stores conglomerate until May's acquisition by Federated Department Stores on August 30, 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B. Altman and Company</span> Department store in New York City

B. Altman and Company was a luxury department store and chain, founded in 1865 in New York City, New York, by Benjamin Altman. Its flagship store, the B. Altman and Company Building at Fifth Avenue and 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan, operated from 1906 until the company closed the store at the end of 1989. Branch stores were all shuttered by the end of January 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Avenues (shopping mall)</span> Shopping mall in Jacksonville, Florida

The Avenues is a two-level regional shopping mall located on the southside of Jacksonville, Florida, and opened in 1990 on the Interstate 95 corridor, and is off exit 339 at the intersection of U.S. 1 and Southside Boulevard. The mall, managed by Simon Property Group, which manages 25% of it, has a parking deck on the northwestern side. Its anchor stores are Belk, Dillard's, Forever 21, and JCPenney. Other stores located at the mall include Aldo, H&M, LOFT, BoxLunch, Build-A-Bear Workshop, MAC, LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics, Pandora, and Le Macaron French Pastries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plaza Frontenac</span> Shopping mall in St. Louis, Missouri

Plaza Frontenac is an upscale, two-level, enclosed, regional shopping center in Frontenac, Missouri. Opened in 1974 and anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus, it has high-end tenants, many of which are unique to the region. Since 2018, Plaza Frontenac has been owned by a joint venture between Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Brookfield Properties.

The H. & S. Pogue Company was a Cincinnati, Ohio based department store chain founded by two brothers, Henry and Samuel Pogue. They came from County Cavan, Northern Ireland, to Cincinnati and worked in their uncle's dry goods store. They later were able to buy him out and H. & S. Pogue Dry Goods Company was established in 1863 at 111 West Fifth Street. Brothers Thomas, Joseph, and William Pogue would eventually join the enterprise.

Joe Fresh is a Canadian fashion brand and retail chain created by designer Joe Mimran for Canadian food distributor Loblaw Companies Limited. It was formed in 2006. The label includes adult and children's wear, shoes, handbags, jewelry, beauty products, and bath items.

Untuckit LLC is an American casual men's apparel company established in 2011 and headquartered in New York City. The company focuses on selling casual shirts that are designed not to be tucked into pants, and thus are cut a bit shorter than typical men's dress shirts. The first Untuckit brick-and-mortar store was opened in September 2015; as of today, the company now has 73 stores in various cities in North America and the United Kingdom. Its flagship store is located on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Retail apocalypse</span> Period in the 2010s where many American brick and mortar retail stores have closed or struggled

Retail apocalypse refers to the closing of numerous brick-and-mortar retail stores, especially those of large chains, beginning around 2010 and accelerating due to the mandatory closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lord & Taylor Building</span> Commercial building in Manhattan, New York

The Lord & Taylor Building is an 11-story commercial building in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that formerly served as Lord & Taylor's flagship department store in the city. Designed by Starrett & van Vleck in the Italian Renaissance Revival style, it is at 424–434 Fifth Avenue between 38th and 39th Streets. Since 2023, it has been an office building for Amazon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caper AI</span>

Caper is a software technology company that develops and deploys AI-powered automated checkout devices as well as AI-based software applications for retailers, grocers, convenience stores and other general merchandising store formats. Caper AI was established in 2016 by Lindon Gao, York Yang, Yilin Huang and Ahmed Beshry. It is headquartered in Manhattan, NY.

References

  1. 1 2 Tabuchi, Hiroko; Wingfield, Nick (April 4, 2016). "Michael C. Fina, Park Avenue Wedding Retailer, Bets on Amazon.com". The New York Times . Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  2. Rice, Tim (January 18, 2010). "How A 27-Year-Old Leads Her Family's Business". Inc.
  3. Lee, Esther (2019-04-05). "Exclusive: Iconic Wedding Retailer Michael C. Fina Is Closing—Read the Statement". The Knot. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
  4. "Advertisement: Upstairs at Michael C. Fina". New York . May 7, 1984. p. 89. ISSN   0028-7369 . Retrieved 2015-08-26.
  5. "Michael C. Fina". NYC.com. Archived from the original on 2016-05-04. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
  6. Gardner Jr, Ralph (2014-07-14). "Selling the Family Silver". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
  7. http://www.tablewaretoday.com/Fina-C.htm%5B%5D
  8. Bates, Rob (April 10, 2019). "Michael C. Fina Shuts Website, Ending Company". JCK.com.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. Ewoldt, John. "At Magers & Quinn, big-box critics cast shadow on store's Thanksgiving tradition". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
  10. "HALO Acquires Michael C. Fina Recognition - Companies Join Forces to Extend Reach of Market Leading Employee Recognition and Incentive Services Solutions" (Press release). Halo Branded Solutions. February 7, 2017.