Salkin & Linoff
Encyclopedia
Salkin & Linoff' was a Minnesota
-based retailer of primarily private label
women's, junior (and to a lesser extent) men's and children's clothes. The retailer had a wide variety of store name plates, including S&L, Bostwicks, Peck & Peck, Stevensons, Wrangler Wroost, Hurrah!, Morrey Alan (later shortened to Morrey A), Nina B, Bostwicks for Men, Bostwicks for Women and Mauritizos. Founded by visionary retailer Joseph Linoff and his cousin Sam Salkin in the early 1920s, the company filled the void in smaller midwest towns and competed with J.C. Penney's and provided similar merchandise.
At its peak, Salkin & Linoff was one of the largest independent clothing retailer in the United States, with approximately 400+ stores across the contential United States. Under the leadership of Sam Salkin's son Morrey, the company continued to grow through the late 80's. Key managers feared the technology momentum needed to enable point-of-sale (POS) throughout their locations nationwide would not be continued.
An interesting (some say mish-mash) make-up of stores in the marketplace showed Salkin & Linoff to be, at best, a multi-dimensional combination of stores and at worst, a collection of random stores in random sites. This business model, plus general management ineptitude unfortunately combined to force S&L out of business in 1990. The chain was basically shut down and sold off a few small surviving stores while the vast majority of the chain was shuttered.
The flaw centered around the wide mix of selections (thus, limited any particular impact), the inability to be flexible in the smaller towns (when competing against more savvy local owner/operators) and the inconsistent and disengaged leadership from the top caused much of the demise. While considered the three-legged dog of speciality retailing, some specific store locations of the surviving Peck & Peck
chain
were sold by Salkin & Linoff in the mid/late 1980s to H.C. Prange and a few single stores may remain but are now considered, at best, a tiny afterthought of American fashion retailing.
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
-based retailer of primarily private label
Private label
Private label products or services are typically those manufactured or provided by one company for offer under another company's brand. Private label goods and services are available in a wide range of industries from food to cosmetics to web hosting...
women's, junior (and to a lesser extent) men's and children's clothes. The retailer had a wide variety of store name plates, including S&L, Bostwicks, Peck & Peck, Stevensons, Wrangler Wroost, Hurrah!, Morrey Alan (later shortened to Morrey A), Nina B, Bostwicks for Men, Bostwicks for Women and Mauritizos. Founded by visionary retailer Joseph Linoff and his cousin Sam Salkin in the early 1920s, the company filled the void in smaller midwest towns and competed with J.C. Penney's and provided similar merchandise.
At its peak, Salkin & Linoff was one of the largest independent clothing retailer in the United States, with approximately 400+ stores across the contential United States. Under the leadership of Sam Salkin's son Morrey, the company continued to grow through the late 80's. Key managers feared the technology momentum needed to enable point-of-sale (POS) throughout their locations nationwide would not be continued.
An interesting (some say mish-mash) make-up of stores in the marketplace showed Salkin & Linoff to be, at best, a multi-dimensional combination of stores and at worst, a collection of random stores in random sites. This business model, plus general management ineptitude unfortunately combined to force S&L out of business in 1990. The chain was basically shut down and sold off a few small surviving stores while the vast majority of the chain was shuttered.
The flaw centered around the wide mix of selections (thus, limited any particular impact), the inability to be flexible in the smaller towns (when competing against more savvy local owner/operators) and the inconsistent and disengaged leadership from the top caused much of the demise. While considered the three-legged dog of speciality retailing, some specific store locations of the surviving Peck & Peck
Peck & Peck
Peck & Peck was a New York-based retailer of private label women's wear prominent on Fifth Avenue. Founded by Edgar Wallace Peck and his brother George H. Peck, it began in New York in 1888 as a hosiery store, with early location near Madison Square...
chain
Chain
A chain is a sequence of connected links.Chain may also refer to:Chain may refer to:* Necklace - a jewelry which is worn around the neck* Mail , a type of armor made of interlocking chain links...
were sold by Salkin & Linoff in the mid/late 1980s to H.C. Prange and a few single stores may remain but are now considered, at best, a tiny afterthought of American fashion retailing.