Fingerhut
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Fingerhut is an American catalog/
online retailer Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the ...
. Fingerhut was founded in 1948 by William Fingerhut and his brother Manny, selling automobile seat covers. In 1952, the business repositioned itself as a mail order catalog company and diversified its goods to include towels, dishes, and tools. In 1969 the company went public. The Fingerhut family was no longer involved in the business after 1979. In 1994, Fingerhut sponsored the #98
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...
Ford Thunderbird The Ford Thunderbird (colloquially called the T-Bird) is a personal luxury car produced by Ford from model years 1955 until 1997 and 2002 until 2005 across 11 distinct generations. Introduced as a two-seat convertible, the Thunderbird was p ...
for Cale Yarborough Motorsports. Derrike Cope started the year in the #98 car, before he was replaced later on by
Jeremy Mayfield Jeremy Allen Mayfield (born May 27, 1969) is an American stock car racing driver. He drove cars for the Sadler brothers, T.W. Taylor, Cale Yarborough, Michael Kranefuss, Roger Penske, Ray Evernham, Bill Davis, and Gene Haas. In 2009, he drove ...
. In 1995 the company launched the e-commerce site fingerhut.com. By 1996, Fingerhut was one of the 25 largest credit card issuers in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
. Today, Fingerhut is distinguished from other online retailers in that customers can pay with credit, and make monthly payments until their orders are paid off. The Fingerhut brand has passed through several ownerships during its existence, including onetime ownership by
American Can Company The American Can Company was a manufacturer of tin cans. It was a member of the Tin Can Trust, that controlled a "large percentage of business in the United States in tin cans, containers, and packages of tin." American Can Company ranked 97th amon ...
(1979) and its successor Primerica,
Federated Department Stores Macy's, Inc. (originally Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American conglomerate holding company. Upon its establishment, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shilli ...
(1999),
Petters Group Worldwide Petters Group Worldwide was an American diversified company based in Minnetonka, Minnesota that was turned into a $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme by its founder and CEO, Tom Petters. It had 3,200 employees and investments or full ownership in 60 compan ...
(2002), and Bain Capital Ventures (2004). Federated Department Stores Inc. (current
Macy's, Inc. Macy's, Inc. (originally Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American conglomerate holding company. Upon its establishment, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shillito ...
) acquired this company for US$1.7 billion in 1999. Fingerhut's revenue was US$1.7 billion for the fiscal year that ended in January 2001 (FY 2001). By 2000, Fingerhut had lost US$400 million and Federated Department Stores sold the company in 2002. The company has received criticism for allegedly engaging in practices such as robocalls. On March 9, 2020, the company was part of the bankruptcy of
Bluestem Brands, Inc. Bluestem may refer to: *Bluestem Lake, reservoir in Osage County, Oklahoma, United States *''Bluestem'', a literary magazine published by Eastern Illinois University See also *Bluestem grass (disambiguation) Bluestem can refer to various grasses: ...
The
Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whet ...
was filed in the
United States District Court for the District of Delaware The United States District Court for the District of Delaware (in case citations, D. Del.) is the Federal district court having jurisdiction over the entire state of Delaware. The Court sits in Wilmington. Currently, four district judges and ...
.


See also

*


References


Further reading

* Chandler, Susan, "Data Is Power. Just Ask Fingerhut", ''Business Week'', June 3, 1996, p. 69. * Jaffe, Thomas, "Thumbs up on Fingerhut?", ''Forbes'', January 21, 1991, p. 124. * Louis, Arthur M., "Dead-Letter Days for Fingerhut", ''Fortune'', November 1974, pp. 184–190. * Meyer, Herbert E., "How Fingerhut Beat the Recession", ''Fortune'', November 17, 1980, pp. 102–104. * Phelps, David, "Pointing a Finger at Fingerhut", ''Minneapolis Star Tribune'', January 10, 1999, p. 1D.


External links


Company website
American companies established in 1948 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020 Mail-order retailers Online retailers of the United States Retail companies established in 1948 {{US-retail-company-stub