Finlay Enterprises Inc. was a holding company based in New York that conducted business through its wholly owned subsidiary "Finlay Fine Jewelry". It was founded in 1887. Finlay Enterprises Inc. filed for

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, w ...

in August, 2009. Finlay operated the fine jewelry departments in many department stores. The department space was leased to Finlay. The number of locations Finlay operated at the end of the second quarter ended August 1, 2009 totaled 182, including 67 Bailey Banks & Biddle, 34 Carlyle and four Congress specialty jewelry stores and 77 licensed departments with

The Bon-Ton Bonton Holdings Inc. operating as Bonton () was an American department store chain and group founded in 1898. It operated in Western New York, Pennsylvania, Western Maryland, and throughout the Midwestern United States. The former York, Pennsy ...

. Finlay operated in department store groups such as

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

Inc. (Formerly Federated Department Stores),

Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain founded in 1861 by Joseph Bloomingdale and Lyman Bloomingdale. It was acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1930, which purchased the Macy's department store chain in 1994, ...

, Bon Ton Department Stores,

Lord & Taylor Lord & Taylor was an American department store chain founded in 1826 by Samuel Lord. It had 86 full-line stores in the Northeastern United States at its peak in the 2000s, and 38 locations at the time of its liquidation in 2021. The Lord & Tay ...

Dillard's Dillard's, Inc. is an American department store chain with approximately 267 stores in 29 states and headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Currently, the largest number of stores are located in Texas with 57 and Florida with 42. The company a ...

, and

Gottschalks Gottschalks (former NYSE ticker symbol GOT) was a middle-tier American department store that operated 58 department stores and three specialty apparel stores in six western states (California, Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Nevada); some ...

. The company also owned and operated specialty stores such as Carlyle & Co, J.E. Caldwell & Co., and Park Promenade Jewellers.

Acquisitions

Carlyle & Co. was acquired May 2005, adding 34 stores under the Carlyle & Co., J.E. Caldwell & Co., and Park Promenade banners. Congress was acquired December 2006. Bailey Banks & Biddle was formerly owned by

Zale Corporation The Zale Corporation (best known as Zales) is an American jewelry retailer, incorporated in Delaware in 1993. The principal executive offices are located in Coppell, Texas. History The company began in 1924 in Wichita Falls, Texas, when the t ...

. They competed with other high-end retailers such as Tiffany and independent jewelry stores. The name "Zell Bros" was used for one location. The stores tended to carry many high-end designer lines, including Scott Kay, Tacori,

Ritani Ritani is a jewelry company based in New York. History In 2012, Chief investor Cantor Fitzgerald invested $15 million in Ritani, following the Julius Klein Group selling their stake in the company. In January 2014, Ritani was selected for the '' ...

, Mikimoto, and

David Yurman David Yurman is a privately held American jewelry company, founded by David Yurman (born October 12, 1942 in New York City) and Sybil Kleinrock Yurman (born December 10, 1942 in New York City). It is headquartered in New York City. History ...

. Stores use the slogan "Where Treasures Live". There were 72 Bailey Banks and Biddle locations as of May 22, 2007. 15 Texas locations branded as "Corrigan's" and "Sweeney's" were transferred to the Bailey Banks & Biddle nameplate when Zale decided to make the chain national.

Bankruptcy liquidation

In November 2008,

announced that it was ceasing its contract with Finlay in order to place jewelry from

Fortunoff Fortunoff is a New York–based retailer of outdoor furniture and jewelry. The company started as a home, jewelry and furniture retailer founded in 1922 by Max and Clara Fortunoff. After being sold to private equity companies in 2005 and 2009, ...

, which was acquired by Lord & Taylor's parent company NRDC Equity Partners LLC, in its stores.

later made an announcement saying it too was ceasing its contract with Finlay. Near the end of that Christmas season, financial media began speculating that Finlay would not be able to meet its obligations for the next fiscal year. Soon several ratings agencies downgraded Finlay's credit rating, which further restricted its ability to finance operations. In late February 2009, Finlay announced it was going to exit its department store business. In March 2009, Finlay attempted last minute negotiations with its two largest creditors. In a conference call with shareholders in March, Finlay's outside accounting firm raised doubts about the company's ability to go on. On August 5, 2009, Finlay Enterprises filed for Chapter 11 corporate bankruptcy.

References

{{reflist, colwidth=30em Companies based in New York (state) American companies established in 1887 Retail companies established in 1887 Retail companies disestablished in 2010 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009 1887 establishments in New York (state) 2010 disestablishments in New York (state)