American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, p ...
manufacturer and retailer of shoes from 1894 until September 16, 1998. It was listed on the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...
in March 1923, with the symbol KNN. The shoe concern was started by George Romanta Kinney whose father ran a
general store
A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...
in rural
Candor, New York
Candor is a town in Tioga County, New York, United States. The population was 5,172 at the 2020 census.
The Town of Candor has a village named Candor. The town is south of Ithaca.
History
Settlement of the town began around 1794 on land p ...
. The father became indebted and George vowed to repay his debts. In 1894, at the age of 28, he had saved enough to purchase a Lester retail outlet in Waverly, New York. Lester Shoe of
Binghamton, New York
Binghamton ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the c ...
was the predecessor to the
Endicott Johnson Corporation
The Endicott-Johnson Shoe Company ("E-J") was a prosperous manufacturer of shoes based in New York's Southern Tier, with factories mostly located in the area's Triple Cities of Binghamton, Johnson City, and Endicott. An estimated 20,000 peop ...
. Kinney succeeded by selling affordably priced shoes to working Americans.''Kinney Shoe Corporation webpage, internet article.
The business chain numbered 362 stores at the conclusion of 1929, with 44 of these opening in the final year of the decade.
Foot Locker
Foot Locker, Inc. is an American multinational retailer of footwear, sportswear, urban youth apparel and accessories headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and operating in over 40 countries.
Although established in 1974, and ...
began as a division of the Kinney Shoe Corporation in 1974.''Kinney Shoe Corporation'', internet article.
Chain and later a subsidiary
Kinney Shoes was the largest family chain shoe retailer in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
at the beginning of 1936, with 335 stores operating nationwide. Although it was selling more shoes at the conclusion of 1936 than in 1929, its dollar volume was 20% to 30% below 1929.
On August 31, 1963, the G.R. Kinney Company was sold to F.W. Woolworth. Prior to this it was a subsidiary of the
Brown Shoe Company
Caleres Inc. is an American footwear company that owns and operates a variety of footwear brands. Its headquarters is located in Clayton, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. It retained its own eleven member board of directors and an existing panel of corporate officers.
Foot Locker exclusivity
The company continued operating throughout the 1960s and 1970s with divisions named Stylco (1967), Susie Casuals (1968), and Foot Locker (1974). On September 16, 1998, the
Venator Group
Foot Locker, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational retailer of footwear, sportswear, Hip-hop fashion, urban youth apparel and accessories headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and operating ...
, formerly known as Woolworth, announced that Kinney's 467 shoe stores and 103 Footquarters stores would close. The Foot Locker division, started in 1974, continues to this day, with Venator changing its name in 2001 to Foot Locker.
See also
*
Thom McAn
Thom McAn is an American brand of shoes and was formerly a retail chain. Its shoes have been sold in Kmart and Sears stores. It consists of leather-dress, casual, and athletic shoes (under its Tm Sport label). Until the 1990s, Thom McAn had hun ...