Associated was founded in 1921 in Brooklyn, NY by, the grandfathers of Frank Rosenberg and Richard Goodman. From this humble storefront we evolved into the National Multi-location Specialist.
In 1922, Mr. Ward Melville asked our grandfathers to “linoleum” his shoe stores, one in Brooklyn, the other in Chicago. Although initially inexperienced in installing outside of New York, they figured it out. Those shoe stores were Thom McAn. Thom McAn, and their competitor Kinney Shoes, were the largest national retail shoe chain outlets in America from the 1920’s through the 1990’s.
As Thom McAn grew, so did we. Thom McAn shoes, a division of the Melville Corp, had over 7,000 stores , including Kay Bee Toys, Linen’s n’ Things, Marshall’s, Footaction, and more. Even as these divisions were spun off in the late 1990’s, we continued to work for them. You could say that the grandchildren of our founders were working with the “grandchildren” companies of Thom McAn for nearly 90 consecutive years!
We began working with Kinney Shoes in the 40’s. Later, purchased by Woolworth Corp, today they are Footlocker, Inc. Our second national client has been with us for over 65 consecutive years. They are now joined by other national retailers and national accounts.
Now with over 150,000 national retail, restaurant, corporate and hotel projects in our portfolio, we are proud to say that “We have NEVER delayed a store opening!” From our beginnings of retail stores that were a mere 1,000 sf, to today’s mega-stores of 200,000 sf or larger, we understand the commitment made by the generations before us, and we stand committed to upholding that tradition.