Gump's

Gump's
Private
Industry Retail
Fate Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Founded 1861 (1861)
Founder Solomon and Gustav Gump
Defunct December 31, 2018 (2018-12-31) (expected)
Headquarters San Francisco
Number of locations
 1
Website www.gumps.com

Gump’s is a luxury American home furnishings and home décor retailer, founded in 1861 in San Francisco, California.

History

S & G Gump was founded in 1861 as a mirror and frame shop by Solomon Gump and his brother, Gustav. It later sold mouldings, gilded cornices and European artwork to those recently made wealthy from the California Gold Rush.

The business flourished and was eventually passed on to Solomon’s son Alfred Livingston Gump. The fire following the 1906 earthquake destroyed the store and all of the merchandise, but thanks to Dodie Valencia, A.L. received $17,000 for one of his paintings, which allowed funding for the rebuilding and restocking of the store. A.L. was fueled by his passion for Oriental art and began selling his exotic collectibles from the Far East. He sent his buyers to Japan and China, bringing back exotic rugs, porcelains, silks, bronzes and jades to California's new millionaires.

Richard Gump, one of A.L.’s three children, eventually became president of Gump’s after his father’s death in 1947. He continued the family legacy, running the company's overall operations until his retirement in 1975.[1] Gump's was sold to publisher Crowell Collier, which after further mergers became Macmillan Publishers. By June 1989, Gump's had again been sold,[2] this time to an investment group including Japan's Tobu Department Store, and the Charterhouse Group. Catalog company Hanover Direct bought Gump's in 1993 and sold it to an investment group in 2005.[3]

The company began catalog sales in the 1950s and as of May 2018, more than 75% of its sales were through the catalog or online.[4] Gump's sold products ranging from jewelry made from jade, precious gemstones, and cultured freshwater pearls to products from luxury designers such as Hermès and Buccellati.

A Qing Dynasty gilded wood Buddha, carved for a summer palace in Northern China, was displayed inside the San Francisco store. It was carved in the Northern Manchurian Province of Jehol, the summer capital of the Qing Emperors in the early 19th Century. The piece was the largest of its kind outside a museum.

Gump's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on August 3, 2018.[4] On August 10, liquidation sales began on the retailer's official website and its remaining storefront located in San Francisco.[5]

References

  • Roseman, Janet Lynn; Birmingham and Saeks (1991). Gump’s Since 1861, A San Francisco Legend. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books. p. 136.
  • Gump, Richard (1962). Good Taste Costs No More. New York: Doubleday and Company.
  • "Gump's Goes Modern". Time. May 30, 1949.
  1. ↑ About Gump Station
  2. ↑ Isadore Barmash, "Business People; Gump's Specialty Stores Said to Fill Top Position",The New York Times, August 1, 1989.
  3. ↑ Jenny Strasburg, "Investment firms buying Gump's: Deal expected to be completed in March", San Francisco Chronicle, February 16, 2005.
  4. 1 2 Roland Li, "Gump’s, a 157-year-old SF retailer, files for bankruptcy protection", San Francisco Chronicle, August 4, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Going-out-of-business sales begin at Gump's". Gordon Brothers. August 10, 2018. Retrieved August 14, 2018.

Coordinates: 37°47′18.9″N 122°24′15.4″W / 37.788583°N 122.404278°W / 37.788583; -122.404278

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