Henry Birks

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Henry Birks (30 November 1840 – 16 April 1928) was a Canadian businessman and founder of Henry Birks and Sons, the Canadian jewellery store.

His stores catered to a wealthier clientele who could afford their high quality merchandise. They became famous for the Birks "Blue Box."

In 2005 Henry Birks & Sons, which was founded in 1879, merged with Mayors Jewelers to form a new company: Birks & Mayors Inc. Mayors Jewelers was a former partner company of Birks and was already majority owned by Birks. The company designs, manufactures, and sells diamond and fine gemstone jewelry, in addition to timepieces and gifts, through approximately 70 stores in Canada and the United States. There are 40 stores under the Birks brand in Canada and 30 under the Mayors brand in the southern U.S. The company also operates two retail web sites. Iniziativa Regaluxe, based in Luxembourg, is a majority shareholder of Birks & Mayors.

Birks has five flagship stores: one each in the cities of Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver.

Mayors has flagship stores in Palm Beach, Florida, Boca Raton, Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Miami, and Atlanta.

Birks & Mayors is headquartered at 1240 Phillips Square in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In 2004 the company had estimated revenues of $100 million.

[edit] Van Cleef & Arpels Boutiques at Birks

Birks has opened two Van Cleef & Arpels boutiques in its flagship stores in Toronto (55 Bloor Street West) and Vancouver (698 West Hastings Street). Each shop is about 300 square feet and features the trademark light-blue decore and carpeting of larger Van Cleef & Arpels boutiques around the world.