Sibley's Shoes was a retail footwear chain founded in 1920 in the city of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, United States. It was founded by Harry Rosenfeld. His sons Aaron Ross and Norman Rosenfeld worked for the company and later took over management and ownership upon Harry's death in 1973. In 1932, the flagship store was moved to the corner of Woodward Avenue and Montcalm; by 1952, Sibley's moved its corporate offices to the Fox Building and remained there until 1977. Meanwhile, the Sibley's chain grew to more than 38 stores at its peak, throughout

and into

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. These stores, primarily located in

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

s, included both Sibley's and Ms. Sibley's, the latter of which was a specialty shoe store for women. Upon the construction of the

Renaissance Center The Renaissance Center (also known as the GM Renaissance Center and nicknamed the RenCen) is a group of seven connected skyscrapers in Downtown Detroit, Michigan, United States. The Renaissance Center complex is on the Detroit International Riv ...

skyscraper complex in the mid-1970s, Sibley's later moved its offices there, until the complex was purchased by General Motors. Sibley's later chose a site in

Warren A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval A ...

in 1997 and began construction on a new headquarters building and warehouse, completed in August 1998. In 2001, the company was sold to its two top executives, President and CEO Hansel Artrip and CFO/VP Andrew Belsky, and the headquarters were relocated again, this time to

Grand Blanc, Michigan Grand Blanc is a city in Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan and a suburb of Flint. The population was 7,784 as of the 2020 US Census. History The unincorporated village of Grand Blanc, or Grumlaw, was a former Indian campground firs ...

. After the chain's acquisition in the spring of 2001, store sales saw deep declines in 2002 and 2003. Efforts were made to develop diversification strategies to align product with younger demographics, as well as capitalize on the emerging web-based markets, but demand for their products as well as market headwinds eliminated the potential for a turn-around. The ownership group soon saw its line of credit revoked by way of Chase Bank's acquisition of Detroit-based Bank One, and mounting losses, made worse by the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001 and the mysterious blackouts of August, 2003 forced the senior leadership team into panic mode as they teetered on the brink of insolvency. Artrip moved to negotiate a partnership with a financier to back continued operations, but in December 2003 it was determined that there was no way forward. After intense deliberation, and an unwillingness to restructure the embattled company, Artrip and Belsky announced their intent to close the last twenty-nine stores in late 2003, citing poor financial performance. The stores would close for good in April, 2004. The Sibley's Shoes name was subsequently purchased by Mr. Alan's for $25,000

References

{{reflist Companies based in Detroit Retail companies established in 1920 Defunct retail companies of the United States Shoe companies of the United States Defunct companies based in Michigan Retail companies disestablished in 2003