BIRKS MONTREAL

Birks & Mayors Inc. is a manufacturer and retailer of jewellery, timepieces and silverware, with stores and manufacturing facilities located in Canada and the United States. It operates stores under three different retail banners: 37 Birks stores across Canada, 31 Mayors stores in Florida and Georgia, and 2 Brinkhaus stores in Vancouver and Calgary. The company is headquarted in Montreal, Quebec, with American corporate offices located in Tamarac, Florida.

Birks & Mayors traces its origins to the opening by Henry Birks of a small jewellery shop in Montreal in 1879.

With an investment of CAD $3,000, in 1879 Henry Birks opened a small jewellery shop on St. James Street in the heart of Montreal’s financial and commercial district. In 1893, Birks went into partnership with his three sons (William, John and Gerald), and the name of the firm became Henry Birks and Sons. As the focus of Montreal’s commercial centre moved northward towards Saint Catherine Street, the Birks store moved to new premises on Phillips Square in 1894, where the company still maintains a store and corporate offices. Commencing in 1901, Birks oversaw the expansion of the company across Canada, with stores opening in the country’s largest cities.

Situated on Ste-Catherine just outside the Bay and the McGill Metro, this high-end jewelry shop is a must-see. Established in 1879 in its original beautifully-upheld location, Birks is complete with jaw-dropping chandeliers, marble columns and stunning plaster moldings. Only more impressive is its collection of jewels whose shine barely dims its current home.