Cohoes Fashions Inc history

In 1851, Burden's celebrated water wheel brought increased power, helped to increase the scale of his manufacturing enterprise and, according to legend, provided the inspiration for George Washington Ferris's "Ferris" Wheel.

The Gilbert Car Company was constructed on Green Island in 1852 after a fire destroyed the company's Troy establishment.

The molders, however, supported the laundry workers during a strike in 1864 and also donated $200 to the Cohoes Woolen Spinners Association during a five-month lockout in the same year.

The collar laundry women reciprocated by supporting the molders during an 1866 lockout.

The union was successful throughout the Civil War era until 1869 when the collar laundry owners and collar manufacturers worked together against a major strike.

The loss of union members due to the Civil War and anti-labor activities of local manufacturers thinned out the ranks of labor, but by 1873 enough labor unions had been formed to create a central unifying body.

Instead, the quest for organizational strength and labor solidarity took the route spearheaded by the American Federation of Labor, formed in 1881.

Child labor became more regulated after an 1882 investigation of the Harmony Mills, but as noted above, it continued to occur regularly and often in violation of these regulations.

The same period, and the preceding two decades, also witnessed considerable organization-building by labor. It announced fund-raising events on behalf of strikers�such as the play in April 1897 staged for the benefit of striking starchers.

In January 1900, the Troy motormen and conductors struck for eight days until the United Traction Company conceded to their demands.

In January 1901, the International Shirt, Waist and Laundry Workers Union was formed in New York City.

In 1903, the collar starchers went on strike against the hiring of non-union starchers and a proposed wage reduction.

An examination of the city directory for 1905 would show a major change; sixty unions were then active in the city.

Waterford-Lansingburgh Covered Bridge after fire 1909

First tugboat to go through the locks at the barge canal Waterford, NY May 15, 1915.

The present building at 433 River Street in Troy was built in 1917, replacing the nineteenth century collar shops on that site.

Located directly across the street from Miller, Hall and Hartwell, this building at 548 River Street in Troy was used as a boarding house for working women in the 1920s.

Probably the most significant loss of records occurred in 1921 in Troy.

The company later was formed into the United Shirt and Collar Company, which continued operation until 1922.

A 1923 survey of child labor in Troy done by the New York Child Labor Reform Board indicated that nearly 300 children were still working at various jobs late into the evening hours.

Monroe's father, Abe, first linked the Milstein name to retailing when he opened a wholesale outerwear business in 1924.

Monroe Milstein acquired the first Burlington Coat facility in 1972, a coat factory located in Burlington, New Jersey, with an attached retail outlet.

When federal antitrust legislation in 1975 made the agreements between manufacturers and retailers illegal, the door was opened to discount retailers, spurring their ascent to the top of the retail industry.

By 1983 annual sales had climbed to nearly $300 million, and the company was becoming a giant in the retail industry.

Located a mile and a half from the company's original coat factory and store in Burlington, the distribution center was supported by a new computer system Burlington Coat had instituted in 1988 in anticipation of the new distribution center.

Burlington Coat improved inventory controls and took advantage of economies of scale by constructing a 438,000-square-foot national distribution center in 1990.

Annual sales flirted with the $1 billion mark in 1992, then reached $1.2 billion the following year.

In 1993, Burlington Coat signed an agreement with Mexican retailer Plaza Coloso S.A. de C.V., an operator of supermarkets and department stores, to open a Burlington Coat store in Juarez, Mexico, the company's first store outside the United States.

By 1998, slightly more than 20 percent of revenues stemmed from coat sales.

1999: Expansion continues; 27 new stores are opened.

Over the ensuing 30 years, the family's grip on the operation of Burlington Coat was maintained by successive generations of Milsteins, led by Monroe Milstein and his wife, Henrietta, who succumbed to cancer in 2001.

The company continued to bolster its store count into the new millennium and by 2003 had opened its 335th store.