Ads, Fulton Mall/Downtown Brooklyn, Retail

J. Michael’s Furniture Store


I spotted this ghost sign at the intersection of Fulton St and Hudson Ave back in July 2018. I think the sign had been revealed a few years prior. The building it was painted on was demolished along with its neighbors to make room for a new high-rise which seems to be the trend in Downtown Brooklyn.

Smith St, Brooklyn with J. Michael’s flagship location at the left-late 1920s. Source: Old NYC photos

J. Michels were a furniture store chain with their flagship location on Smith St. They also had locations at 1065 Broadway in Bedford-Stuyvesant and 86-90 Myrtle Ave at the corner of Lawrence St in Downtown Brooklyn. 

An ad for J. Michaels announcing their buy-out of the McEnery furniture store-the Brooklyn Eagle, May 19, 1929. According to the ad this made the old McEnery store, located on Myrtle Ave, their third location.

I do know they also had later locations at 11 Flatbush Ave as well at 5th Ave and 13th St in Park Slope. Not sure if these were in addition to the Myrtle Ave and Broadway locations or replaced one or both of them.

J. Michaels-Flatbush Ave, 1960 Source: New York Public Library.
J. Michaels-5th Ave & 13th St, Park Slope, 1978. Source: Brooklyn Public Library.

They were in business from around 1886 until 1996. A notice in the Sep. 25, 1972 issue of New York Magazine warns “CONSUMERS BEWARE”, alerting readers to a suit by the Department of Consumer Affairs against J. Michaels. Allegations include “selling defective, shoddy, cracked and splintered furniture to its low-income customers.” I am surprised they last another 20+ years with a reputation like that!