BINDERS History: From Beer to Paint

Did you know that BINDERS has been in the Atlanta area since the early 1900’s? It started as a small gift store which also included picture framing. Over the years from acquiring old framing pieces, we are able to confirm dating from this period. It was originally owned by a family- whose family name was the Binders family. Hence, the origin of the name of BINDERS is traced to a family (the Binders family) and not to anything related to selling notebook binders of which so many people have misconstrued over the years.

In 1955 two brothers, Moe & Joe Krinsky, who made their mark in Atlanta as founders of Moe’s & Joe’s Tavern, a highly successful beer joint located in the Highlands neighborhood of Atlanta bought the little BINDERS gift store. This was their first venture into retail. A year after taking over the store, at the suggestion of a salesman, the guys put in paint. The first artist paint line to go up on the shelf was Permanent Pigments- commonly known today as Liquitex. And thus, BINDERS as we know it today was born.

Originally, the store was located in downtown Atlanta and over the years it has moved throughout many locations in the metro area. In 1978, Joe left the business and a new partner came in — Paul Finkel. As the business grew, Moe and Paul brought in family members to help run the store. Moe’s son Fred came in 1978. Paul’s son-in-law- Jay entered into the business in 1980 and Moe’s youngest son, Howard came in 1982. The business thrived and expanded to 16 stores in various states throughout the country. But hard times befell the company in the late 1990’s. Moe, Paul and Fred left the business to pursue other interests.

On September 7th 2001 Jay and Howard bought the assets of the business and BINDERS had a new lease on life. Today, BINDERS has two stores: one in Atlanta and one in Charlotte. Its flagship store in Atlanta is an 18,000 square foot store that is called one of the finest art supply stores in the country by experts in the industry.

…and as Paul Harvey would say: "…and now you know the rest of the story!”

Have you been shopping with BINDERS for a long time? Does some of this look familiar? Share your BINDERS story!

Visit our website at www.bindersart.com!