ABOUT
About
ABOUT
A little history of how our store started...
Located in Saginaw, Michigan, James Clyde Burtrum (Jim) of Burtrum Furs & Leathers of Saginaw is carrying on a tradition of fine furs started by Clyde Burtrum, his father, in Flint Michigan.
Clyde Burtrum owned and operated Burtrum Furs, which became one of the only full-service fur stores in Genesee County.
Clyde Burturm was born in a small farming community on Sept. 6, 1917 in Turkey Ford, Oklahoma. Due to the aftermath of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s, Clyde’s father sought work in Michigan and was hired at General Motors in Flint when Burtrum was 16-years-old.
Though his father was hired, General Motors wouldn’t employee Burtrum because they didn’t have any openings. Instead, Clyde was hired in the fur department at Smith-Bridgman’s, an eight-story department store located on Saginaw Street in downtown Flint, Michigan. Clyde Burtrum learned the ins and outs of the fur business there.
At the age of 21, Clyde was managing the fur department.
Eventually he decided to branch off and open his own store.
After working at Smith-Bridgeman’s for 20 years, Clyde opened his own fur retail store, Burtrum Furs, in March of 1957.
It was a big decision because he was working at a big department store and making good money at the time.
The small, full-service fur store was located on Flushing Road and sold, cleaned and stored fur coats or garments for customers. He prided himself on customer service and had a loyal customer base that really respected him for his work ethic and skills.
“The store was really small and had four work areas. He didn’t have much money when he started, but he became very successful.
Less than a decade after opening his store, Clyde relocated Burtrum Furs in 1963 to a 5,000 square foot store on Ballenger Highway to accommodate his growing business.
It grew more because of his talent and dedication to customer service and the store was expanded to 9,000 square feet!
Clyde managed and operated Burtrum Furs until he retired and moved to Florida in 1990 with his wife of 40 years, Sylvia Burtrum.
Jim followed in his father’s footsteps after serving as vice president of Clyde Burtrum Furs Inc. and branched off to open Burtrum Furs and Leathers in Saginaw.
Burtrum Furs was relocated to Grand Blanc by Larry, another son, when Clyde moved to Florida and closed in early 2018.
In 2017, Clyde celebrated his 100th birthday with family and friends. Jim said his father was very active, healthy and lived a long life. He passed away at the age of 101 on December 29, 2018.
