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Updated 59 minutes ago
The man shook his head sadly Tuesday morning when he walked into Mike Feinberg Co. in the Strip District.
Behind the counter stood Marcia Feinberg, whose late father founded the quirky shop more than 60 years ago.
“Is it true?” the man asked.
“It is,” she said.
Again, he shook his head. “As soon as I heard,” he said, “I drove in just to come here. I can't believe it. What's going to happen with this place?”
What will happen here is up to someone else. Because the iconic Pittsburgh party and memorabilia store is closing.
Marcia Feinberg announced the closing on social media Monday night. The final day will be sometime in March or April.
“People are coming out of the woodwork,” Feinberg, 57, of Mt. Lebanon said after the man walked away. “They come in, like that guy, and you can tell by the look on their face if they know. People on Facebook, people in Florida … the reaction has been unbelievable. It's good, I guess, because we're going out on a high note. And it's good to know how much we were loved.”
It's just time.
Those were Feinberg's words every time a customer asked why.
The family had been discussing the store's closure for a couple years, she said. The talks got more serious in the last year.
“It was just too much for her,” said Sylvia Feinberg, 88, Marcia's mom who started the company with her husband and still works in the shop five days a week. “She always says, ‘What if something happened to me? Who would run the store?' It was just time.”
Mike Feinberg opened his store in the 1950s on Forbes Avenue, Downtown. A year later, he moved to a new building on Ross Street, stayed there for five or six years, then settled in the Strip District.
In the beginning, he sold bicycles and large stuffed animals, “like the ones you see at Kennywood,” Marcia Feinberg said. Then he started selling items to hospital gift shops across the country. Business took off.
“That was a six-floor building on Ross, and I don't know how he did it, but he filled all six floors with merchandise,” Sylvia Feinberg said. “It just got bigger and bigger.”
Today, Mike Feinberg Co. is known for its Steelers, Penguins and Pirates gear — plus a curious mix of pretty much everything else.
In one aisle, shoppers find ribbon, balloons and wrapping paper. Nearby are hats of all styles, miniature flags, Christmas lights and hula hoops.
Around one corner is a collection of baby blankets and stuffed animals; around the next are leis and grass skirts.
Inflatable cacti, monkeys and palm trees jockey for space next to piñatas.
Need pantyhose? Doilies? Flamingo eyeglasses? A fake moustache?
At Mike Feinberg Co., you're in luck.
The colorful, eccentric, slightly off-center atmosphere was a reflection of her father's personality, Marcia Feinberg said.
“That's how he got the name ‘Party King,'” she said. “He was the guy who danced on tables at a wedding. He was fun, and not just because he's my dad — everybody loved him. And this place was his kingdom. He was here seven days a week. My mother ran the house, and he ran the store.”
Mike Feinberg died in 2007, when Marcia took over the day-to-day operations.
More than a decade later, she will close the old store's doors for the last time.
But first, there will be clearance sales and celebrations, including one on March 26 when the Strip District will celebrate Mike Feinberg Day.
“It's not going to be easy. It's going to be tough,” she said. “But it's an honor to be able to work with your parents every day. To come in here and have your mother and father with you, it's really something to cherish.”
As are her customers, she added.
“I have to thank them for all the good years,” she said. “They're friends. I might not know all of their names, but they are friends. Some come in once a week, some come in once a year. I have a customer in Germany who comes in every year, and he and his wife emailed me last night when they heard. His words were, ‘What the heck?'
“That's what I'll miss. I'll miss the people.”
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