In 2003, he raised his largest contribution of $200 million. In 1984, Morton Brownstein raised $20 million for the Montreal Jewish General Hospital's emergency department, which was eventually named after him and his wife, Bernice. And also, in July 2004, Morton Brownstein was appointed to the Order of Canada. Morton Brownstein was especially known for his philanthropy, his generosity and his charity work, receiving several honors such as Entrepreneur of the Year in 1995 and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Award in 2002. The latest Fall / Winter 2013 Campaign featured Canadian model Coco Rocha, Czech model Petra Nemcova, and Brazilian model Marlon Teixeira. īrowns' shoes have been seen on prominent Canadian celebrities and personalities such as model Coco Rocha, Montreal Canadien Mike Cammalleri, as well as Ben Mulroney and Tanya Kim from E-TALK Canada, for which Browns is the official footwear supplier. Today, a third generation leads the business which employs close to 1000 employees nationwide. The company was founded in Montreal in 1940 by Benjamin Brownstein. Business operation īrowns Shoes is a fashion retailer that operates 67 stores across Canada under the Browns, B2 and Browns OUTLET banners.

On May 23, 2013, Morton Brownstein died at the age of 86 at his home in Westmount, Quebec. Morton Brownstein remained the company's president until 1999, when he ceded the presidency of the company to his son, Michael. Today, Browns Shoes is a nationwide shoe retailer, with 67 stores across Canada. In 1959, he became the first North American retailer to bring Italian-made shoes to Canada. After taking over the family business in 1954, Morton decided to take Browns into a different direction toward exclusive designer and fashion footwear. Together, they had three children –Michael, Janis and Cheryl. Morton married Bernice Greenfield, whom he met at the age of 13 at the Strathcona Academy in Outremont. Upon graduating from high school, Morton worked at his father's department store on Montreal's St.

Morton Brownstein was born on January 12, 1928, to Benjamin and Minnie Brownstein. After the fire, Benjamin's son, Morton Brownstein, took over the family business. The original Browns Shoes location, on Sainte Catherine Street in downtown Montreal, burned down in 1954. The company's headquarters is based in the Montreal borough of Saint-Laurent, Quebec.īrowns Shoes was founded in Montreal in 1940 by Benjamin Brownstein, who immigrated to Montreal at the age of 15 from Romania. is a Canadian fashion footwear retailer that owns and operates 70 stores across Canada under a variety of footwear brands.

Buster brown company