MC Sports’ Mort Finkelstein Passes Away at 93

DOWNERS GROVE, ILLINOIS (August 29, 2023) – Mort Finkelstein, who helped grow MC Sports into a prominent national and regional sporting goods retailer, passed away August 17 at age 93. 

Finkelstein’s family started Michigan Clothiers, a men’s clothing store in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Mort and his brothers Edward and Raleigh got involved in the business. It transitioned to government surplus goods and when that began to diminish, the family gravitated to sporting goods and the company’s name was changed to MC Sports. 

The company was sold in 1986 to a publicly traded company and with its affiliates became the largest sporting goods retailer in the US with more than 70 stores in seven states. The Finkelstein family ran the company until their retirement in 1990. MC Sports filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and closed. 

Mort Finkelstein remained part of the sporting goods industry as a sales agent and consultant for Riddell, a financial backer for Gear 2000 and the owner of Shoeless Joe’s baseball and softball gloves. He was an influential member of the NBS buying group. 

Finkelstein was an avid sportsman who loved golf and enjoyed hunting and skiing. He was also actively involved in the Jewish religious community. He was preceded in death by his parents Jack and Gen, brother Ed and first wife Bobbie and survived by his wife Peg, five children, 10 grandchildren and three great grandchildren. A funeral service was held August 20 in Grand Rapids.