Michael Weiss’ Homecoming: Brooklyn Boy Brings Express to the Fulton Mall

Much has been made of the Fulton Mall’s transformation over the past few years (not least in these pages). New shops, new sweets, new people. No one knows this better than Michael Weiss, the CEO of Express. Sure, the career garmento with slicked back white hair and severe glasses likes the location for his newest outlet, set to open this evening with a big block party outside the new store at 490 Fulton Street.

But his love for the strip goes back much farther than that. Mr. Weiss’ first job was as a management trainee and associate buyer at the old Abraham & Strauss, one of the four department stores that helped solidify the Fulton Mall as Brooklyn’s main shopping destination.