CONVENIENCE IS KING
CREATING A FINANCIAL ADVICE SUPERSTORE BY JOE INNACE
While employed as the manager of 94 small Kroger Grocery & Baking Company stores in Illinois, Michael Cullen wrote a letter to a Kroger vice president describing his ideas that would eventually revolutionize the grocery industry. His letter was never answered, but steadfast in his vision, Cullen resigned and moved his family to Long Island. King Kullen opened its doors August 4, 1930 on Jamaica Avenue in Queens, New York. Success was immediate. Shopping became convenient, and King Kullen supermarkets meant affordable food. No less than the Smithsonian Institute recognizes King Kullen as America’s first supermarket, according to an official history on the King Kullen website. Today, about 20 miles from that first King Kullen location is another man with a vision. By combining real estate savvy with wealth management expertise and an entrepreneurial flair, Eric R. Nirenberg just might be drafting the next business-model blueprint for boutique financial advisory firms. A boutique is a small financial firm that provides specialized services for a particular segment of the market, as defined by Investopedia. “Although they may lack some of the resources of larger firms, boutique firms aim to offer more individualized services and tailor their offerings to the needs of their clients,” Investopedia notes. As president, chief vision officer, and owner of ClearVision Wealth Management Inc., Nirenberg was encouraged by his wife to purchase a building in Bellmore, New York, which he’d long had his eye on. And by so doing, he seems to have navigated the resource limitations of many boutique firms, by providing a range of professional financial services under one roof. Competition is fierce in the financial advice arena. Market size of the financial planning and advice sector in the United States
10 / ADVISORS MAGAZINE
MAY 2021
