Our history

How it all started

Gentry Inc. began its operations in 1955 and quickly distinguished itself as a leading supplier of quality neckwear. The current owner, Mr. Rocco Polifroni, joined the company in 1957, after immigrating to Montreal from his native Italy. At Gentry, he learned the ins and outs of the tie-making business and quickly developed a love for neckwear. “I fell in love with tie-making”, says Mr. Polifroni. “To me Gentry isn’t just a business- it’s a passion!”

It is this passion that lead Mr. Polifroni to buy the business from the original owner in 1978, at which time the company become know as Gentry 1978 Inc. Mr. Polifroni’s love at tie-making proved infectious to his children, who quickly joined the family business. Till this day, Gentry remains a family business committed to the development of fashion that is value priced and high quality, all while providing unbeatable customer service.

Gentry’s 36,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility is headquartered in Montreal, Canada and continues to produce the bulk of the neckwear currently sold throughout North America. Always looking to grow, the company branched out to the United States in 1990, under a separate division created to focus on offering both the established Polifroni Milano band of neckwear, as well as higher end “Made in Italy” fashions under the Serica brand.

The Polifroni and Serica labels have expanded their product offerings to include not only finer Canadian and Italian made neckwear, but non-iron dress shirts, sport shirts, knitwear, sweaters and formalwear accessories including bow ties, handkerchiefs, and fine silk scarves. Till this day both collections remain true to their value & quality origins.

Today, the company’s products are sold under the Polifroni Milano, BLU by Polifroni, Domenico Franco, Nino Zotti, Serica, Serica Elite, Serica Elite NY, and Enrico Fiori labels. The company also produces private label brands for independent clothing store chains, major Canadian department stores and for Simon Chang Concepts, a leading Canadian fashion designer.