PHILADELPHIA — The second and third floors of the old building near 13th and Walnut Streets held the world’s largest collection of backdated periodicals, making it an ideal place to pass some time. Bookcases lined the floor and the stacks of old magazines nearly touched the ceilings. Sports Illustrated, Life, Look, The Sporting News, Time, and even Playboy. David Bagelman’s collection had them all.
For Peter Capolino, the stacks provided the perfect hiding spot 40 years ago when the creditors arrived downstairs at his nearly bankrupt sporting goods store. Capolino took over Mitchell & Ness from his father in 1975. By 1983, it was drowning in debt.
He let go of all but two employees, downsized to a storefront below Bagelman’s Reedmor Books, and tried to steady the ship. Capolino did not want Mitchell & Ness to close as the company — now an iconic sports brand worth nearly $250 million — had a history in Philadelphia and gave his father, Sisto, a place to live when he was an orphan after immigrating from Italy.
