Jack Schwadron

Jack Schwadron (February 10, 1927 – October 11, 2011) was an American businessman in retail. He started at Alexander's Department Store and went on to be president of E.J. Korvette, Klein Department Stores, and Best & Company. He worked closely with Arthur G. Cohen of Arlen Realty & Development Corporation in choosing locations for expansion of stores.

Early life Schwadron was the son of Doris and Louis Schwadron, the co-founder of Alexander's. He lived with his first wife, Marilyn (née Hittner), and four children in Great Neck Estates and then moved to Kings Point at 152 West Shore Road. In 1948, he graduated from the University of Miami.

Career In 1948, Schwadron began work full time at Alexander's, a chain of department stores founded by George Farkas and his father, Louis Schwadron. Jack started off as head of stock in the executive training program, became manager of the department, assistant buyer, merchandising manager of the merchandising department and general merchandising manager of the store. For the first three years he was the manager of fashion business.

After 16 years, Schwadron met with Charles Bassine, a friend and customer of Eugene Ferkauf, who brought Ferkauf and Schwadron together in a meeting that took place in his kitchen in Great Neck, Long Island.

Schwadron commented that in 1962, newspaper advertising was more effective than radio advertising mainly to advertise store openings and special events.

In 1964, upon becoming President of Korvette at 37, Schwadron is quoted saying "When we went first to Detroit, people thought you spelled our name with a "C" and we were something you drive. But after 90 days, our customers - and our competitors - knew exactly who we were".

In June 1965, Schwadron resigned over policy differences including opposing philosophies on merchandising, methods of advertising and public relations, among others.

Hilliard Coan, who was chairman of the board of Korvette, was ousted the next year.

In September 1965, he joined McCrory Corporation as a consultant. Meshulam Riklas controlled McCrory's, which included the retailer stores Best & Co., Learner Shops, and S. Klein.

While president of Best & Co., a 15-chain department store in New York City, Jack was quoted saying that unisex apparel is "a fashion, not a fad" for a Minneapolis Tribune Women & Society article.

In a September 1970 New York Times story noting that after an initial lag in August, back-to-school sales had picked up, Jack Schwadron is quoted saying "Price consciousness has been evident and there is a practicality to clothes buying these days. People are less inclined to buy something that will have limited use." But he adds that many women had not yet seen "enough of the long skirts", making it too soon for retailers to make a judgement.

October 1970, Samuel Neaman, chairman of McCrory Corporation, owner of Best's, and Jack Schwadron, president, announced that Best & Co. would be going out of business. The store building at 51st Street and Fifth Avenue would be replaced by the Olympic Tower, an office tower constructed by Olympic Airways in partnership with Arlen Properties.

March 1970, Francis Ford Coppola shot The Godfather scene between Michael Corleone and Kay Adams as they leave Best & Co. after shopping for Christmas gifts.

In The New York Times, Isadore Barmash wrote that Mr. Schwadron, Best's president, said: “The saddest aspect of the closing is ending an amiable and fine association that we have had with our employes. However, we are very confident that we can place 100 per cent of our people within our own corpora tion or with other companies and have already made arrange ments with one or more Fifth Avenue stores to interview our people next week.” He commuted to New York City by car, train and boat from his Kings Point residence during the summertime. Jack was married to Sylvia from November 1992 until his death in 2011 in Carmel Valley, CA.

Schwadron's son David is a chef and has catered for prominent personalities including President Barack Obama and President Bill Clinton.