SCHWARTZ, DAVID

SCHWARTZ, DAVID (1897–1985), U.S. apparel manufacturer. Schwartz, a native New Yorker, was raised in Harlem, then a neighborhood of Jewish and Italian immigrants. He went to work as a shipping clerk at 13, spent his life in the garment industry, and built his company, Jonathan Logan Inc., into the biggest independent dress business in the U.S. When Schwartz was 19, he and a friend named William Schwartz (no relation) started their own firm, TruSize Dress Co. They later formed Gladdy Dress Co. and created a new entity, Gladdy TruSize. They remained partners until 1937, when David Schwartz purchased Jonathan Logan Dress Co., then unknown, and began turning it into one of the garment industry's biggest success stories. He added numerous labels and categories to the core Logan line of popularly priced dresses, either through internal growth or acquisition. In 1960 Jonathan Logan Inc. made history by becoming he first company making only women's apparel to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange when it merged with Butte Copper & Zinc Co., a mining company, whose assets were then sold off to Anaconda Copper. Logan subsequently formed a division called Butte Knit, specializing in knitted apparel at a time that classification was just beginning to flourish. It became one of the company's most valuable units. In 1963, Logan recorded more than $100 million in annual sales, the first women's clothing business to reach that milestone. Schwartz guided Logan until 1964, when he appointed his son president and chief operating officer but remained as chairman. RICHARD J. SCHWARTZ was then 25 years old, the youngest president of any business on the New York Stock Exchange. He became chairman in 1977, when his father retired. In 1984, United Merchants & Manufacturers acquired Logan, which had diversified into sportswear and swimwear. Its divisions included Misty Harbor, The Villager, Rose Marie Reid, Modern Juniors, Etienne Aigner, R\&K Originals and Alice Stuart. The Schwartz family owned more than 7 percent of the stock, gaining almost $45 million in the deal. Richard Schwartz left the apparel business in 1985, opened his own investment concern and operated the David Schwartz Foundation. In 1999 he was named chairman of the New York State Council on the Arts. David Schwartz was an active fundraiser for United Jewish Appeal, the Jewish Memorial Hospital, Brandeis University, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University, New York University Hospital, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Women's Wear Daily (Dec. 31, 1985). (Mort Sheinman (2nd ed.)