Herbert Fisher (businessman)

Herbert Fisher (c. 1922 – April 3, 1993) was an American businessman and the founder of discount retailer Jamesway.

Herbert Fisher
Bornc. 1922
DiedApril 3, 1993 (age 71)
NationalityAmerican
Known forFounder of discount retailer Jamesway
SpouseFlorence Temkin
Children3

Biography edit

Fisher was born to a Jewish family in New York City and raised in Borough Park, Brooklyn.[1] He is a graduate of Townsend Harris High School and attended City College for two years[1] before serving in the Army Air Force during World War II.[2] After the war, he worked as a merchandise packer at $12 a week.[2] In 1960, he opened the first Jamesway stores in Jamestown, New York hence the name Jamesway.[1] Jamesway was a discount retailer which focused on high volumes at low prices. In 1967, he took the company public.[3] He grew the business to 108 stores and 5,000 employees mainly in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.[1] In 1977, he retired from his position as CEO and president but remained as chairman until his death.[1]

He served on the board of governors of the Hackensack Hospital, was national vice president of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and was elected to the Discounting Hall of Fame.[1]

Personal life edit

In 1950, he married Florence Temkin; they had three daughters, Meredith Fisher Gitler, Judith Fisher Furer, and Lesley Fisher Greenblatt.[1][4][5] Fisher died of colon cancer at his home in Oradell, New Jersey.[1] His wife died in 2015.[6]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Herbert Fisher, 71, Jamesway Founder". The New York Times. April 5, 1993.
  2. ^ a b "The Valerie Fund has a Mend in Herbert Fisher, founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of the Jamesway Corp". The Record. April 10, 1991.
  3. ^ Holton, Ray (January 21, 1986). "13-Million Expansion Of South Mall To Include Jamesway, Hess's Renovation". The Morning Call.
  4. ^ "Judith Ellen Fisher Married To Jonathan Furer in Jersey". The New York Times. March 22, 1981. Judith Ellen Fisher and Jonathan Russell Furer, graduates of George Washington University, were married yesterday at the Tamcrest Country Club in Alpine, N.J. Rabbi James Perman of Mount Vernon, N.Y., performed the ceremony
  5. ^ "Lesley Fisher Married". The New York Times. May 18, 1987. Lesley Fisher, copy chief at Retail Communications Corporation in New York, was married yesterday to Judah David Greenblatt, an associate at the New York law firm McDonough Marcus Cohn & Tretter. Rabbis Elazar Teitz and Pinchas Teitz officiated at the Meadowlands Hilton in Secaucus, N.J.
  6. ^ "Florence Temkin Fisher, 90 years old, of Englewood, NJ, previously of Teaneck and Oradell, passed away peacefully at home on January 15, 2015". The Bergen Record. January 18, 2015.