Andrew Saks


Andrew Saks was an American businessman known as the founder of Saks Fifth Avenue.

Biography

Saks was born to a German Jewish family, in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Helena and William Saks. He worked as a peddler and paper boy before moving to Washington, D.C. where he established a men's clothing store with his brother Isadore in 1867. In 1902, they opened a store in New York on 34th Street 2 as Saks & Company. Andrew Saks ran the New York store as a family affair with his brother Isadore, and his sons Horace and William.

Personal life

Saks married Jennie Rohr with whom he had three children: sons, Horace Andrew Saks and William Andrew Saks; and daughter Leila Saks. He died on April 9, 1912. His daughter, Leila Saks Meyer, returning to attend her father's funeral, survived the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912; her husband, Edgar J. Meyer, son of financier Marc Eugene Meyer and brother of publisher Eugene Meyer, perished.
In 1923, his son Horace sold a majority interest in Saks & Company to Gimbel Brothers, Inc. for $8 million which included Saks & Company's $4.5 million flagship store that was under construction; Horace Saks remained as president. In 1924, Horace Saks and his cousin, Bernard Gimbel, opened Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City.