Young Man & the Women

In mid-Manhattan, Broadway and Seventh Avenue run side by side and at one point intermingle. So do the ideals of their denizens, to the extent that Seventh Avenue, capital of the garment industry, is almost as much show biz as Broadway. Thus this week Garment Manufacturer Richard Schwartz, the young (28) president of Jonathan Logan Inc., flies west for road-show tryouts of his new knit line. Schwartz will see what sells best among buyers in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas and Chicago, get his stitchers busy for what he hopes will be a long run in his New York showrooms. In the $30 billion garment industry, where the life of the average women's-wear company is no more than three years, a long run means one successful season.

Fiscal & Physical. Success has become a habit with Jonathan Logan. The firm is the nation's largest dressmaker, with anticipated 1967 sales of $210 million. And Richard Schwartz, since succeeding his father in 1964 as chief executive officer, has emerged as the David Merrick of the business. The twelve divisions that make up his organization provide a dress for just about any figure, fiscal as well as physical.

The original Jonathan Logan line, established 27 years ago by Father David, leads the junior market with bright styles that sell for as little as $15 and never exceed $30. Fast-changing junior styles represent about 40% of the firm's business. The rest, carrying such labels as R & K, Butte Knit and Amy Adams, are for non-juniors, who are apt to spend more--up to $80 in the Logan line--and expect less radical season-to-season change. The line also includes bathing suits (Rose Marie Reid and Beach Party), blouses (Alice Stuart) and rainwear (Misty Harbor for women, Harbor Master for men).

Like the garment district itself, Jonathan Logan Inc. (a name coined by David Schwartz, who liked its tone) is a blend of old and new, noise and quiet. Richard Schwartz, a bachelor who studied at Cornell ('60), rides to the hounds and plays chess, gives division managers authority on everything from design to advertising, while he concentrates on finances, futures and foulups. His father, who prefers bridge and gin rummy, has moved up to the largely honorary job of chairman, though he personally runs the pioneer division of the corporation that markets the Jonathan Logan juniors and roams through the showrooms to gloat over styles and glower at salesmen. "Now I'm 65," he says, "it gives me a place to go."

Schwartz Jr. makes lunchtime appearances before such groups as the New York Society of Security Analysts, keeps track of his business with an IBM 360 computer. Schwartz Sr. enjoys a quick hamburger for lunch, puts less faith in the computer than in a loose-leaf reorder book that is al ways at hand. The two invariably have Monday-night dinner at the older Schwartzes' Fifth Avenue apartment.

"For My Children's Sake." The combination makes a profitable pattern. A decline in sportswear sales last year left many a women's-wear company swathed in red; nearest sportswear competitor Bobbie Brooks Inc., for one, ended its year with $126,700,000 in sales but a $1,265,000 loss. Jonathan Logan earned $10 million, or 5.4%, on sales of $185 million, a figure that Richard Schwartz intends to double. For the seventh consecutive time since 1960, when Jonathan Logan received its listing (JOL) on the New York Stock Exchange, the sales total was a record.

Schwartz Jr. and Sr. expect to keep things that way. Ten years ago, the older Schwartz says, he almost sold out to Glen Alden Corp. "For my children's sake," he recalls, "I decided not to take the cash on the last day." And a good thing he did. Since then, Jonathan Logan has grown so big that it can even dictate to its customers, on some hot-selling lines insists on minimum orders of $5,000.

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