Hart Schaffner Marx history

On May 10, 1911, after years of steady growth, the partnership was incorporated.

In 1917 the company introduced the first tropical worsted suits.

1926: Wallach's, a large New York-based clothing chain, is acquired.

1927: Chicago retail clothier Baskin is acquired.

1970: Antitrust suit against company leads to consent degree barring any further acquisitions, without court approval, for ten years.

In 1974 the company rolled out a line of tailored clothing under the Christian Dior name, followed by Nino Cerruti, Allyn St George, and Playboy.

In September 1979, nearly a year before the expiration of the consent decree, Hart Schaffner & Marx acquired Intercontinental Apparel under special agreement for $2.9 million.

When the terms of the consent decree expired in June 1980, Hart Schaffner & Marx, with 275 retail outlets, immediately embarked on an acquisition binge.

1981: Country Miss chain is purchased, extending the company into women's clothing.

1982: Kuppenheimer Manufacturing Company, retailer of inexpensive suits, is acquired for $25.8 million.

In 1983, after buying its old Chicago rival Kuppenheimer Manufacturing Co., a producer and retailer of inexpensive men's clothing, the company changed its name to Hartmarx Corp.

These efforts, which ate up more than $41 million in earnings by 1987, went $10 million over budget and yielded far less than the projected $12 million annual savings.

By 1990 impatient investors had begun to abandon Hartmarx, beating its share price to 18, about half of what it had been only three years earlier.

In January 1992 the company suspended dividends for the first time in 53 years.

In response, Hartmarx's management began a massive restructuring of the business, including the divestment of all of its retail operations by 1995.

In November 1998 Hartmarx acquired the wholesale apparel business of Pusser's Ltd., including the Pusser's of the West Indies line of nautical and tropical sportswear and outerwear.