Irving Shulman, who founded the New Jersey-based off-price Daffy’s chain in 1961, has died. He was 96.
Shulman opened his first Daffy’s store fifty years ago as Daffy Dan’s Bargain Town in Elizabeth, New Jersey. “He was basically a one-man show,” said daughter Marcia Wilson, Daffy’s chairman. “On weekends and during school vacations he would bring my brothers and me to work, sharing his love of the business.” In those early years, Shulman made trips to find goods in the garment district in the beginning of the week and put it on sale by the end of the week. He only retired from Daffy’s in December last year.
Today, Daffy’s has 17 stores and a Florence, Italy buying office. The retailer, which hired former Holt Renfrew boss Caryn Lerner as its new CEO earlier this month, said it’s scheduled to open new stores in Times Square and the Bronx later in the year.
Shulman was known for his creative marketing tactics. Daffy’s representatives recalled Shulman selling silver dollars for 88 cents. Another time, he put a mannequin on a store roof, posed as if about to leap off.
Shulman was married for 58 years to Shirley Weinstock, who died in 2000. He is survived by his daughter, Marcia Wilson; sons, Robert Shulman and Michael Shulman; eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. A funeral service was held on Sunday, March 27 in New York City.
