• Wall Street Journal, Thursday, November 19, 2009 10:40 AM

Stephen Miller writes a fond remembrance of clothing retailer Sy Syms this morning, saying that his folksy commercials that promoted the off-price designer apparel sold at his eponymous stores "belied his talents as a merchandiser."

Syms, who died Nov. 17 at age 83, took full credit for coming up with the closing line for all of his spots: "An educated consumer is our best customer." He himself was an well-schooled consumer of media buying, having set up his own shop so that he could take advantage of the 15% agency discount back in the day when leisure suits were a hot trend.

Syms' dulcet monotone gave few clues that he broadcast minor league baseball games for a few years in the late 1940s, Miller writes, before opening his first store in the Wall Street area. There are now 52 outlets.

"He had the ability to be a merchant, a promoter and a financier all at the same time," says Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates. "He is the first guy to offer discount designer suits on a major scale."

The New York Times, meanwhile, reports that Wade F. B. Thompson, who rebuilt the Airstream brand of travel trailers, died at 69 on Nov. 12 at his Manhattan home from complications of colon cancer.

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