Chicago (WBBM News Radio) – The founder of a fondly remembered clothing store in Chicago has died.
Joe Silverberg was born in a displaced persons camp in post-World War II Berlin.
He was born into a Jewish family that survived the Holocaust. He eventually made his way to Chicago, selling shoes on Maxwell Street.
He and his brother opened Bigsby and Kruthers in 1970.
“It started out as a jeans store, and I know my dad was one of the first people to introduce bell-bottom jeans to the Chicago area, opening the first store on Broadway,” notes Silverberg’s son Ross.
Ross said Bisbee and Cruthers pivoted from jeans to men’s clothing, selling European-cut suits and formalwear. Customers include an array of famous Chicagoans, from Michael Jordan and Sammy Sosa to Governor Jim Thompson and Mayor Harold Washington.
“I think they enjoyed being with my dad, but also the quality of the clothing and the entertainment of the salesmen, the people they brought in,” Ross said.
In the 1990s, the billboards in Bisbee and Cruthers literally stopped traffic. A mural on a building in Ashland along the Kennedy River depicting former Chicago Bulls star Dennis Rodman in a sleeveless suit caused traffic jams.
Photo credit BRIAN BAHR/AFP via Getty Images
Rose said his father’s friendship with Michael Jordan eventually blossomed into a business relationship.
“(There was) a clothing line, some marketing going on. There was a poster of Bisbee and Cruthers Michael Jordan, a calendar of Bisbee and Cruthers Michael Jordan.
Bigsby and Kruthers closed in 2000.
Joe Silverberg is 76 years old.
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