Oral history interview with Stanley Schwartz conducted by Carol Schwartz on March 01, 1980 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Schwartz discusses Las Vegas, Nevada early history, including businesses, Fremont Street and Downtown, Las Vegas.
Interview with Stanley Schwartz by Carol Schwartz on March 1, 1980. Stanley talks about coming to Las Vegas in 1951 to open a clothing business on Main Street, Schwartz Brothers Clothing. He compares the business district of the 1950s to the district in 1980, and advertising opportunities in the newspapers and on the radio. Schwartz talks about suit styles and changing preferences of buyers, and moving the store to Second Street, then Fremont Street, then to Maryland Square Shopping Center. In 1970, he changed the focus of the clothing store to "big and tall" and talks about the importance of customer service in retaining customers. He mentions Al Benedict and Herb Tobman as people he admired.
Part of an interview with Stanley Schwartz on March 1, 1980. In this clip, Schwartz discusses moving to Las Vegas and working in the business district.
Schwartz was born on May 13, 1926 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He attended Colorado Military School in Denver, Colorado and the University of Southern California. He left the university without a degree and went into the merchant tailoring business in Los Angeles, California. After that business went bankrupt, he moved to Las Vegas, Nevada with his brother, Seymour Schwartz, around 1951 and started Schwartz Brothers Clothing.
Schwartz Brothers Clothing was located on Main Street for five years before it moved to Second Street, then in 1957 the business relocated to 303 Fremont Street, which was the heart of the business district at the time. The store was located on Fremont Street for 22 years, during which time Stanley Schwartz was president of the Downtown Merchants Association for three or four years. The Schwartz brothers also operated the men's and boys' departments in the Wonder World discount stores, and later the artificial flower department