CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - The founder of a fondly-remembered Chicago clothing store has died.
Joe Silverberg was born in a displaced persons camp in Berlin after World War II.
He was born into a family of Jews who survived the Holocaust. He eventually made his way to Chicago where he sold 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 bring in bell bottom jeans to the Chicago area, at his first store on Broadway,” Silverberg’s son Ross noted.
Ross said Bigsby and Kruthers moved from jeans to men's clothing, selling European-cut suits and formal wear. The clientele was a list of famous Chicagoans, from Michael Jordan and Sammy Sosa to governor Jim Thompson and Mayor Harold Washington.
“I think they enjoyed being around my dad but also just the quality of the clothing and the entertainment of the salesmen as well, which brought people in,” said Ross.
In the 90s, Bigsby and Kruthers had billboards that stopped traffic, literally. A mural on a building at Ashland along the Kennedy featuring ex-Chicago Bulls star Dennis Rodman in a sleeveless suit caused a traffic jam.
Ross said his dad's friendship with Michael Jordan eventually blossomed into a business relationship.
“[There was] a clothing line, doing some marketing. There was a Bigsby and Kruthers Michael Jordan poster, a Bigsby and Kruthers Michael Jordan calendar at one point.
Bigsby and Kruthers closed in 2000.
Joe Silverberg was 76.
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