Brooklyn Native William D. Modell passes away

Brooklyn Native William D. Modell passes away

Brooklyn native, sporting-goods magnate, and noted philanthropist William D. Modell passed away on February 14th at age 86. Modell's is the oldest family-owned sporting goods company in America, having been started as a general store on Cortland Street in Lower Manhattan in 1889 by Morris Modell, William Modell's grandfather. Morris Modell was an immigrant from Hungary who supplied clothing for Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War and bought and sold surplus army clothing after the war. After World War II, Modell's announced they would sell their entire stock of menswear exclusively to veterans, and also provided on-the-job training to veterans. When the chain opened their largest store in Brooklyn in 1946, the sales staff was comprised of company-trained veterans. Modell's now operates 136 stores in eight states. In 1947, when Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Modell placed Robinson's image in company advertisements. Later, William Modell told Crain's New York Business: "As Jews, we knew what it meant to be outsiders. Nothing is more important than a sense of community and harmony." Mr. Modell grew up in the Manhattan Beach section of Brooklyn, and was a founder of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America and Gilda's Club New York and Worldwide, and a patron of the Metropolitan Opera and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.