Hersch Segal

By Beryl Wajsman,Editor

A giant in Canadian business, the arts, philanthropy and community leadership passed away last week. Hersch Segal founded two public companies. Le Chateau Stores and David’s Tea. At its height, Le Chateau had 123 stores and employed several thousand. But that doesn’t begin to tell the story of the rich tapestry of his life.

Segal always viewed the world as his canvas. He always attracted — and was attracted by — the risk takers. The avant-garde in everything from business to the arts. Those who thought outside of the box and broke down barriers to allow all the fullest flowering of individual possibilities. And it gave him great satisfaction to support the initiatives that allowed these changes to be realized. He befriended them and mentored them. The phrase “See what Hersch thinks” was heard quite often in this city and indeed across the country on so many things.

He could have followed a more traditional course in his life, but being involved in the temper of his times was so much at the core of his being from the beginning. After graduating in economics and political science from McGill and The New School in New York, he volunteered in Democrat Adlai Stevenson’s two Presidential campaigns in the United States just a few years before he started Le Chateau. He could have gone right into his family’s highly successful company Peerless Clothing that is a North American giant until today. But Segal had a different vision and was moved by a different drummer as he opened his first Le Chateau in 1959. He promoted the avant-garde and gave new European and Canadian style and trendsetters a showcase.

Not only the story of Le Château but the story of Hersch Segal, is intimately tied into the fabric of Montreal. It was here that Segal was born over ninety years ago, educated and became part of the circle of brilliant and daring intellectuals and activists and business leaders who sparked the character of change in the 60s and 70s. And the company he founded never forgot the innovative city it was born in.

Segal was a leader in that part of civil society who brought about redemptive change. A man of compassion and conscience. People knew of his business achievements but not as many knew how he made the work of advocates and activists possible through his moral and material support. Few exemplified the best of corporate responsibility as Hersch Segal did.

And innovation was always a central Segal hallmark. Just a decade ago — some sixty years after he founded Le Chateau — he was still innovating and still loyal to this city. He launched the “Of Montréal” platform to celebrate its roots in Canada’s fashion capital. The company was once described as “capturing a generation of change” something that not only defined the corporation but its visionary founder as well who had been deeply involved in giving back to the city he loved, and to those less fortunate in it, for decades.

A great story of the kind of people he and his company supported and attracted came about a decade after his company started and it concerned John Lennon. Segal gave the Beatles star and Yoko Ono their velvet jumpsuits which they wore during their famous bed-in at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in the 1960s. Perhaps what described the spirit of both Segal and Le Château best was expressed by Franco Rocchi, former Le Château Executive Vice-President who, commenting on “Of Montréal,” said “It’s about rejoicing where it all began, the city that inspired our beginning and continues to inspire the brand .”

Another initiative that so personified Segal and the corporate culture he inspired came just nine years ago when Le Château Montréal matched — in kind — every purchase Montrealers made in one of its half dozen giant outlet stores. You bought $100 worth of merchandise and $100 worth of merchandise was put aside for charity. It was a groundbreaking idea for direct giving where individuals and corporations worked hand in hand. Le Château did not just put the clothing aside but Segal saw to it that a small truck fleet delivered all the merchandise. And then he expanded the campaign and made it national with online purchases matched with in-kind gifts and all merchandise was delivered through United Way in every city in the country.

Aside from his generosity in community-wide fundraising, local beneficiaries of Hersch Segal’s direct commitment to “gentling the condition” have included the West Island Women’s Shelter, Le Chainon in the eastern part of the island. He helped at risk youth through gifts to AJOI in the west island and to Dans La Rue in the city. And two pillars of Montreal’s institutions of compassion — Sun Youth and the Old Brewey Mission — were major recipients as well.

For Hersch Segal this was never about clever marketing. This is a man who truly cared. Let me share a personal story. Some years ago I was involved in mounting a charity concert for the vulnerable. It was the first multi-artist multi-beneficiary concert ever held in Montreal. We filled the Théatre St-Dénis with artists like Ranée Lee in support of charities such as Maison du Partage d’Youville and Fondation de la rue à la réussite. The former feeds and clothes the hungry. The latter trains homeless people and finds them jobs. The Suburban gave the event several months of coverage leading up to the concert and won first prize in a North American competition for media community service. When Hersch Segal heard about the event he immediately insisted that Le Château would become a sponsor of the evening. Just like that. No solicitation on our part. His call. That was Hersch Segal. That was his conscience, and that was the corporate conscience of the company he founded. It was never about the angles. It was about a visceral desire to help.

His attitude was the same for individuals in need. After The Suburban ran a story on one of his charitable initiatives we received a very moving letter. It concerned a woman who had worked in the fashion industry all her life. She contracted cancer. Her employer replaced her. Hersch Segal gave her a job and all the time off for treatment she needed. He even let her work from home at a time when that was far from the norm. The letter was written by a friend of that woman’s. Her closing sentence was that people like Hersch Segal,”keep the world in balance and give people hope and faith.” What higher praise could anyone hope for.

Hersch Segal taught us that we have no excuse not to get involved. He inspired us to dare to care. His like will not soon be seen again. He will be sorely missed… n