Sam A. Levitz, a retailing pioneer whose family name became synonymous with furniture sales in Tucson, has died at age 91.
The founder of the city's oldest and largest home-furnishing empire died peacefully at home Saturday with his beloved wife holding his hand, his children said.
"Tucson has lost a true gentleman," said son Sam R. Levitz, who has been running the family business since 1990.
He said his father died of old age. "His mind was still sharp, but his body just gave out."
The elder Levitz, one of seven children of a Pennsylvania furniture store owner, moved to Tucson in 1942. He founded Sam Levitz Furniture Co. more than half a century ago, initially as the city's first television store on Stone Avenue downtown in 1953.
Over the years, he parlayed it into an enterprise that now is a major city employer, with three locations, more than 500 full-time employees and a payroll of nearly $14 million last year.
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Sam A. Levitz laid claim to being the originator of the "direct-to-you warehouse" style of selling, where customers could get deep discounts on big-ticket items. The warehouse concept has been copied nationwide.
Daughter Kandie Levitz Vactor said her father had a simple formula for business success: respect the customers by providing good value, and they will keep coming back and will tell their friends.
Despite his wealth and success, Vactor said her father never acted high and mighty and did not regard himself as anything special.
"He was an honest and humble person," she said. "We used to say, 'Dad, someone should write a book about you,' and he would say, 'No, I'm just an ordinary man.' "
In an age where people can't fill their gas tanks without paying ahead of time, Levitz still worked on an old-school honor code, she said.
"He would loan a million dollars on the strength of a handshake. His word was his bond," Vactor said.
Before he got into furniture, Levitz was an award-winning photographer. He worked for The Arizona Daily Star and for popular 1950s magazines. He was also a board member of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Tucson.
While the public knew Levitz best for his furniture- store commercials, daughter Kathi Levitz said the family's most vivid memories are of the love affair between him and Lee Levitz, his spouse of four decades.
"They would dance around the house together and hold hands. It was so beautiful growing up around that and seeing that that kind of love is possible," Kathi Levitz said.
Levitz didn't want a lot of fanfare at his funeral so the service will be private, his children said.
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