Off-Price Buying Was His Specialty
Barry Fogel, a longtime industry veteran and the owner of a Los Angeles–based off-price buying company, died on May 15. He was 70.
Fogel and his wife, Sandy, moved to Los Angeles from Atlanta in the 1970s to start off-price buying company California Update.
Fogel was well liked by his peers in the apparel industry, said Hal Kaltman, president of the Textile Association of Los Angeles.
Fogel enjoyed his role as a liaison between retailers and wholesalers.
“He would tell you when you got a great deal on a purchase,” remembered Ellen Lundeen, owner of Contemporary Reflections, a Beaverton, Ore.–based retailer. “He taught me a lot about the industry, particularly in off-price. He taught me how to be a better shopper.”
Lundeen said she worked with Fogel for about seven years. On each visit to Los Angeles, she and a group of retailers and wholesalers made a point of taking Fogel to lunch.
“He was wonderful,” she said. “It was a big treat for him to decide where we were going to eat lunch. Apple pie agrave; la mode at Langer’s Deli in MacArthur Park was his favorite. He will be terribly missed by everybody.” —Claudia Figueroa
