Jacob Elias Cohen (April 1, 1862 – June 1, 1927) was an American businessman who served as president and CEO of Cohen Brothers department store in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. He was nicknamed "Wanamaker of the South" after

John Wanamaker John Wanamaker (July 11, 1838December 12, 1922) was an American merchant and religious, civic and political figure, considered by some to be a proponent of advertising and a "pioneer in marketing". He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a ...

the proprietor of

Wanamaker's John Wanamaker Department Store was one of the first department stores in the United States. Founded by John Wanamaker in Philadelphia, it was influential in the development of the retail industry including as the first store to use price tags. ...

department store.

Biography

Cohen was born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family on April 1, 1862 in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, the youngest of eight children of Rae (née Heyman) and Elias Cohen. His family was originally from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

but soon returned to Berlin and opened a general merchandise store. After the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

, the family immigrated to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

where they opened ''Cohen Brothers'', a company dedicated to the import of dry goods (textiles, clothing, and sundries). In 1867, two of his brothers, Morris and Samuel visited

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the c ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

which was still recovering from the Civil War and recognized the pent-up demand for dry goods. In 1867, they moved the family business to Jacksonville which then had a mere 4,000 residents. Cohen attended public schools in New York City and then joined his brothers (along with a third brother Julius ) in Jacksonville in 1875 which had grown to 7,000 residents. In 1880, Jacob assumed control of the store after his brother Samuel moved to New York City to work as a purchasing agent and Morris moved to England where he became engaged in the lace business. Jacob established a "one-price" policy with fixed price tags where there was no negotiating involved, an unusual practice at the time. In 1890, the population increased to 17,000 and Cohen moved the business into the ''Gardner Building'', Jacksonville's first skyscraper and Florida's tallest building. In 1891, Julius died of

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over severa ...

. In 1901, Jacksonville burned to the ground and Cohen built a 300,000 square foot store on the site of the burned down St. James Hotel designed by Architect

Henry John Klutho Henry John Klutho (1873–1964) was an American architect known for his work in the "Prairie School" style. He helped in the reconstruction of Jacksonville, Florida after the Great Fire of 1901—the largest-ever urban fire in the Southeast—by ...

promising that the building would be "institution for the people."Wood, Wayne.
St. James Building
. Jacksonville's Architectural Heritage. Retrieved on July 27, 2010. Under Cohen's tutelage, ''Cohen Brothers'' became Florida's largest department store. In 1958,

The May Department Stores Company The May Department Stores Company was an American department store holding company, formerly headquartered in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. It was founded in Leadville, Colorado, Leadville, Colorado, by David May (merchant), David May in 1877, ...

acquired the Cohen Brothers Department Store turning it into the May Cohens chain.

Personal life

In 1887, Cohen married Hattie Halle; they had five children: Edna (1888); Halle (1893); Rae (1895); Hazel (1897); and Minna Cohen Seitner (1899). Cohen died on June 1, 1927.Obituary, Tampa Tribune,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Jacob Elias 1862 births 1927 deaths American Jews People from Jacksonville, Florida American company founders American retail chief executives