Stanley K. Tanger (April 13, 1923 – October 23, 2010) was an American businessman, philanthropist and pioneer of the

outlet shopping An outlet store, factory outlet or factory shop is a brick and mortar or online store in which manufacturers sell their stock directly to the public. Traditionally, a factory outlet was a store attached to a factory or warehouse, sometimes allowi ...

industry. Tanger founded

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc. ( ) is a real estate investment trust headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina that invests in shopping centers containing outlet stores in the United States and Canada. As of December 31, 2019, the comp ...

, which began with a single location in

Burlington, North Carolina Burlington is a city in Alamance and Guilford counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the principal city of the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Alamance County, in which most of the ...

in 1981, and now has 45 shopping centers throughout the United States and Canada as of April 2015. In doing so, he invented "the very concept of the

outlet mall An outlet store, factory outlet or factory shop is a brick and mortar or online store in which manufacturers sell their stock directly to the public. Traditionally, a factory outlet was a store attached to a factory or warehouse, sometimes allowin ...

", according to the ''

News & Record The ''News & Record'' is an American, English language newspaper with the largest circulation serving Guilford County, North Carolina, and the surrounding region. It is based in Greensboro, North Carolina, and produces local sections for Greensb ...

'' of

Greensboro Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in th ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...

. Tanger Outlets grossed $270 million in 2009.

Biography

Tanger was the son of Harriette and Moe Tanger, who were from

Wallingford, Connecticut Wallingford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, centrally located between New Haven and Hartford, and Boston and New York City. The population was 44,396 at the 2020 census. The community was named after Wallingford, in E ...

. Tanger served as a pilot during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. After World War II, Tanger began to run Creighton Shirtmakers, the

family business A family business is a commercial organization in which decision-making is influenced by multiple generations of a family, related by blood or marriage or adoption, who has both the ability to influence the vision of the business and the willin ...

Reidsville, North Carolina Reidsville is a city in Rockingham County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. At the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 14,580. Reidsville is included in the Greensboro–High Point Metropolitan Statistical Area of the Piedmont ...

. Under Tanger, Creighton Shirtmakers expanded to five

outlet stores An outlet store, factory outlet or factory shop is a brick and mortar or online store in which manufacturers sell their stock directly to the public. Traditionally, a factory outlet was a store attached to a factory or warehouse, sometimes allowin ...

. Tanger soon organized other similar businesses and manufacturer outlets into a small, brand name outlet

strip mall A strip mall, strip center or strip plaza is a type of shopping center common in North America where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front. ...

in the early 1981. The company, now known as

, had since expanded to more than forty-one outlet centers in twenty-five U.S. states and four in Canada, as of April 2015. In 1993, Tanger Factory Outlet Centers became the first outlet developer to be publicly traded on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...

. ''Real Estate by Inc. Magazine'' named Tanger as "Entrepreneur of the Year" in 1994. Tanger remained chairman of Tanger's board of directors until his retirement from a daily role with the company on August 7, 2009. He resigned as chairman of the board in September 2009, but remained a member of Tanger's board of directors until his death in 2010. Tanger and his wife, Doris Tanger, a breast cancer survivor, were local, North Carolina

philanthropists Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material g ...

. Much of Tanger's philanthropy focused on breast cancer awareness, including a one-million-dollar contribution to Moses Cone Health System's Regional Cancer Center in Greensboro. Tanger also funded a variety of beautification projects throughout the city of Greensboro, including the creation and preservation of city parks, including the Bicentennial Gardens. Stanley Tanger, a resident of Greensboro, died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

on October 23, 2010, aged 87. He was survived by his wife of sixty-three years, Doris Tanger, and his children and grandchildren. Tanger's funeral was held at Temple Emanuel, a

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous sear ...

congregation in Greensboro. His son, Steven, was named president and CEO of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers in January 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanger, Stanley 1923 births 2010 deaths Jewish American military personnel American philanthropists Businesspeople from Greensboro, North Carolina American military personnel of World War II Deaths from pneumonia in North Carolina American World War II pilots 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American philanthropists 21st-century American Jews