Sidney Jacobson (businessman)

Sidney Jacobson (1918–2005) was an American businessman who founded industrial equipment distributor MSC Industrial Direct and pioneered the use of computerized inventory management and order processing.

Biography[edit]

Jacobson was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn.^[1] At the age of 16, he took a job as a machinist^[2] and in 1941, he founded the Sid Tool Company in Little Italy, Manhattan with $1,000 of his own money and $3,000 borrowed from his mother.^[2] Sid Tool sold cutting tools to New York City machine shops.^[2]

After serving in the Army Air Force during World War II^[1] leaving the business first, in the hands of his brother (until he too was drafted) and then his sister while he was gone.^[2] He returned to a company with $36,000 in annual sales^[1] where he soon landed exclusive contracts with Grumman Corporation and Republic Aircraft.^[2] In 1955, he moved the company to Plainview, New York, closer to his home in Great Neck, New York.^[2] Sensing that he was overly reliant on the two aerospace companies (they were 90% of sales in the 1960s), he launched a catalog business to diversify his customer base.^[2] His colorful catalog (known as "The Big Book") combined with an expansive portfolio of lower cost imported tools purchased at a discount (Sid Tools was the first company in the industry to widely import foreign-manufactured tools) propelled catalog sales which soon exceeded the company's regular sales.^[2] After an inventory problem where he ran out of stock of a critical item, Jacobson invested heavily in computerized inventory management and order processing, the first to do so in the industry.^[1]

In 1970, Sid Tool purchased the cutting tool marketer, Manhattan Supply Company and changed the name of the company to MSC Industrial Direct, using the initials of Manhattan Supply. In 1978,^[2] MSC became one of the first distributors to launch a fully integrated Quality Assurance Department.^[1] In 1976, his son Mitchell, a lawyer, joined the company and was tasked with seeking out the best practices at other industrial suppliers to implement at MSC.^[1] In 1982, Mitchell replaced his father as president of the company.^[1] The company went public in 1995.^[3] MSC went on to become one of the largest industrial equipment distributors in the world with $1.87 billion in sales in 2010.

Philanthropy[edit]

Jacobson was a strong supporter of the Jewish community giving generously to the UJA-Federation of New York. The Sid Jacobson Jewish Community Center in East Hills, New York, is named in his honor.^[1][3] He served as president of the New York UJA-Federation Palm Beach committee; and served on the boards of directors for both the Mid Island JCC and United JCC's of Long Island.^[1] Jacobson was a founder of Long Island Jewish Hospital and served as an associate trustee of North Shore Hospital.^[1]

Personal life[edit]

Jacobson was married to Bernice Jacobson with whom he had two children: Marjorie Jacobson Gershwind and Mitchell Jacobson.^[1][4] The couple lived in Great Neck, New York, and Palm Beach, Florida.^[1] They died together at their home on June 21, 2005, of carbon monoxide poisoning.^[1][3][5] Their funeral was held at Temple Beth-El in Great Neck.^[1]

References[edit]