Philip Small, 105, formal-wear provider

Philip Small, 105, a former shoe salesman who cofounded a small Center City tuxedo business and expanded it into a regional 24-store chain known as Small's Formal Wear, died Thursday, March 21, at his home in Sarasota, Fla.

In the early 1930s, Mr. Small joined his father, a Russian-born tailor, to launch a small tuxedo business at Ninth and Walnut Streets.

That business became Small's Formal Wear. It later moved to 11th Street and Walnut.

Noting that the company specialized in proms and weddings, Mr. Small's son, Harvey, who joined the business, said, "We were in the happy business. We were there for happy occasions."

Philip Small was born Dec. 19, 1907, in Philadelphia, the son of Louis and Anna Small, emigrants from Russia.

Mr. Small grew up in South Philadelphia and graduated from South Philadelphia High School. After earning a bachelor's degree in business at Temple University in 1929, he moved to New York, where he sold shoes in the early 1930s.

He returned to Philadelphia in 1934, and he and his father started the formal-wear company.

In July 1936, Mr. Small married Fanrose Garfinkel, whose mother had introduced them. Mr. Small waited until July to wed because he was busy handling orders for customers in June.

"We probably took care of everybody who got married in South Philadelphia," Harvey Small said of the business. "We would deliver the tuxedos to their houses and pick them up."

After Six, a tuxedo manufacturer in Philadelphia, advanced Mr. Small and his father some tuxedos, and the Smalls invested a few hundred dollars to start Small's Formal Wear, Harvey Small said.

In the formal-wear business, they found they needed a place to clean their attire, so they opened a dry-cleaning business at 11th and Walnut.

"It was the first drive-through dry cleaner in the city," Harvey Small said. Customers would enter on Walnut Street and exit on 11th Street without having to leave their cars, Harvey Small said.

Mr. Small's brothers Sidney and Howard also joined the business.

In the early 1960s, Mr. Small opened a second store in the Cheltenham Shopping Center and later added stores at Cottman Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard, on City Avenue, and at King of Prussia.

The stores expanded throughout the area until there were 24 outlets. The company was sold in 1985.

A longtime resident of East Oak Lane, Mr. Small retired in 1974 and moved to Lauderhill, Fla., and later to Sarasota. His wife died in 2007.

He enjoyed golf and gin rummy. Mr. Small also liked oil painting.

In his later years, he studied the Hebrew alphabet. Most recently, he began a research project titled "Believe It or Not: The Heritage of Biblical Israel," his son said.

Mr. Small would say the way to achieve longevity was to "keep your mind sharp. Never stop learning and studying," Harvey Small said.

His motto was: "Always look forward. There is nothing you can do looking back," his son said.

In addition to his son, Mr. Small is survived by a daughter, Judith Reider; nine grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

The funeral was Sunday, March 24, in Philadelphia. A memorial service will be held at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, March 31, at Kobernick House, 1951 N. Honore Ave., Sarasota.