Joseph E. Brooks Dies At 84

Joseph E. Brooks

Joseph E. Brooks of Connecticut and Southampton died on Thursday, January 26. He was 84.

Born November 2, 1927, Mr. Brooks was famous for taking over retail stores, such as Filene’s, Rike’s Burdines, Lord & Taylor, and AnnTaylor Stores, and making their sales increase dramatically. Mr. Brooks was chairman of the board and CEO of AnnTaylor Stores Corporation and AnnTaylor Inc. Mr. Brooks, together with Merrill Lynch Capital Partners Inc., acquired AnnTaylor in February 1989. The company increased its sales and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased by more than 50 percent, introduced its own private label shoe line, entered 34 new markets, and achieved sales per square foot of over $700—among the highest in retailing. AnnTaylor went public in an initial public offering in May of 1991.

Mr. Brooks was chairman and CEO of Lord & Taylor from 1975 through 1986. After 11 years of extraordinary growth under Mr. Brooks’s leadership, Lord & Taylor’s sales increased $700 million. Lord & Taylor’s operating profits grew to a compound rate of 17.5 percent per year despite aggressive store expansion and the decade of erratic periods of growth among the retailing giants. Mr. Brooks extended the Lord & Taylor image of updated classic American fashion across the United States, expanding the 19 stores he had inherited to 46. Lord & Taylor expanded into Florida, and intensified its presence in Washington, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston and Dallas, along with the existing markets of the New York metropolitan area, Hartford, and others.

Mr. Brooks was elected to the board of directors of May Company Department Stores in 1986 and was senior executive vice president and a member of the Board of Directors for Associated Dry Goods Corporation from 1975 through 1986.

Mr. Brooks headed Filene’s and Rike’s, and was associated with Burdines, all divisions of Federated Department Stores.

Mr. Brooks and his wife, Alice K. Brooks, launched the International Symposium on the Neurosciences at Harvard Medical School, established a Faculty Scholar at the Center for Blood Diseases at the University of Miami School of Medicine, and are Third Century Fellows at Harvard Medical School. Most recently, he has served on the advisory board of New York Hospital Cornell Medical Center, the board of directors of the Michael Wolk Heart Foundation Inc., the board of directors of the international Tennis Hall of Fame, the International Advisory Board for the Harvard AIDS Institute, and was involved in a multitude of community activities and charities.

Mr. Brooks is survived by his devoted wife of 61 years, Alice K. Brooks; his children, Thomas H.K. Brooks and his wife Judith M. Brooks, Elizabeth B. Rains and her husband C. Eric Rains, Victoria B. Stafford; grandchildren, Thomas S. Brooks, Robert H. Stafford IV, Cameron J. Stafford and Ryan J. Stafford, and granddaughter, Alexa C. Stafford.

A private memorial service will be held. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Fred D. Knapp Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to The Harvard AIDS Initiative, 651 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115.