Uniform and apparel company chairman dies at 88

Sidney Kirschner, chairman of the board at Seminole-based publicly traded uniform and apparel firm Superior Group of Cos., died Feb. 21, the company announced. He was 88. 

Kirschner joined the SGC Board in 1996, according to a statement, and was chair for the past 11 years. During his involvement with SGC, the company grew from $135 million to more than $536 million in annual revenue and “achieved many other measures of success,” the release states. 

“I have known Sid since he joined our board, and had the pleasure of serving with him on SGC’s Board of Directors for 27 years,” SGC CEO Michael Benstock says in the release. “Sid was an invaluable mentor, director and sounding board, but certainly more importantly, an incredible person, someone who dedicated much of his time and thought to philanthropic activities and to making those around him better people. I am honored to have been able to call Sid my friend. He will be missed. I, and the entire SGC community, extend our deepest sympathies to Carole, his wife, and the entire extended Kirschner family.”

Apart from his service as a SGC director, Kirschner’s career included serving as chair and CEO of National Service Industries and CEO of Northside Hospital Inc. and Piedmont Physicians in Atlanta, as well as executive vice president and chief philanthropy officer of Piedmont Healthcare and head of The Alfred and Adele Davis Academy.

“Sid constantly looked to counsel his fellow directors and the management of SGC, even if the message was contrary to the predominant view,” says Paul Mellini, longtime director and chair of the company’s Corporate Governance, Nominating and Ethics Committee. “His opinions and strategies were insightful, with nothing but the company’s and its shareholders’ best interests treated as paramount. The SGC Board is ready to follow his example as it helps lead the company in the coming years.”

SGC expects to announce changes to aspects of its corporate governance structure prior to and potentially in connection with the filing of its 2023 proxy statement, officials say. 

Superior Group of Cos., previously known as Superior Uniform Group, was founded in 1920 as Surgical Manufacturing Co. Inc. Originally based in Northport on New York’s Long Island, the company relocated its headquarters to Seminole in 1979. In 2008 the company, which supplies work uniforms to millions of employees at dozens of brand-name companies, launched a call center and back-office division called The Office Gurus. Traded on the Nasdaq (symbol: SGC) it had $572.2 million in revenue in the trailing 12-month period.