Obituary: George Coffman
George Coffman, founder of Coffman’s Mens Wear in Greenville, N.C. passed away on Friday, February 27. He was 85.
“George was one of the first small American retailers to attend the Pitti Uomo show in Florence,” said John Coffman in an email. “During his career he attended Pitti over 50 times and was importing product from Italy and Spain as early as the mid 1970s. He was always a product-driven guy who believed eastern North Carolina could have, and should have, nothing but the best in men’s clothing and sportswear. During his life he employed over 400 young college men at the store and many of these gentlemen continued on to make the clothing business their lifetime vocation. He was a true pioneer in the business. He once had a Playboy bunny visit the store in the late 1960s and there was a line four blocks long to get in.”
Coffman, a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, served as an officer in the Air Force during the Korean War. He married his wife Martha in 1952 and they moved from their home in Virginia to Greenville, N.C. to open Coffman’s in 1956.
In 2007, the George Coffman Scholarship was established at the East Carolina School of Business by a group of Coffman’s former employees.
Coffman’s was honored by MR Magazine with an Uptown/Downtown Award in 2008.
Coffman is survived by his wife, Martha Sydnor Coffman; sons John and Bill and their wives Pam and Emily; and four grandchildren. The family also gave a special thanks to his two caregivers, Ruth Bizzell and Bob Wheeler.
The family asks that any memorial contributions be made to: ECU Foundation/George S. Coffman Scholarship, Office of Gift Records, Mail Stop 301, 2200 South Charles Blvd, Greenville, N.C. 27858-4353, 252-328-9550.
A death notice was published in the News & Observer on March 1.
