# Sol Price
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{{Short description|American warehouse retailer (1916–2009)}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Sol Price
|birth_date = {{birth date|1916|1|23}}
|birth_place = [New York City](/source/New_York_City), [New York](/source/New_York_(state)), U.S.
|death_date = {{death date and age|2009|12|14|1916|1|23}}
|death_place = [San Diego](/source/San_Diego), [California](/source/California), U.S.
|education = [San Diego State University](/source/San_Diego_State_University)
[University of Southern California](/source/University_of_Southern_California) ([BA](/source/Bachelor_of_Arts), [JD](/source/Juris_Doctor))
|spouse = Helen Moskowitz
|children = 2
|known_for = [Costco](/source/Costco), [Price Club](/source/Price_Club), [Fedmart](/source/Fedmart), [PriceSmart](/source/PriceSmart)
}}
'''Sol Price''' (January 23, 1916 – December 14, 2009) was an American retailer and the founder of [FedMart](/source/FedMart), [Price Club](/source/Price_Club) (which ultimately merged into [Costco](/source/Costco)) and [PriceSmart](/source/PriceSmart).[[PriceSmart](/source/PriceSmart)] He was considered the "father" of the "[warehouse store](/source/warehouse_store)" [retail](/source/retail) model.[{{Cite web |last=Eisner |first=Peter |date=December 14, 2009 |title=Sol Price, philanthropist and entrepreneur, dies at 93 |url=https://www.sdjewishworld.com/2009/12/14/sol-price-philanthropist-and-entrepreneur-dies-at-93/ |access-date=June 6, 2023 |website=San Diego Jewish World}}]
==Early life and education==
Price was born in The Bronx in New York City, the son of Samuel and Bella Price, [Jewish](/source/Russian_Jews) immigrants to the United States from [Minsk](/source/Minsk) (Belarus), in the early years of the 20th century.[[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/14/AR2009121403336.html Washington Post: "Price Club changed America's shopping experience" By Peter Eisner] December 15, 2009] The family relocated to San Diego in the early 1920s.
Price graduated from [San Diego High School](/source/San_Diego_High_School) in 1931, attended [San Diego State University](/source/San_Diego_State_University) in 1932, and earned his undergraduate degree (in philosophy) and [Juris Doctor](/source/Juris_Doctor) degrees from the [University of Southern California](/source/University_of_Southern_California) in 1936 and 1938, respectively. By 1938, he had married his girlfriend Helen Moskowitz; they eloped to [Las Vegas](/source/Las_Vegas). Price was admitted to the [California Bar](/source/State_Bar_of_California) in November 1938.[{{cite news| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/14/AR2009121403336_2.html| title = Price Club changed America's shopping experience| newspaper = [The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)| author = Peter Eisner| date = December 15, 2009| accessdate = 2011-07-23}}] He founded a firm which merged to become Procopio Law (known at the time as Procopio, Price, Cory, and Schwartz) where he worked until 1954.[{{Cite journal |title=Sol Price: Retail Revolutionary The FedMart Years—1954 to 1975 |url=https://sandiegohistory.org/journal/v56-4/v56-4.pdf |journal=The Journal of San Diego History}}]
==Career==
Price launched the first [FedMart](/source/FedMart) in 1954 and, together with his son, Robert, Giles Bateman, a nephew, Rick Libenson and others, founded [Price Club](/source/Price_Club) in 1976. The company went public in 1980.[{{cite news
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/business/16price.html
| title = Sol Price, Who Founded Price Club, Is Dead at 93
| newspaper = [The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)
| author = Margalit Fox
| date = December 16, 2009
| accessdate = 2011-07-23
}}] In 1993 [Costco](/source/Costco) merged with Price Club to form PriceCostco.[{{cite web |url=https://shop.pricesmart.com/ |title = PriceSmart {{!}} Seleccionar país}}] led by the younger Price. PriceSmart continues to operate warehouse clubs in Latin America and the Caribbean, while the domestic operations became Costco.[Jeffrey Covell (2000) [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_gx5202/is_2000/ai_n19122966/ "PriceSmart, Inc."], International Directory of Company Histories, vol. 71]
[Sam Walton](/source/Sam_Walton) of [Walmart](/source/Walmart) wrote in his book ''Made in America'' that he "borrowed" "as many ideas from Sol Price as from anybody else in the business".[
{{cite web| url = http://sdjewishworld.wordpress.com/2009/12/14/sol-price-philanthropist-and-entrepreneur-dies-at-93| title = Sol Price, Philanthropist and Entrepreneur, Dies at 93| author = Peter Eisner| date = December 15, 2009| work =[San Diego Jewish World](/source/San_Diego_Jewish_World)| accessdate = 2011-07-23}}] Named for Price, [Price Center](/source/Price_Center), which houses the main student bookstore, food court, movie theater, ballrooms, and meeting rooms, opened on April 21, 1989.
In 2011, the Price Family Charitable Fund donated $50 million to the University of Southern California's School of Policy, Planning, and Development. The school was renamed the [USC Sol Price School of Public Policy](/source/USC_Price_School_of_Public_Policy) as a result of the donation.[{{cite news|last=Gordon|first=Larry|title=USC School of Public Policy gets $50-million gift|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-usc-gift-20111129,0,6117662.story|newspaper=LA Times|accessdate=1 December 2011|date=November 29, 2011}}]
Price was responsible for injecting money and aiding the renaissance of the [San Diego](/source/San_Diego) mid-city neighborhood of [City Heights](/source/City_Heights%2C_San_Diego), near his childhood home. He was a member of the Board of Trustees for the Urban Institute in [Washington, D.C.](/source/Washington%2C_D.C.),