Consummate salesman for Haggar Co. Posted on July 20th
Clay D. Huston’s unflagging enthusiasm for people and apparel, along with a street-smart grasp of psychology, produced stellar sales out of Chicago for Haggar Clothing Co. for 37 years.
Mr. Huston, 80, died of natural causes Friday, July 11, in St. Joseph Hospital, said his son Peter. An Edgewater resident, he had suffered from diabetes and acute leukemia, although neither was the direct cause of his death, his son said.
Mr. Huston was working on the floor at Marshall Field’s State Street store in the 1950s when he met Sam Kerish, a sales representative for Shanhouse Clothing. Kerish got him a job with Shanhouse and Mr. Huston never looked back, joining Haggar in 1959. He remained in the business until 1996.
“Clay as in mud, Huston as in Texas,” he told hundreds of potential customers, and they never forgot his name. In charge of regional sales for Haggar, he would load up his Cadillac with samples and head out to independent department stores throughout the Midwest.
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