Kalman Haas (1847–1920) was an American businessman, co-founder of the Haas Brothers and member of the Haas family.

Biography

Haas was born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in

Reckendorf, Bavaria Reckendorf is a community in the Bamberg (district), district of Bamberg, in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, Germany. With roughly 2,000 inhabitants, Reckendorf is a member of the administrative community (''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft'') of Baunach. Geogra ...

, one of nine children including brothers Charles A. (b. 1825) and Samuel (b. 1827), and sisters Flora, Johanna, Sophia, Babete, Lena, and Anna. He immigrated to New York at the age of 15 with his brothers where they peddled notions saving money to travel West. The brothers first worked as miners and seeing that there was more money in retailing began to sell goods to miners. In 1854, he moved to

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

where he founded a grocery store. (His cousin,

Abraham Haas Abraham Haas (1847–August 8, 1921) was an American businessman, co-founder of the Hellman, Haas & Co. (which became Smart & Final), and patriarch of the Haas family. Biography Haas was born to a Jewish family in Reckendorf, Kingdom of Bavaria ...

, co-founder of the ''Hellman, Haas and Company'' – which became

Smart & Final Smart & Final is a chain of warehouse-style food and supply stores based in Commerce, California, which developed through a series of mergers and expansions. The oldest of the combined companies, Hellman-Haas Grocery, was founded in 1871 in Los ...

– began his career at the firm). In 1868, he moved to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and co-founded ''Loupe & Haas'' with his brother Charles and Leopold Loupe. In 1875, Loupe retired and their cousin William Haas (1849–1916) joined the firm which was renamed ''Haas Brothers''. In 1875, there was a banking crisis in California due to a collapse in mining revenues and numerous banks closed including the

Bank of California The Bank of California was opened in San Francisco, California, on July 4, 1864, by William Chapman Ralston and Darius Ogden Mills. It was the first commercial bank in the Western United States, the second-richest bank in the nation, and considered ...

and

Farmers and Merchants Bank of Los Angeles Farmers and Merchants Bank (F&M) is a historic lending institution (1871−1952) based in Downtown Los Angeles, California. It is known both for its architecture and its pivotal role in the economic development of early Los Angeles. Other, non-r ...

(founded by fellow Reckendorf-native Isaias W. Hellman whose brother,

Herman W. Hellman Herman W. Hellman (1843–1906) was a German-born businessman, banker, and real estate investor in Los Angeles, California. Early life Herman W. Hellman was born on September 25, 1843, in Reckendorf, Germany, Bavaria. He emigrated to the Unite ...

was a partner with Kalman's cousin Abraham in ''Hellman, Haas and Company''). As ''Haas Brothers'' was financially strong and the Hellman and Haas families were intertwined, Kalman announced that Farmers and Merchants Bank depositors could either redeem or transfer their accounts to ''Haas Brothers'' stores. The panic subsided and Kalman is widely credited with calming a moment that could have been disastrous; and both the Hellman and Haas families reaped the benefits of their efforts once the economy was restored. In 1886, he moved to New York where he served as the company's purchasing agent leaving the day-to-day operations to his cousin William as president and sons-in-law Leopold Klau and Carl Klau. Haas served as a director of the

Mutual Alliance Trust Company The Mutual Alliance Trust Company was a trust company formed in New York City in 1902, with founders such as Cornelius Vanderbilt and William Rockefeller. On January 14, 1915, the company was acquired by Chatham-Phenix National and Alliance Trust ...

. ''Haas Brothers'' exists today as one of the largest liquor distributors on the West Coast.

Personal life

In 1882, Haas married Harriet Fatman; they had three children: George Charles Haas, Edith Joan Haas Elser, and Robert Kalman Haas Sr. (director of

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

and co-founder of the

Book of the Month Club Book of the Month (founded 1926) is a United States subscription-based e-commerce service that offers a selection of five to seven new hardcover books each month to its members. Books are selected and endorsed by a panel of judges, and members c ...

). Haas died in 1920. His granddaughter was aviator

Betty Haas Pfister Elizabeth Haas Pfister (July 23, 1921 – November 17, 2011) was an American aviator. Biography Haas Pfister was born Elizabeth Haas in Great Neck, New York, the second of three children of Merle (née Simon) and Robert Kalman Haas Sr. (son ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haas, Kalman American company founders Haas family 1840s births 1920 deaths Bavarian emigrants to the United States Businesspeople from California Businesspeople from Oregon People from Reckendorf