Harwell Webb Proffitt; Headed Retail Chain

Harwell Webb Proffitt, 82, scion of the founding family of Proffitt’s Department Stores, which acquired Saks Fifth Avenue. The son of store founder D.W. Proffitt, Harwell Proffitt spent 57 years leading the stores. He served as president and chief executive of the retail chain until its 1984 sale to an investor group, and then remained a director until his official retirement in June 1997. The company honored him that year by endowing the Proffitt’s Inc. professorship of marketing at the University of Tennessee. A naval officer in World War II, Proffitt was a major fund-raiser for the university and served as chairman of the board of Maryville College in Maryville, Tenn. In 1998, Proffitt’s changed its name to Saks Inc. after buying Saks Holdings, the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue. The company now has about 350 stores operating under the names Proffitt’s, McRae’s, Herberger’s, Carson Pirie Scott, Saks Fifth Avenue, Off 5th and others. On Friday in Maryville.