In 1936 during the midst of the Great Depression, Maurice Panitz left his job as manager of a large union suit manufacturing plant to start a small shirt factory. He named his company Sanford Shirt after his young son Sanford (Sandy). His philosophy was simple, he believed by working hard he could craft out a future for himself, his employees and eventually his children. He believed by applying h
is knowledge of the industry with his work ethic, by listening to his customers and taking care of his employees he could build a company that could last long into the future. The early days were hard but slowly Maurice built a customer base in both the retail market as well as the public sector; some of his earliest accounts were Filenes Basement, Baltimore City and the U. Then, in 2004, a year after purchasing the company from Maurice's son Sandy after his life was cut tragically short in a fatal car accident, John Mintz sought out someone to help him realize his vision of a Military Division that catered to the Private Military School and University Market. Realizing that every school was "on an island," John came up with the idea that schools with similar items could come to a compromise on common items. Hanover would then sell those items to the schools in these "Core Items," and inventory those items at our headquarters in Baltimore, MD. Schools would no longer need to guess as to what sizes to purchase, and in turn purchase upwards of 75-100% more uniforms than they needed. Hanover Uniform would undertake the burden of the inventory. That way the School Quartermaster could order what they expected to use, and if they fell short, they could call up and have sizes they needed shipped out in a matter of days (rather than the 8-12 weeks that all other companies took to manufacture these uniforms). This significantly freed up cash for the schools to re-invest in facilities, offer as scholarships, or use in other ways to further the mission of the school; rather than tie up in inventory that may sit for years. With an initial commitment from 3 schools, John hired Mark Symmes (who at the time was running the Military Uniform Division at the United States Naval Academy) to head up the new Hanover Uniform Military Division. With a vision of growing slowly so as not to "get in over their heads," they began adding a few schools per year, saving those schools as much as $400,000 per year in cash flow through this innovative stocking program. Now, 11 years later, Hanover Uniform Company's Military Division is the premiere supplier of Military Uniforms to Private Military Schools and Universities in the United States (also with accounts in numerous foreign countries). We supply approximately 95% of the Military Schools in the United States with a variety of Stock and custom uniform items, as well as PT Gear, Casual Uniforms, Staff Uniforms, Polo Shirts, and a myriad of other non uniform items. Customer Service is our #1 priority, and we look forward to continuing to grow the division for many years to come.
