Fred Daitch is constantly on the move.

That's why, when his family's business, Daitch & Co., went to the mat in 1998, he wasn't down for the count.

Mr. Daitch immediately started another business, International Uniform Inc., in the same building at 1216 Broad St.

His father's business, a wholesale clothing company, went out of business when large retailers were forcing mom-and-pop stores out of the industry. Mr. Daitch found his niche, though, and went from bankruptcy to ownership of a thriving clothing store.

Mr. Daitch jokingly says that he is the "president, owner and chief bottle washer" at his fifth-generation business, which has seven employees. International Uniform offers a diverse range of medical, golf, culinary and industrial apparel. It's a uniform heaven for anyone requiring special attire to wear for work.

"Diversification, especially in this kind of economy, is key," Mr. Daitch said.

That is the type of business advice that he gives local business owners seeking his expertise.

Ooollee Bricker, the owner of Vintage Ooollee, a relatively new vintage clothing shop on Broad Street, has asked Mr. Daitch for advice several times.

"He's fabulous. I love Fred. He's so positive about everything," Ms. Bricker said. "He has such a positive outlook, which is very admirable -- even through everything that is going on with economic issues."

The owners became close when they realized their shared interest in Augusta history. Ms. Bricker collects books and has a 1917 city directory, which Mr. Daitch borrowed to research his family's business history in Augusta.

Ms. Bricker said she appreciates Mr. Daitch's support of downtown attractions, such as Le Chat Noir, the Imperial Theatre and Augusta Opera.

Many who know Mr. Daitch acknowledge he is also a talker.

His talkative ways stem from his attention-deficit disorder, which keeps him on his toes, he said. Though he has to make a concentrated effort to focus, he said the disorder actually helps him to get a lot done.

Randall Redmond, the owner of Redmond's Auto Upholstery Inc., has known Mr. Daitch's family for more than 20 years. He agrees that Mr. Daitch is "outgoing."

Mr. Redmond's company produces the sand and seed bags that International Uniform sells to Augusta National Golf Club. Redmond's Auto Upholstery has sewn name badges for Mr. Daitch's company.

"Pretty much anything he needs that has something to do with sewing, he brings it here," Mr. Redmond said. "I think he's a very good businessperson. He seems to handle everything."

Mr. Redmond said he admires that Mr. Daitch "is the same way with everybody."

"He doesn't act one way with one person and another way with somebody else. That's a good personality characteristic," he said.

Generations

Mr. Daitch was born in 1958 at Talmadge Hospital in Augusta, the fourth of five children. His parents, Irvin and Bernice Daitch, had three sons and two daughters.

Mr. Daitch has fond memories of growing up in Augusta.

"I rode my Sting Ray bicycle down Walton Way to the Imperial Theatre to see Tarzan movies," he reminisced.

He visited Snappy's restaurant for a hamburger. For 15 cents, the bus driver would stop, pick up a child with a bike and drop him or her off at home.

"At the end of the day, my father would tell me what I did. All of the parents knew each other," he said.

As a child, he could stick out his thumb on Walton Way and get picked up by one of his parents' friends and be driven wherever he wanted to go.

"Today, that's called hitchhiking. Back then, it's just what parents did," he said.

Throughout his childhood, his father's wholesale clothing business was successful.

Today, at Fred Daitch's business, his children work regularly at the store on weekends.

The family's business legacy started with Mr. Daitch's great-grandfather, Fishel Levy, who emigrated to New York from Poland with his wife and three daughters. Mr. Levy came to Augusta as a peddler in 1903 and lived in a house where television station WJBF is now.

In 1906, Levy opened Levy Department Store on Broad Street between the modern-day White Elephant Cafe and Vintage Ooollee. Mr. Daitch's paternal grandfather, Philip Daitch, also emigrated from Poland and peddled groceries, eventually starting a small dairy business. He moved south to Augusta and met one of Levy's daughters, Sarah, whom he later married. They had three children, including Mr. Daitch's father.

In 1930, Levy helped his son-in-law start Daitch Karesh Dry Goods at 1216 Broad St., where the family's businesses have since operated.

Years later, when Mr. Daitch's father, Irvin, returned from World War II, he bought out his father's partner and changed the name of the business to Daitch & Co.

Mr. Daitch remembers going often to the train station, at what is now James Brown Arena, to see his father off on buying trips to New York.

As young adults, Fred Daitch and his brother, Gary, worked alongside their father at the clothing store. Fred joined the family business in 1981 before completing his college studies at University of Georgia. He worked as a hosiery and underwear buyer at the store.

Daitch & Co. was a distributor of jeans, panty hose, overalls, and other clothing items to small retailers.

"For Hanes socks, we carried 113 styles in 10 colors. One store needed dress socks, and another store needed tennis socks, ladies socks or infant sockettes," he explained.

In those days, inventory spreadsheets were completed by hand. The company's eight sales representatives traveled throughout the Southeast in vans and mailed in their orders.

When Daitch & Co. embraced more modern technology, sales reps had fax machines the size of a table inside their vans so they could send in their orders. Most of their customers didn't yet have fax machines, so the business was ahead of its time, he said.

After their father's death in 1995, the Daitch brothers continued operating the family store until the business market began to shift.

Survivor

After Daitch & Co. closed in 1998, Mr. Daitch said, he lost everything and was left with had a large amount of debt.

The businessman wasn't willing to accept defeat. He immediately started building another retail store, International Uniform. He worked 108 hours a week trying to get the business off the ground.

"I used to sleep at work. I couldn't afford to lose two hours of possible working time," Mr. Daitch said.

His wife, Lisa, took dinner to the store to ensure that he was eating.

"I paid my debts and dug myself out. My family has also paid the price," Mr. Daitch said.

Now, he has more freedom with his schedule, and he's able to spend more time with his family.

"I go to all of my children's games. I never miss a volleyball game or a swim meet," he said.

There's no luck involved in operating a successful business -- it requires hard work, Mr. Daitch said.

He acknowledges that he has failed more than once in business but says he has continued to persevere.

"It's a matter of how bad do you want it," he said.

Most wives would have left their husbands, he said. When Mr. Daitch married Lisa in his mid-20s, he was part of a successful family business, and they had everything they ever wanted.

"My wife is an amazing woman. When I was broke, my wife stayed by my side. I respect my wife more than anyone else in this world," Mr. Daitch said. "I think in many ways, especially in a long-term marriage, that respect is more important than love.

"It's hard to have love if you don't truly have respect for the other person."

In addition to the store, Mr. Daitch and his wife operate a real estate investment company. She also works as a physician's assistant and is on the faculty at the Medical College of Georgia.

Mrs. Daitch handles the company's bookkeeping and insurance, and Mr. Daitch is responsible for the maintenance. The couple started buying bank foreclosures six years ago, and now they rehab houses for rental.

They've been able to offer some tenants an option-to-purchase. Many of these clients would not be able to get bank financing.

"The ultimate goal, when the economy turns around, is to turn those rentals into sales," he said.

To manage his attention deficit disorder, Mr. Daitch makes lots of lists so he can watch his progress.

"If you don't have a plan, you won't ever get things done," he said.

He is writing a self-help book for people with ADD, and he hopes to include business professionals from diverse backgrounds who struggle with the disorder.

"My purpose behind the book is not to make a dime," Mr. Daitch said.

Instead, he wants to show others who are challenged with ADD or similar disorders that they "can focus and do this too," he said.

Bottom line

Mr. Daitch feels that it's important "to keep money here" rather than sending business overseas.

I even keep it in the state of Georgia," he said.

All his golf apparel and accessories are produced in Augusta or Eastman, Ga. His medical uniforms, which are purchased from other companies, are made overseas, but he is seeking other options.

"We are considering now to private-label and contract a line of medical apparel to be made in the United States," Mr. Daitch said.

He said he has created new merchandise for his customers' benefit.

Augusta National's original sand and seed bags were made out of canvas, which allowed sand to rub holes through them. They also developed holes when caddies dragged them along the ground.

"Over the years, we kept buying different products and solutions until we found a material that was impervious to fertilizer and UV rays," Mr. Daitch said.

He also improved his caddie bibs by using high-polyester fabric, which is stain- and UV-resistant.

Mr. Daitch uses private labels for his goods so that golf courses will be able to find his products when golf pros move to new courses. To make things convenient for his clients, he contracts with companies so they won't have to search for items at several businesses.

"We're now moving into ponchos for the golf industry," he said.

At the store, Mr. Daitch has a machine that allows him to complete names and logos in-house, which is cheaper than screen printing. He also has a name badge machine and a heat press machine to make emblems.

"We've become a one-stop shop. Customers are hard to find and easy to lose, so you need to find out what their needs are and provide those needs," he said.

Even if he doesn't stock particular items, Mr. Daitch is willing to use his resources to help customers find them.

He has implemented some creative marketing strategies to stay ahead of the curve.

"One of the things I've done, I literally drove from doctor's office to doctor's office and hospital to hospital getting fax numbers of the nurse's stations and the doctors' offices," Mr. Daitch said.

He said people can easily hit the delete button if they receive an e-mail, but if they get a fax, they must at least look at the hard copy before throwing it away. That strategy has worked in his favor.

"They are always very happy and receptive," he said about fliers on upcoming sales.

He sponsors lunches for graduates in the health-care industry, which introduces his products to them. When these professionals enter the job market, they will know where they can find their uniform items.

To attract new clients in the golf industry, Mr. Daitch attends trade shows across the country. He collects names and contact information and then reaches the people directly.

Mr. Daitch believes continuing education is vital for success. He constantly reads books on finance, and he rereads some titles every year.

Mr. Daitch bought his own espresso machine to cut costs.

"It's a matter of being very conscious of your decisions, both in business and personal finances," he said.

Many costs in businesses are unnecessary, and they drain finances and resources, he said.

Mr. Daitch realized he was wasting money on copy machine rentals and Internet service that he wasn't using.

"It was adding up to thousands of dollars. You have to at least annually as a business take a very serious look at things that you're paying for," he said.

Island dreams

"My dream is to live on an island," Mr. Daitch said.

When he retires, he would like to buy a small piece of land and live in a cottage. He would sail his boat and spend his days in the sun on the sand, gazing at the ocean.

"If I was anything in a previous life, it would have been a fish. I love to scuba dive. I feel like I'm at home when I'm in the water," he said.

For his 50th birthday, his wife took him to Columbus Isle in the Bahamas for eight days of scuba diving.

Mr. Daitch loves to travel. He has been around the world with his family.

Though he is looking forward to retirement, Fred Daitch doesn't plan to leave the retail game anytime soon.

He said that his "passion is doing things that haven't been done before in the medical or golf industry."

"I love what I do," he said. "I love creating business."

Reach LaTina Emerson at (706) 823-3227 or latina.emerson@augustachronicle.com.