Stanley Tanger, founder of Tanger Outlets, dead at 87

Stanley K. Tanger, founder of the factory outlet centers that bear his name, including two on Long Island, died Saturday of natural causes, the company said. He was 87.

In 1981 he opened the first strip shopping center with brand-name factory outlet stores in Burlington, N.C. "I found the manufacturers needed an outlet to move a lot of their merchandise," he told Newsday in 1996. "They loved it. They got cash every day. They controlled their own destiny."

In 1993, the company became the first outlet developer to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. By 1995, the company had opened its 27th outlet shopping center.

Steven B. Tanger, president and chief executive of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc., said in a statement his father was an "industry pioneer."

"His vision and entrepreneurship made the company what it is today, one of the most successful REITs [real estate investment trusts] in the outlet industry."

The company, based in Greensboro, N.C., is a publicly traded trust that operates and owns or has interests in 32 outlet centers in 22 states.

The Island's two are in Riverhead, open since 1994, and Deer Park, which opened in 2008.

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Stanley Tanger retired in 2009 but remained on the board of directors.

Jack Africk, interim nonexecutive chairman of the board, said, "His bold, dynamic leadership style enabled him to lead the company to outstanding and consistent returns during his tenure."

In 1919, Stanley Tanger's father had opened a Tanger-Creighton shirt factory, which was the prime supplier of shirts to the armed services and military academies.

Stanley Tanger took over the factory in 1948, moving it to Reidsville, N.C., in 1959, and set up the family home in nearby Greensboro. The Tangers sold Tanger-Creighton to employees in 1980.

He served in the military as a pilot in World War II and had been an Eagle Scout. Tanger was a member of the business groups Young Presidents' Organization and the World Presidents' Organization.

He helped raise money for the American Cancer Society and set up the Stanley K. Tanger Breast Cancer Fund, which has raised $8.5 million.

A funeral service was held Monday in Greensboro.