Monroe Milstein, who purchased a derelict New Jersey garment plant and turned it into the nation’s third largest discount retailer, Burlington Coat Factory, died on May 9 at his home in Bal Harbour, FL. He was 98.

In 1972, he and his wife, Henrietta Milstein, ventured her savings as a Long Island teacher and transformed a former factory in Burlington, NJ, which they had bought for $675,000, into a mecca for busloads of frugal customers, lured from the Philadelphia metropolitan area and beyond to buy marked-down designer and brand-name coats for women and later, linens, men’s wear, baby clothes, and shoes. By the time they had divested themselves of their family-run company, it was operating 367 stores in 42 states and had recorded sales of $3.2 billion annually. The Milsteins sold their shares for $1.3 billion.