Defining “The Merchant”
Much of what I know about retailing I learned from my association with three men — all gone now — personally different but all alike in their passion for style and absolute refusal to compromise. All three of them, children of the Great Depression, entered their families’ businesses and ultimately transformed them; all of them believed that their customers would care for quality and style more than they cared about price; all of them created apparel retailing environments for men and women that were luxurious in service and appointments; all were gifted with a prescience about coming trends of style, but each man interpreted these trends differently.
Of the three, Fred was the most kind; he could find the most polite words to use while telling me how to redesign my entire product offering. Murray had no editor; he would say whatever he thought, no sugar-coating, no apologies, but he knew and respected talent, and he was dead-on about what would sell. Cliff was spooky-quiet mostly, on rare occasions avuncular, but always direct and to the point, as in “Get this out of my sight.” And I would…
The institutions they ran have all outlived them, (Barneys only by being taken over more than once,) and it remains to be seen how the idiosyncratic vision and resolve of these men will continue to infuse their stores; but for me and those who follow in their footsteps they left a well-marked path.
Be unique — seek out and offer products that are rare.
Be fine — don’t worry how expensive it is, just be sure that it is worth the money.
Be yourself — trust your instincts, go with your gut, and never, ever, compromise.
“We’ve constantly striven to be as upscale as possible within the milieu of our particular type of clothing, which is quite cosmopolitan in image. It’s still soft and not exaggerated, easy to wear, hopefully subtle, understated and flattering.”
Clifford Grodd (1924 – 2010)
—Paul Stuart
“We edit a line, buying in a very narrow, focused way. The customer must believe we know how to help him get dressed. We pick the best, beginning at the fabric-mill level.”
“A store like this can’t have what everybody else has.”
Murray Pearlstein (1929 – 2013)
—LouisBoston
“I wasn’t interested in competing with designers or brands who put their names in other places. I felt that if we didn’t know our customer better than someone sitting 1,000 miles away, then we didn’t belong in the same business.”
Fred Pressman (1923 – 1996)
—Barneys New York
Nick Hilton - Reflections 