Posts Tagged ‘retail talent’
Friday, December 9th, 2011
A T STEWART & COMPANY - NYC - (stereoview card - prior to postcards)
DEPARTMENT STORES OF NEW YORK – A. T. STEWART
Alexander Turney Stewart, an Irish immigrant, opened his dry goods store in 1823. The first store was located at 283 Broadway. The business became so successful he opened a second, much larger store on Broadway between Chambers and Reade Streets. This new store was, in fact, the largest in New York City. It was known as the Marble Palace as the building was clad in Tuckahoe marble. Lord & Taylor which operated out of a small store in Greenwich Village was its only competitor. The store sold imported European merchandise. Fashion shows were held on the second floor in the Ladies Parlor renowned for its large mirrors. The store became well known for its unique design and for the merchandise carried. This store is today known as the first department store in the U.S.
In 1860, Mr. Stewart built a new store further uptown on Broadway between 9th and 10th Streets which opened in 1862. This store was still larger and much closer to where the other stores had moved on the Ladies Mile (Macy’s, B. Altman, Lord & Taylor). Cast iron construction allowed the store to be more open and provided for large windows on the street level to showcase merchandise. The building was called the Iron Palace.
Besides being known as the creator of the first department store in the U.S., Mr. Stewart also became known for creating his own mills and sewing factories to produce product for his store. He gained more fame for laying out the plan for Garden City on Long Island.
Alexander Stewart died in 1876. His company continued in business until 1882 when it became Hilton, Hughes & Co run by associates of Mr. Stewart. Unfortunately, the new company failed and closed in August, 1896. The next month the store was acquired by Wannamaker’s from Philadelphia.
Wanamaker’s first building at 280 Broadway later became the headquarters for the New York Sun, the publisher of “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus”. The building is now owned by the City of New York. The Iron Palace burned down in a massive fire in the 1950’s when it operated as a John Wannamaker store.
The first department store in the world is the Au Bon Marche in Paris, France. Although A. T. Stewart’s first store opened before Au Bon Marche, his first store was small and was not considered a department store in terms of organization.
Although there are many block prints of the A. T. Stewart store, there are few postcards. The store existed before postcards became legal with the U.S. Postal Service.
A T Stewart Home - Fifth Avenue - NYC
Tags: a t stewart, allied department stores, Associated Dry Goods, Beauty, big box retail, City Stores, cosmetics, Department Store History, dina lokets, executive search firms, Fashion Institute, FEDERATED DEPARTMENT STORES, FIT, grand dames of retail, heidi plummer, john plummer, LATimes, New York Department Stores, New York History, New York Retail History, nrf, NYTimes, plummer & associates, plummer and associates, plummersearch.com, retail alumni, retail careers, retail executive recruiter, retail executive search, retail executive search firms, retail executive talent, retail executives, retail recruiter, retail talent, retailexecutivesearch.com, retailexecutivesearchfirms.com, retained retail executive search firms, Specialty retail, stores magazine, susan gill, Wannamakers, wsj, WWD
Posted in NEW YORK STORES, Retail Postcards | 9 Comments »
Friday, December 9th, 2011
ARNOLD CONSTABLE - FIFTH AVENUE - NEW YORK CITY
For years, the Arnold Constable & Company was known as the “oldest department store” in America. It served the ‘carriage trade’ of New York. Famous customers included the Astor’s, Vanderbilt’s, Roosevelt’s, and Mary Todd Lincoln. The company was known for bring the best French fashion to NYC.
The company was started in 1825 by Mr. Aaron Arnold, an immigrant from the Isle of Wright. Before he opened his store he had been working with James Hearn, founder of Hearn’s. Mr. Arnold’s first store was located at the corner of Canal and Mercer Streets, then the center for retail. In 1837, a vendor, James Constable, married Aaron’s daughter and then became a partner in the firm. That is when the name was changed to Arnold Constable.
In 1868 Arnold Constable opened a new store at Broadway and Nineteenth Streets in NYC. This put the store in the middle the new “Ladies’ Mile” shopping district. It was known as “the Palace of Trade”.
In 1914 the company incorporated with reported capital of $2.5m. That same year the company leased the former home of Frederick W. Vanderbilt and started plans for building a new store on Fifth Avenue at 40th Street. At this time it was clear that the shopping district was moving “uptown”.
In 1925, Arnold Constable merged with Stewart & Company which led to the expansion into the suburbs. The first suburban store opened in 1937 in New Rochelle, NY. Later, stores opened in Hempstead, Manhasset, and New Jersey.
In the 1960’s, the carriage trade retailer of New York started to face economic troubles. As sales declined, expenses were rising significantly. The company started closing the unprofitable suburban stores. In 1975, the store on Fifth Avenue closed. After 150 years, the Arnold Constable name disappeared. The company did continue to manage its no-name stores, a small specialty retailer offering men’s and women’s separates. This was later sold in the 1990’s to YM, Inc, a Canadian retail chain.
What happened???? Arnold Constable did not adjust to the newer times and merchandising systems. It continued to cater to a dying “carriage trade” customer and did not attract the younger customers.
I visited Arnold Constable in 1973 on a business trip to NYC. I was interested in comparing it to Bullock’s Wilshire and I. Magnin. To me it was clear that Arnold Constable did not know it was hostile to the younger customer. The store also looked dowdy and was not well merchandised. I was not surprised when the company closed a year later.
Tags: big box retail, defunct stores, Department Store History, department stores, dina lokets, executive search, executive search firms, fashion recruiting, fashion retail, heidi plummer, john plummer, national retail federation, New York Retail History, nrf, NY Times, plummer, plummer & associates, plummer and associates, Plummersearch, plummersearch.com, retail exectutive talent, retail executive search firms, retail headhunter, Retail History, retail recruiter, retail recruiting, retail talent, retained retail executive search firms, Specialty retail, stores, stores magazine, susan gill, USC, Womens Wear Daily, wsj, WWD
Posted in NEW YORK STORES, Retail Postcards | 7 Comments »
Monday, January 31st, 2011
Downtown LA - May Company (after addition)
MAY COMPANY – CALIFORNIA – The Largest Department Store in the West
In 1923, the May Company based in St. Louis, Missouri, bought Hamburger’s in Los Angeles and re-named it May Company California. The May Company itself had started in 1877 in Leadville, Colorado, specifically to serve the silver miners. The May Company Department Stores expanded by moving to Denver and later purchasing Famous Brothers in St. Louis. It then moved to St Louis and merged with William Barr Dry Goods in 1911 to create Famous Barr. With the 1923 acquisition of the large Hamburger store in Los Angeles, it entered the California market.
For the first 15 years, the May Company California division focused on the downtown Los Angeles store. The first branch store was opened in 1939, at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax. Even though the Great Depression did not hit California hard, the May Company remained cautious. They did know that they needed a store in Western Los Angeles as that was where the population growth was happening. In 1947, after WWII, they opened a store in the Crenshaw shopping area where many of the aircraft plant workers lived. In 1952, they opened a large store in Lakewood, near the Douglas plant and airfield. Afterwards, the company began opening a new suburban store every year or two until their stores captured significant market share in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, and San Bernardino counties.
Like Broadway Stores, May Company was a mid-tier department store chain catering to the broad value oriented customer. The company developed strong merchants and, although highly promotional, they were great at following the fashion trends. I remember in the 60’s and 70’s when the juniors revolution was taking place, the May Company – California stores had a junior area that captured the times as well as the best junior specialty retailers. May Company was hot! In those days May Company California was a major profit producer for May Department Stores Company.
In later years, the May Company California expanded outside of California as the parent company bought Goldwater’s (Arizona) and incorporated the Goldwater’s Las Vegas store into a May Company California store.
In the late 1970’s and 1980’s May Company California stores started to show wear as the stores were not well-maintained under the expense control programs being implemented. The company still maintained strong merchandising programs and the May Department Stores Company became known for making money through effective merchandising. However, the California division was hurt by executive turnover and corporate programs that influenced and limited local merchandising.
In 1993, after the May Department Stores Company acquired Associated Dry Goods Company, the Associated’s W.J. Robinson & Company division was merged with the May Company California stores to form Robinsons-May. Robinson’s was an upper-tier department store operation and the merger of these two businesses first created some difficulties. When Bob Mettler became responsible for merchandising the problems seem to end as he differentiated the merchandising for the stores based upon local markets. He also brought a new level of enthusiasm to merchandising and buffered the merchandising team from the corporate merchandising pressures.
In 1984, the original store at 8th and Broadway was closed. The headquarters had moved out of that building years before. This area of downtown Los Angeles had deteriorated significantly.
In 2006, after the May Department Stores Company was acquired by Federated Department Stores, the Robinsons-May division was closed and the stores were converted to Macy’s or sold.
What happened????? Although May Company California was a strong and aggressive merchandising organization, they, like others, had difficulties facing increased competition. Nordstrom, Mervyn’s, Target, a reinvigorated J.C. Penney, Costco, and others were taking market share and operated with lower costs. The May Company reduced expenses in a manner that resulted in a less than pleasant shopping environment. Corporate turnover and control also caused problems and eventually ended local merchandising programs. In the end, the collapse of the parent company ended May Company California.
I have posted postcards of the downtown Los Angeles store, the Wilshire store and the Crenshaw store. Postcards of the downtown LA store are listed under Hamburger’s, the company May Company purchased in 1923. Postcards of the newer May Company California stores are, in my mind, not important for this blog. The newer stores were just big boxes with no architectural importance.
May Company Downtown LA 1930's
May Company California - Store at Fairfax and Wilshire Blvd -1940
May Company Store at Fairfax and Wilshire Blvd. Miracle Mile 1960's
May Company California - Crenshaw Store 1940's
Tags: Allied Stores, Associated Dry Goods, Beaux Arts, big box retailers, Carter Hawley Hale, City Stores, dayton hudson, defunct department stores, defunct retailers, Department Store History, department stores, Downtown Los Angeles History, executive recruiters, executive search, executive search firms, fashion, Fashion Institute, FEDERATED DEPARTMENT STORES, grand dames, grand dames of retail, J.W. Robinson & Co, john plummer, Los Anteles times, macy's, may company, May Company Department Stores, May Company Southern California, Merchantile Stores, modesto, national retail federation, nrf, plummer & associates, plummer and associates, plummer blog, Plummersearch, plummersearch.com, retail, retail executive recruiters, retail executive search, retail executive search firms, Retail History, retail recruiters, retail talent, retailexecutivesearch.com, retailexecutivesearchfirms.com, Robinson's May, skywalker, Specialty retail, susan gill, USC, wholesale, Womens Wear Daily, wsj, WWD
Posted in CALIFORNIA STORES, Retail Postcards | 8 Comments »
Monday, January 3rd, 2011
Bullocks Downtown Los Angeles – 1907 – Grand Opening
In 1907, John Gillespie Bullock and Percy Glen Winnet opened Bullock’s at the corner of 7th & Broadway Streets in downtown Los Angeles. The two had worked at The Broadway and convinced Arthur Letts, Sr, founder of The Broadway to back them in this new retail venture targeting the more up-scale customer. The store grew over the years as it acquired buildings on 7th Street between Hill and Broadway; one of the buildings was a competing department store. In 1923, John Bullock and P. G. Winnet bought out Arthur Lett’s interest.
In 1929, the company opened its first branch store on Wilshire Boulevard. This luxury Art Deco designed store targed the wealthy as they moved to the nearby Hancock Park neighborhood from the downtown’s West Adams district. Later, the Bullock’s Wilshire store became a separate division within Bullocks. For years Bullock’s Wilshire merchandised the store in Palm Springs which only operated in the Fall, Winter, and Spring seasons. The Palm Springs store served the Hollywood community with winter homes in that area.
Bullock’s was known as a chain which targeted the better customer and provided unparalled customer service. The company had approximately 65 buyer/managers in each store until 1970. Up until then, the company believed that having buyers in each store for each department helped provide a localized assortment. However, it was hard for Bullock’s to buy from larger manufacturers as each store could not meet minimum quantity orders. The company did have exclusive relationships with key better vendors which helped it retain the better market position.
The third suburban store was opened in Pasadena (it was designed to be converted into a hotel if it did not succeed as a store). Later the chain continued to expand with stores in Westwood, the San Fernando Valley, Santa Ana, Torrance, Lakewood, San Gabriel Valley, Orange County, Las Vegas, Pheonix, and San Diego.
Bullock’s acquired I.Magnin & Company in 1944 to form Bullocks-Magnin. In 1964, publicly held Bullocks-Magnin was acquired by Federated Department Stores. This was a hostile takeover. P.G. Winnet, the founder, opposed the sale. His son-in-law, Walter Candy who was President, was for the sale and gathered support of the management team. Abe Fortes, who later became a Supreme Court Justice, was the attorney representing Federated. (Note: Bullock’s in Northern California was a separate division of Federated Department Stores.) This acquisition affected both Bullock’s and Federated for many years. First, many of the management team were protected for supporting Mr. Candy and the Federated acquisition so it was agreed that directional and management changes would not be made for five years. That is one of the key reasons Bullock’s did not convert to central merchandising until 1970. P.G. Winnet mostly continued working out of the Bullock’s-I Magnin offices but did visit stores and was known for pinning candy on sales people who he recognized as outstanding. Secondly, Federated was restricted from further growth through acquisition. The Justice Department was concerned that Federated was gaining too much share of the department store sector which at the time was the largest individual segment in the retail industry.
In 1988, Bullock’s was sold to the R.H.Macy Company as Federated was owned by Campeau and needed cash. As Macy’s-Atlanta took over merchandising, Bullock’s lost its better positioning. As I understand it, under Macy’s store gross margin production shrank dramatically. In 1995, Bullock’s name was formally changed to Macy’s. Now, all the Bullock’s sites are known as Macy*s or Bloomingdales since the R.H. Macy Company was acquired by Federated Department Stores.
Bullocks was known for:
- Merchandise assortments which trended towards better.
- Higher quality salespeople who were focused on customer service.
- Strong fashion presentation with upgraded and well-maintained stores.
- Special events.
What happened??? When Federated Department Stores acquired Bullock’s it was a leader in Southern California but was marginally profitable. As management changes were made the company became highly profitable and in a dominant market position because the company secured top merchandising talent, invested in systems, and had the capital from Federated Department Stores to upgrade facilities and to expand into new markets. The downtown store continued to slide as the market demographics changed, the Southern California transportation system collapsed, and as customers shopped more at shopping malls. Bullock’s flourished until Nordstrom’s entered the Southern California market. At that time, Bullock’s began losing some of its fashion edge as markdown programs were reduced with the intent of increasing profitability but in reality allowed fashion to become stale in comparison to Nordstrom’s. Bullock’s remained dominant but should never have allowed Nordstrom’s to gain a foothold in Southern California. (Note: Terry Lundgren, CEO of Macy’s (Federated Department Stores) started with Bullock’s as a trainee. Keep in mind, the Bullock’s motto was….” to build a business which shall know no end”.
Today, the former downtown Bullock’s store building is divided between a St Vincents Jewelry Mart, a parking lot, and small retail stores. The Bullock’s Wilshire store now houses the Southwestern Law School. The Bullock’s Wilshire store is kept in its original Art Deco splendor and serves as a reminder of department store retailing in the grander days.
I started my retail career with Bullock’s. Although I grew up in Modesto, California, about 300 miles north of Los Angeles, I knew Bullock’s especially well. My mother was from Los Angeles. My grandmother used to knit infant clothing for Bullock’s downtown. My godmother, Ms. Paquita Machris, used to take me twice a year to Bullock’s Wilshire to pick out clothing. Her personal sales person, Ms. Dineen, met us at the MotorCourt and took us through the store followed by a lunch in the tea room where I enjoyed my first taste of Babas au Rhum. Years later, I always made sure Ms. Dineen was well taken care of as she had the largest sales book in the entire Bullock’s chain. I joined Bullock’s when I taught Statistics at U.S.C. I then became a part of the Personnel department in the corporate offices. I remained with Bullock’s until 1978 when I was recruited to Mervyn’s, a new publicly held company in the San Francisco Bay Area.
My collection of Bullock’s postards are shown below. If anyone has memories of Bullock’s I hope you will feel free to memorialize your memories in the Comments Section below. I know I have many friends and co-workers who are anxious to do so. You must receive my permission to copy or reprint any of these postcards.
Bullock’s Downtown
Bullock's Downtown 1920's
July 4, 1921
DownTown LA 1912
Bullock's Downtown 1930's (note outdoor dining - before smog)
Bullock's Downtown - 1930's
First Floor 1914 - Later became Cosmetics floor
Gown Room - Third Floor - Pre 1920
Children's Departments - Fourth Floor - Pre-1920
Millinery Room
The Tea Room…..
Tea Room - 1920's
The Lobby - Tea Room
The Foyer - Tea Room - 1920's
The Foyer - Tea Room - 1910
Tea Room - The Grey Room - 1920's
Tea Room - 1920's
Tea Room - 1930's
Tea Room Kitchen - 1930's
California Poem Sent to Bullock's Downtown Customers - 1924
Bullock’s Wilshire – Opened 1929
Bullock's Wilshire
Bullock's Wilshire - Fine Pottery and Glassware
Bullock's Wilshire - Fine Jewelry Gorham Sterling & Precious Stones
Bullock’s Pasadena
Bullock's Pasadena - Designed to be a hotel if it did not work as a retail store.
Fashion Postcards Sent to Bullock's Pasadena Customers
Bullock’s Santa Ana
Bullock's Santa Ana - Company developed mall- Sister Company I Magnin is co-anchor
Bullock's Downtown Easter Placecard - Shirley Temple - 1928
This placecard was provided to me by someone whose Great Aunt worked at Bullock’s and kept this placecard. She had Shirley Temple, Ma Kittle, and Bob Hope as customers. I have not verified the signature. Bullock’s, Bullock’s Wilshire, and Bullock’s Palm Spring served many of the Hollywood Stars!
Tags: apparel, apparel retail, big box retail, big box retailers, BULLOCK'S, Bullock's Alumni, BULLOCK'S DEPARTMENT STORES, Bullock's History, Bullock's Palm Springs, Bullock's Wilshire, career, careers, catalog, defunct department stores, defunct retailers, Department Store History, DEPARTMENT STORE POSTCARDS, department stores, direct marketing, ecommerce, employment, executive search, executive search firms, fashion, fashion careers, Fashion Institute, fast food, FDS alumni, FEDERATED DEPARTMENT STORES, food service, grand dames, heidi plummer, Hollywood Celebrities, I MAGNIN, KCET, L A Times, los angeles, Los Angeles Department Stores, Los Angeles History, LOS ANGELES RETAIL, LOS ANGELES RETAILERS, macy's, modesto, national retail federation, nrf, Orange County Register, plummer & associates, Plummersearch, plummersearch.com, POSTCARDS, R H Macy, retail, retail careers, retail executive recruiters, retail executive search, retail executive search firms, Retail History, Retail Los Angeles, retail recruiters, retail stores, retail talent, retailers, retailexecuivesearch.com, retailexecutivesearchfirms.com, San Fernando Valley News, San Gabriel Valley News, Santa A, Santa Ana Register, Shirley Temple, shop TV, skywalker, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RETAIL, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RETAILERS, Specialty retail, stores, supermarkets, susan gill, The Daily Breeze, USC, wholesale, Womens Wear Daily, wsj, WWD
Posted in CALIFORNIA STORES, Retail Postcards | 23 Comments »
Monday, November 22nd, 2010
Should an unemployed retail executive suspend his/her job search during the holidays?
Every retailer knows the holiday season is a busy time. Store executives are working iron days, merchants are following sales trends closely to ensure inventories are balanced, human resources are keeping the stores staffed with temporary employees, and senior management is in constant angst about the season’s prospects. Your natural fear is that retail executives will not have the time to consider you for employment or that you will be seen as a pest if you bother them.
Nothing could be further from the truth! In fact, if you suspend your job search during the holidays you might be losing out on some significant opportunities. Keep in mind…
1. Retailers traditionally make executive changes after the fiscal year ends on January 31. January, February, and March become the busiest seasons in the recruitment of retail executives. As a result, the holiday season is a good time for you to make an impression with retail executives; and,
2. Retailers with positions open want to fill them before the fiscal year ends.
Your approach during the holiday season is important. Following are some things to think about for your holiday season job seeking activities:
• Retailer executives, like everyone else, think about family and friends during the holiday season. This is a good time to keep in contact with your network by sending a holiday email with your resume attached and letting them know that you appreciate any referrals as they hear about opportunities. You might also consider making a short call to wish them the best. Your object is just to stay in front of them.
• If you know a specific company has a current opportunity, be aggressive. No matter how busy they are, they need to fill that position before the end of the fiscal year.
• This is also a good time to build your relationships with recruiters, and industry consultants. They are not as harried as those in the retail industry.
Tags: apparel, apparel employment, apparel retail, big box employment, big box retail, careers, catalog, christmas employment, cosmetics, department store, direct marketing, ecommerce, employment, employment opportunities, executive search, fashion, fashion careers, fast food, fast food employment, grocery, grocery employment, holiday employment, job search, john plummer, modesto, plummer & associates, plummer and associates, restaurant employment, resume, retail, retail careers, retail employment, retail executive, retail executive search, retail executive search firms, retail jobs, retail recruiters, retail services, retail talent, retailers, retailing, seasonal employment, shop TV, skywalker, Specialty retail, supermarkets, USC, wholesale
Posted in Candidate Information | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010
In 2009, our firm published an article (listed below) indicating the level of higher education held by the CEOs of the top 100 retail companies. We have now identified the ten currently highest paid retail executives and have discovered that this group confirms our previous study. The complexity of the retail business is such that executives who possess the most intellectual tools rise to the leadership roles. The statistics are as follows:
Education of Highest Paid CEOs Education of Top 100 Retail CEOs
BA degrees 90% 85%
MBA degrees 10% 23%
JD degrees 10% 6%
According to our research, the following executives fall into the category of the top ten highest paid executives. Total compensation for each is based upon current public records of publicly traded retail companies in the U. S.
Andrea Jung. Chairman and CEO – Avon
Total Compensation: $13.7 million
Education: Bachelor’s – Princeton University
Michael T. Duke. President, CEO and Director – Wal-Mart
Total Compensation: $13.3 million
Education: Bachelor’s – Georgia Tech
Terry Lundgren. Chairman, President and CEO – Macy’s
Total Compensation: $8.7 million
Education: Bachelor’s – University of Arizona
Francis S. Blake. Chairman and CEO – Home Depot
Total Compensation: $8.3 million
Education: Bachelor’s – Harvard College
JD – Columbia University
Myron E. Ullman – Chairman and CEO – J.C. Penney Company
Total Compensation: $8.0 million
Education: Bachelor’s – University of Cincinnati
Trudy Sullivan – President and CEO – Talbots
Total Compensation: $6.9 million
Education: Bachelor’s – Manhattanville College
Katherine L. Krill – CEO, President and Director – Ann Taylor Stores
Total Compensation: $6.9 million
Education: Bachelor’s – Agnes Scott
Robert A. Niblock – Chairman and CEO – Lowes
Total Compensation: $6.1 million
Education: Bachelor’s – University of North Carolina
Gregg W. Steinhafel – Chairman, President and CEO – Target
Total Compensation: $6.0 million
Education: Bachelor’s – Carroll College
MBA – Northwestern University
Carol M. Meyrowitz – CEO – TJX
Total Compensation: $5.7 million
Education: no degree
Following is the study we released in April, 2009, on the education level of the CEOs for the top 100 retail chains.
TOP RETAIL EXECUTIVES HAVE TOP EDUCATIONS!
A new study conducted by Plummer & Associates on the Chief Executive Officer education at the top 100 retailers in the United States shows that today over 85% have college degrees. This represents a significant increase over Plummer & Associates’ 2002 study that showed only 60% had earned college degrees. The number with advanced degrees has remained about the same; however, the new study shows the breakdown at 23% with MBA degrees and 6% with JD degrees.
Does this continuing trend mean that the industry can no longer be led by the person who starts with a push cart? Our research shows that while working your way to the top may have been a viable career path in the past, the constantly evolving and complex nature of today’s retail landscape requires that executives must couple their ground up experience with the sophistication and strategic vision gained through earning a college degree.
Retailers have consolidated from regional companies led by founding families into massive, complex businesses requiring sophisticated tools to manage them effectively. This new breed of retailers is intensely competitive and constantly looking for cost and marketing advantages to secure their market position.
Some of the complexities facing retailers today demand a command of the following disciplines:
- Marketing – Sophisticated reporting systems have elevated the ability to forecast demand, measure customer buying pattern changes, brand awareness and customer loyalty, and help build brand value. Each retailer now operates through more than one channel, (retail, e-commerce, catalog, direct marketing) requiring that the decisions made for each channel are highly strategic.
- Supply Chain Management/Logistics – Today there are tools available to help retailers secure significant cost advantages throughout the supply chain while simultaneously improving customer service. This gives retailers significant competitive advantages.
- Merchandise Management – Advanced technologies are now required to source merchandise for product development, assortment planning, SKU rationalization, customer knowledge, trend analysis, and inventory and category management. The most important part is using these technological advances to increase profitability.
- Finance – This function has quickly progressed from recording history to active involvement in creating value through analytics and is now vital in allowing a retailer to compete for capital against all other industries.
- Legal – Our society has become more litigious making larger businesses more of an attractive target. The complexity of new regulations has resulted in an increase in legal staff. A retail leader is now required to be more involved and responsible for setting the tone of legal strategies.
- Human Resources – Once considered just a major expense, Human Resources managed effectively must now create differentiation versus competition. A company’s culture and devotion to the customer are now more important than ever.
- Information Technology – In the past, technology seemed to be the sole domain of the IT department. With advanced POS systems, the retailer has learned the power of information and no longer relies solely on market information provided by the vendor. Leading edge IT departments now interrelate with the entire organization by providing useful information to aid in decision making, control costs, forecast, and analyze. Companies are now operating enterprise-wide systems and the CEO must know the capabilities of these systems to ensure the company gains a competitive edge.
- Global Reach –The days when retailers only operated stores in the U. S. with product only secured from U. S. sources are gone. The implications of the global activities are enormous.
Forward-looking retailers who saw the need for talented executives brought highly educated executives into the retail industry. In the late 60s and 70s the retail industry started recruiting top students from colleges and graduates from MBA programs. The top leaders at that time were: Jewel Tea, Federated Department Stores, J.C. Penney Co, Sears Roebuck & Company, Kroger, The Dayton Hudson Corporation, and The May Department Stores Company. Those recruiting programs have produced many of the CEOs of today’s successful retailers.
For those looking to progress up the ladder in retail, the data indicates that the career path from bagperson to CEO is no longer viable, nor practical. Retailers striving to be successful must compete for the best educated. And future leaders in retail must strive to educate themselves and that education must include minimally the rigors of earning a bachelor’s degree. Earning an MBA and/or a JD degree greatly improves one’s chances. This is not because one needs a degree to punch up a resume; rather it is the intellectual tools gained through formal education combined with on-the-job training that prepares an executive for the rigorous and evolving challenges facing retailers today.
While the 2002 study indicated no particular school had the lead in producing future CEOs, the current research indicates that a new trend is starting to develop. Harvard University has taken the leadership position having five CEOs with undergraduate degrees and five with MBA degrees. Second is The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business with three CEOs holding an undergraduate degree. Columbia University and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University are tied with three CEOs each holding MBA degrees. The University of Illinois has three CEOs with undergraduate degrees.
It is clear the retail industry needs to compete in the market place to bring the brightest talent with superior intellectual tools and education to manage the business for the future.
Tags: big box retail, big box retailers, ceo compensation, CEO Education, college degrees, college education, college graduates, department stores, dina lokets, ecommerce, employment opportunites, executive search firms, fashion, fashion careers, FEDERATED DEPARTMENT STORES, heidi plummer, home depot, J Crew, J.C. Penney, john plummr, la times, lowes, macy's, MBA, modesto, plummer & associates, plummer and associates, Plummersearch, plummersearch.com, retail, retail careers, retail ceo, retail compensation, retail executive compensation, retail executive recruiters, retail executive search, retail executive search firms, retail news, retail pay, retail recruiters, retail schools, retail talent, retailexecutivesearch.com, retailexecutivesearchfirms.com, retailing, skywalker, Specialty retail, Supply Chain, susan gill, the gap, TJX, USC, wholesale, Womens Wear Daily, wsj, WWD, yum
Posted in Candidate Information, Talent Development/Education | 23 Comments »
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010
The first blush comment from most in the recruiting industry is that recruiting executives to family-owned private businesses is difficult or near impossible. But, if you look at the facts, there are large family-owned companies that have successfully grown and have successfully recruited top talent. For example, look at Hershey, S. E. Johnson, H. E. Butt, Wegman’s, Jockey International, and Carlson Companies as prime examples of successful family-owned businesses.
In my opinion, it is not the family ownership that makes recruiting difficult. The issue is the management style of the ownership. The style of the executive evaluating the opportunity is equally important.
An executive considering joining a family-owned business has several questions to ask. These are:
What will be my future with the company? Is there opportunity for personal growth? Are there family members involved who will limit my chances for promotion?
What is the financial health of the company and is the family willing to invest more or dilute their ownership through debt or equity? Is the family willing to be open about the financials and their strategies?
How willing is the family to invest in new equipment, research, systems, etc?
Is the family open to new ideas?
Is the family willing to share interest in the business to key executives? Will this interest be developed on an open basis? Will this be on a true partnership basis?
Is the family really willing to delegate responsibilities to non-family members?
How long does the family plan to own/control the company? What will be the exit strategy for the family ownership: IPO, strategic sale, or other? Are all family owners on the same page in terms of the exit strategy?
At the same time, family owners have questions to ask the prospective executive. Among the questions are:
Is this executive really committed? Will he/she put in the effort required to take the business to the next level?
Is this executive willing to share the risk? If the economy gets soft, will this executive pitch in and work harder and smarter and also accept the earnings declines that the ownership suffers…or will this executive just move on when times are tough?
Will this executive work with us as we ponder through difficult times and difficult financing issues?
Is this executive willing to put skin in the game (i.e.: personal finances, or extraordinary effort)?
The success or failure in both parties trying to develop an effective working relationship depends on both parties’ questions being put on the table and answered truthfully and in an open manner.
The company that is not willing to provide full and honest disclosure and not truly willing to answer all the executive’s questions will make recruitment difficult. A recruiter will be able to bring in a hired hand but will not be able to recruit a true partner for the business.
The executive who wants the upside but who also wants guarantees is probably not the right executive either.
For a recruiter, the challenge is to quickly learn about the family and their willingness to answer the questions candidates will ask. To the degree the family is willing to answer those questions will determine the level of candidate the recruiter will be able to bring to the table. This requires a skilled executive recruiter who knows how to assess family organizations and also assess candidates for their ability to fit the circumstances.
As a side note: These issues are not as important with larger family-owned public companies. In smaller family-owned public companies these issues and the management style are still important. Even though the ownership and the financial data is public information, the family involvement in the business and their longer term intentions need to be disclosed to potential executives. What is most important for the executive to discover in these circumstances is whether the family self-interests are aligned with the short- and longer-term needs of the business.
Tags: big box retail, big box retailers, career, careers, catalog, department stores, dina lokets, direct marketing, ecommerce, employment, employment opportunities, executive search, executive search firms, family companies, family owned, family owned companies, fashion, Finance, heidi plummer, human resources, IT, job changes, john plummer, la times, modesto, national retail federation, nrf, Operations, plummer & associates, plummer and associates, Plummersearch, plummersearch.com, private companies, privately held, privately held companies, resume, retail, retail careers, retail executive recruiters, retail executive search, retail executive search firms, retail recruiters, retail talent, retailers, retailexecutivesearch.com, retailexecutivesearchfirms.com, retailing, shop TV, skywalker, supermarkets, Supply Chain, susan gill, USC, wholesale, Womens Wear Daily, wsj, WWD
Posted in Candidate Information, Talent Development/Education | 5 Comments »
Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
This is a serious question that cannot be easily answered.
The first question you need to ask yourself is why did you look at this other company and why did you let it get to an offer stage if you were not serious about leaving?
Were you unhappy with your superior?
Were you underappreciated and underpaid?
Was your career path blocked?
Did you have concerns about the future of your employer?
Do you have an especially high regard for the prospective employer?
Before you accept your current employer’s counter offer, you seriously need to think about what has really changed with that counter offer that will make you happy. It may be easy to go back home and tell the family that you will not need to relocate because your employer made all kinds of promises and rewarded you with extra compensation. But, if conditions were bad enough to make you look elsewhere, there is little chance that things have changed significantly.
The truth is that most employees who accept a counter offer from their current employer usually leave the company within two years.
Why? In my experience there are several reasons.
Your current employer may never fully trust you again. Because you got to the stage of an offer, there is suspicion that you traded too much secret information.
Your employer also may believe you will leave again in the future. So, favored appointments will tend to go to those in the organization that have earned management’s trust.
If you were transferred away from a superior you did not like, that executive usually remains with the organization and will become a political opponent.
If you were disillusioned with your company’s future, the likelihood of that changing is minimal.
My advice to any executive is that you should not seriously look at other career opportunities if you fully believe your career is on track. Why jeopardize your role with your current employer and why create a reason for your employer to have less reason to trust and invest in your development?
On the other hand, if you feel that your advancement is blocked or if you have reservations about your employer’s future, you should actively look for other opportunities and be committed to the change.
Tags: big box retail, big box retailers, career search, careers, catalog, college degrees, college graduates, department stores, dina lokets, direct marketing, ecommerce, employment, executive search, executive search firms, family companies, family ownership, fashion, fashion careers, food service, heidi plummer, IT, job changes, job opportunities, Limited, macy's, MBA, modesto, national retail federation, nrf, nrf stores, Operations, plummer & associates, plummer and associates, Plummersearch, plummersearch.com, privately held companies, restaurants.fast food, resume, retail careers, retail executive recruiters, retail executive search, retail executive search firms, retail recruiters, retail talent, retailexecutivesearch.com, retailexecutivesearchfirms.com, shop TV, Specialty retail, supermarkets, Supply Chain, susan gill, talent, the gap, USC, Victorias Secret, wholesale, Womens Wear Daily, WWD, yum
Posted in Candidate Information | 4 Comments »
