WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.840 --> 00:00:04.559 This show is produced and hosted by Mark Webber. The show is sponsored by 2 00:00:04.599 --> 00:00:08.080 G three Aparo. The views expressed in the following program are those of the 3 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:15.720 sponsor and not necessarily the opinion of seven Tenor or iHeartMedia. Who is Mark 4 00:00:15.759 --> 00:00:20.519 Weber. He's a self made business executive here to help you find your success 5 00:00:20.679 --> 00:00:25.359 from the New York City projects to the Avenue Montaigne in Paris. His global 6 00:00:25.399 --> 00:00:30.679 success story in the luxury world of fashion is inspirational. He's gone from clerk 7 00:00:31.079 --> 00:00:37.280 to CEO twice. Mark is classic proof that the American dream is alive and 8 00:00:37.399 --> 00:00:42.159 well, here's your host of Always in Fashion, Mark Weber. Mark Weber 9 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:48.039 today is the beginning of anything you want. Problem is, you're going to 10 00:00:48.119 --> 00:00:51.719 have to change to get it. Stance the reason. If you wanted it, 11 00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:56.920 you would have had it already doing whatever it is you do except Einstein 12 00:00:56.960 --> 00:01:02.119 defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. 13 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:07.120 Nope, take all your expertise, apply it to the problem with challenge. 14 00:01:07.239 --> 00:01:11.879 Without adjusting for the circumstances of the people involved or the time and space, 15 00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:15.319 you'll be back to where you started. You want something you don't have, 16 00:01:17.239 --> 00:01:19.400 change is the key. It could be a simple tweak or a major 17 00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:26.599 ething. Doesn't matter. Nothing changes, if nothing changes my view on the 18 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:33.680 world. Everyone says they respect change, everyone says they need change. Everybody 19 00:01:33.719 --> 00:01:38.599 says they're willing to embrace change until you ask them to consider changing. There's 20 00:01:38.599 --> 00:01:44.359 too many excuses to count in its simplest terms. People either think they know 21 00:01:44.439 --> 00:01:49.159 more than those directing change, or they make up their minds that you're out 22 00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:53.120 of your mind. There's no way I'm changing the worst, of course, 23 00:01:53.159 --> 00:01:57.920 if it isn't broken, don't fix it. Well, if you've subscribed to 24 00:01:57.959 --> 00:02:04.040 that theory, we'd still be traveling on horseback, communicating via teles, talking 25 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:08.400 on landlines, voting only at polling booths, getting our news from newspapers except 26 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:16.159 for the only three major networks NBCCBS and ABC. Who speaking? Who Who 27 00:02:16.199 --> 00:02:20.960 needs cars, let alone airplanes? Who needs cell phones or computers? Who 28 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:24.639 needs the Internet? Forget it? I like things the way they're done. 29 00:02:25.159 --> 00:02:30.280 No thanks, no change. That's what it would be if you didn't embrace 30 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:35.840 change. Enough said, I think I've made up my point. Nothing changes, 31 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:39.080 if nothing changes. On that, how could you not be a parent 32 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:45.479 without embracing change, understanding the changes in your Charles curriculum or if your children 33 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:50.759 are older. Today's workplace has changed dramatically. Companies are changing, priorities are 34 00:02:50.759 --> 00:02:54.800 new. Products need to be environmentally sensitive. That's what generates is demanding. 35 00:02:55.159 --> 00:02:59.240 You're an automaker, will you be around twenty years from now? If you 36 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:06.680 don't get a physician in hybrid or electric cars? Life business you changes, 37 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:13.879 But nothing changes. If nothing changes, I'm very sad I have to make 38 00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:20.120 a comment on the world at war. Very simply, nothing changes if nothing 39 00:03:20.199 --> 00:03:24.560 changes. Tonight, I've been thinking about the business of change. Some stories, 40 00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:30.879 some lessons, some outcomes, some insights. Joining me the ever changing 41 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:37.039 lawyer co host and my son Jesse Weber. Hey, there, So first, 42 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:42.080 let me just say I'm happy that you're not really getting into what's happening 43 00:03:42.159 --> 00:03:46.039 right now. I think everybody's talking about it. I think people are inundated 44 00:03:46.039 --> 00:03:51.719 with it, and I always see this show as kind of a reprieve away 45 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:54.719 from what's happening. Not to take away from what's happening obviously, but I 46 00:03:54.719 --> 00:03:59.560 think people I hopefully this show is a bit of a break from the horrors 47 00:03:59.560 --> 00:04:01.719 that are happening around the world. Well, let me before we go. 48 00:04:02.120 --> 00:04:06.520 I'm purposely avoiding it because I think there are people more and better equipped to 49 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:11.639 talk about what's going on than me, and you'll only have to watch what's 50 00:04:11.719 --> 00:04:16.279 happening. It requires no explanation, doesn't require someone staking a position. It 51 00:04:16.360 --> 00:04:19.639 is what it is, and you know what's right or wrong. It's rare 52 00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:23.639 that you see something that black and white, but that's what it is. 53 00:04:23.879 --> 00:04:28.519 I will tell you your position on world events. Usually it's always like to 54 00:04:28.600 --> 00:04:30.959 the point, you know, you allow everybody to draw their cown conclusions. 55 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:34.680 And That's where I'm at right now. I suppose because more than anything, 56 00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:41.199 I'm an isolationist America for America. But and I said it, I would 57 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:46.040 prefer America having no enemies. I do believe we could have talked and reasoned 58 00:04:46.040 --> 00:04:50.240 with Putin before the Ukrainian War. It's funny how most people pick it up 59 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:56.560 with Russia invading. A lot took place before Russia decided to invade. China 60 00:04:56.600 --> 00:05:00.399 should be our closest ally. We have so much much in common with them. 61 00:05:00.920 --> 00:05:04.680 It's all about building a better place for the people in your country. 62 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:10.160 They want it, we want it, but we need strength. Through strength, 63 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:14.000 we need leaders who get it, who have a point of view and 64 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:16.800 know how to negotiate. Now, as they said a little while ago, 65 00:05:16.839 --> 00:05:21.680 the rest of the world, I'm not smart enough. I'm just not enough 66 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:27.319 of this. I'm a business guy, and tonight I want to discuss business. 67 00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:34.240 Jesse. I am a proponent for acquisitions. I believe when one company 68 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:42.959 does their homework and decides to acquire another company and merge those two companies together, 69 00:05:43.639 --> 00:05:47.199 synergy is created. The sum of the parts makes the whole stronger. 70 00:05:47.480 --> 00:05:53.360 If you make the right acquisition, your company and the company you purchase will 71 00:05:53.399 --> 00:05:58.680 do so much better joined with a powerful group of companies. With that in 72 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:00.600 mind, Jesse, you have some news this week, I do. We 73 00:06:00.639 --> 00:06:04.480 want to talk about acquisitions. Well, if you didn't see the news this 74 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:09.199 week, the Law and Crime Network, which I have been a part of 75 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:12.959 for the last seven years, an anchor and reporter for the long Crime Network 76 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:17.040 founded by Dan Abrams, it has been purchased. It has been acquired by 77 00:06:17.079 --> 00:06:23.800 a company called Jelly Smack. Quite the name, right, Yeah, pardon 78 00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:26.720 me for not being jumping up and down with that name, But why don't 79 00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:30.439 you tell us what's about? It's really interesting. They're in the digital content 80 00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:33.439 business. They've been around for basically as long as Long Crime has been around, 81 00:06:33.879 --> 00:06:39.720 and the two things that they really specialize in are a they have a 82 00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:46.439 technology it's both AI artificial intelligence and data, and they can determine how to 83 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:53.240 amplify a video, how to really create a brand, how to really get 84 00:06:53.279 --> 00:06:56.839 a lot of people to view something. And so they have over the years 85 00:06:57.279 --> 00:07:01.000 created deals with a lot of content creators, a lot of YouTubers and really 86 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:06.720 taking these people who have strong messages or interesting ideas and basically blew them up 87 00:07:06.759 --> 00:07:11.920 on social media. They've also partnered with a number of different companies to create 88 00:07:11.959 --> 00:07:16.079 their own content online. And they've looked at long Crime as really getting into 89 00:07:16.120 --> 00:07:20.839 the true crime space and it's an incredible, credible deal. We're happy to 90 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:25.839 be a part of it, and I'm really excited. I'm really excited to 91 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:29.279 see to build law on crime. And I think the goal is to become 92 00:07:29.319 --> 00:07:31.920 a household name and they might be able to do it. So should I 93 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:34.519 ask are they going to be able to blow us up? I assume you're 94 00:07:34.519 --> 00:07:39.680 going to talk to them about making always in fashion. Well, they apparently 95 00:07:39.800 --> 00:07:43.199 have a beauty division, and if they have a beauty division. Why not 96 00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:46.480 have a fashion division? Am I right? Well, I'm certainly of beauty. 97 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:51.279 I am meeting with them next week, so maybe I'll talk to them. 98 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:54.879 Yeah, you have to tell them yet. You won't be able to 99 00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:57.759 go home at night if you don't at least have a conversation. And then 100 00:07:57.759 --> 00:08:01.519 they'll be like, you're fired, You're annoying, you're gun. No, 101 00:08:03.240 --> 00:08:07.160 No, you gotta how to present yourself. You know, you got a 102 00:08:07.160 --> 00:08:09.639 bunch of important things going on in that network. Tell me again what they 103 00:08:09.639 --> 00:08:13.959 are the audience, what they are at Law and Crime. I am the 104 00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:18.680 host of the Sidebar podcast, which gets a million downloads a week, eleven 105 00:08:18.720 --> 00:08:22.519 million downloads a month. Yeah. I'm also the executive producer and host of 106 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:26.920 a true crime documentary show called Prime Crime, which is the easiest way to 107 00:08:26.920 --> 00:08:31.839 watch it is on YouTube. It's also an NBC's Peacock. And I'm a 108 00:08:31.879 --> 00:08:35.679 reporter and anchor for the network. So whenever there's a big story going on, 109 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:39.799 whenever there's a big trial, I'll be on the desk anchoring or in 110 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:43.200 the field reporting on it. Very cool, very cool. So you got 111 00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:46.200 a lot going on, Jesse. That's impressive. I hope the new company 112 00:08:46.200 --> 00:08:48.120 loves you as much as I do. Well, no one can love me 113 00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:52.120 as much as you do. And by the way, for all of whatever 114 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:54.399 I do in my career, who's my number one advisor? Who's the best 115 00:08:54.440 --> 00:09:00.679 advisor you? Who better than your father to be your concilieri? But you 116 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:05.559 know, anyway, we were talking about acquisitions which allowed me to have you 117 00:09:05.679 --> 00:09:09.639 make that announcement of what's going on with Long Crime, which I'm very excited 118 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:13.200 about. I believe the merging of the two companies, you guys with great 119 00:09:13.240 --> 00:09:16.480 content, them figuring out how to get more people and more elite ears and 120 00:09:16.519 --> 00:09:20.000 more eyeballs, should be great. The biggest acquisition that I was involved with 121 00:09:20.200 --> 00:09:26.240 was the acquisition of Calvin Klein and at the time, Marsh Company PVH was 122 00:09:26.279 --> 00:09:31.440 the largest shirt company in the world, unless, of course, there's some 123 00:09:31.480 --> 00:09:35.000 small company in China making shirts for a billion Chinese people. But from a 124 00:09:35.080 --> 00:09:39.559 marketing point of view and brands, we were huge. We were a great 125 00:09:39.639 --> 00:09:43.039 company. We made a lot of money, but we just didn't grow. 126 00:09:43.320 --> 00:09:48.240 It was a consistent business that every year we had slight increases, so the 127 00:09:48.279 --> 00:09:52.039 company was solid. If it was owned by a private entity, If myself 128 00:09:52.039 --> 00:09:56.120 as president or my boss is CEO at the time. If it was our 129 00:09:56.200 --> 00:10:00.399 company ten million for you, ten million for me, ten million for you, 130 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:03.759 ten million, we would have had boats and jets, etc. It 131 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:07.200 would have been amazing, great company. But as a public entity, if 132 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:11.480 you don't grow rapidly, your stock price doesn't grow. And that's the purpose 133 00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:15.120 of being a public entity. People invest in your company, they expect it 134 00:10:15.159 --> 00:10:18.440 to grow and they want the stock price to rise. Nobody buys companies to 135 00:10:18.519 --> 00:10:22.840 hold their money. They want them money to grow. You can grow through 136 00:10:22.840 --> 00:10:26.200 dividends, but nobody buys stock for dividends. It's too much risk and the 137 00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:28.600 dividend is an eya, so you need to grow. We were looking to 138 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:35.320 make an acquisition and in the end we decided to buy Calvin Klein. And 139 00:10:35.399 --> 00:10:39.600 what we saw happened with Calvin Klein changed the entirety of a company. It 140 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:48.440 became what's called a transforming transaction. The growth opportunity in Calvin Kline was so 141 00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:52.879 huge that the world no longer looked at us as a sleepy shirt company that 142 00:10:54.039 --> 00:10:58.279 was very reliable. They looked at us a growth company. We had demonstrated 143 00:10:58.279 --> 00:11:01.399 by buying Calvin Klein, we would grow between fifteen and twenty percent a year 144 00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:07.399 for the foreseeable future. And what in fact happened as we did. We 145 00:11:07.480 --> 00:11:13.840 grew Calvin Klein's licensing business, which included genes, which included fragrances, which 146 00:11:13.879 --> 00:11:20.519 included underwear, huge businesses, and it increased our earnings dramatically. We launched 147 00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:24.559 a men's sportswear collection. We licensed someone to do whimswear, and the company 148 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:28.960 grew dramatically. And that acquisition was amazing. But without change, what a 149 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:35.559 great example. The world's best shirt company making tons of money by not growing, 150 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:39.279 couldn't get arrested on Wall Street to stop languered. It never grew, 151 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:43.360 It just sat there. You made a change, you bought a company like 152 00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:48.159 Calvin Klein, and the world changed for our company. We became a major 153 00:11:48.440 --> 00:11:54.919 company as it aside ELVMH my second endeavor in life Louis Tittan Mohe at Hennessy, 154 00:11:54.919 --> 00:12:00.240 where I joined a CEO of the Americas, sat on the executive The 155 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:05.480 in Paris is all about acquisitions. It began with Bernardo and other founder purchasing 156 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:11.519 the Deor company and pretty much closing it down and saying I wanted to return 157 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:16.639 dere to what it was. Dior became a licensing network selling Tony Soprano jogging 158 00:12:16.679 --> 00:12:22.559 suits and polyester blended dressherts. But it had one of the world's great French 159 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:28.279 designer names that had a legacy of history and inventory, a library, and 160 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:33.960 he saw it and he turned the ore into a massive, successful luxury company. 161 00:12:33.480 --> 00:12:39.799 And by doing that he was able to buy Vitone, Celine Gavanci, 162 00:12:39.440 --> 00:12:46.159 Sephora, Bulgary Tiffany. It was amazing what they've done, and it was 163 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:50.840 all through acquisitions. The brilliance of the management team had the ability to use 164 00:12:50.919 --> 00:12:56.480 their assets, in this case the cash they were generating, to buy other 165 00:12:56.559 --> 00:13:01.679 companies, and because they knew how to manage companies, because they understood luxury 166 00:13:01.080 --> 00:13:05.799 like no one else, they built this luxury behemoth. And it was all 167 00:13:07.080 --> 00:13:15.159 because Bernard Arnault and his management team embraced change. They recognized that the company 168 00:13:15.240 --> 00:13:20.720 needed to keep changing dramatically to become what it is today, one of the 169 00:13:20.840 --> 00:13:24.679 largest, if not the largest, luxury company in the world, one of 170 00:13:24.679 --> 00:13:28.120 the great growth companies in the world, one of the most famous companies in 171 00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:35.600 the world. Because even the French understood nothing changes. If nothing changes, 172 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:41.000 be back in a minute. Always in fashion. As one of the world's 173 00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:46.600 most celebrated fashion designers, Carl Lagafeld was renowned for his aspirational and cutting edge 174 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:52.000 approach to style. His unique vision of Parisian shit comes to America through Carlagofeld 175 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:56.480 Paris. He has women's collections, men's collections, ready to wear, accessory, 176 00:13:56.519 --> 00:14:01.240 shoes and bags. The fashion house Carlagofeld also if as a range of 177 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:07.519 watches I wear in premium fragrances. You can explore the Carlagofil collection at Carlagofelparis 178 00:14:07.559 --> 00:14:09.639 dot com. But it's more than that. I, for one, love 179 00:14:09.720 --> 00:14:13.639 to shop. I love going around and seeing what's happening and what catches my 180 00:14:13.720 --> 00:14:18.360 attention, what would make me feel good to wear Now. I don't wear 181 00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:22.120 the women's wear obviously, but I can appreciate it and they look amazing. 182 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:24.240 If you want to look right, you want to have clothes that fits you 183 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:30.159 well. You want to look like you're wearing something that's very expensive, that's 184 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:35.360 exclusive for you and yours. You can find it at very affordable prices at 185 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:39.399 Macy's. Orcarlagofel dot com Paris. The women's ready to wear fashion is extraordinary 186 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:43.000 as well as the handbigs and the shoes. I, for one, wear 187 00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:48.080 men's clothes, unlike my appreciation of women's clothes. I'm a modern guy. 188 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:52.039 I want to look current, I want to look the way I want to 189 00:14:52.080 --> 00:14:54.600 feel. I go out at night, I'm in black and Carlagofel is my 190 00:14:54.679 --> 00:14:58.159 buddy. Calls are great. They fit great, and they have little tweaks 191 00:14:58.159 --> 00:15:01.159 and touches, whether it's a stripe on the sleeve or button at the neck 192 00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:05.080 or on the shoulder. There's a lot of details that go into Carl Lagafel 193 00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:09.600 because he's always been, he always had been one of the world's great designers, 194 00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:13.320 and this legacy and goes on and on. I can't speak enough about 195 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:16.039 it except to say to you, you want to feel good about yourself. 196 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:20.080 You want to know that you're dressing properly. You want to clothes that fits 197 00:15:20.120 --> 00:15:26.559 you well. Carl Lagafeld Paris at Macy's Orcarlagafel dot com. Fall is now 198 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:31.120 upon us, spring is gone, summer is over, and I'm tending to 199 00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:35.919 be a little upset. Except the poone brings new challenges and new differences and 200 00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:41.120 a great new environment for us. To thrive and enjoy. I, for 201 00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:43.799 one, love the change of the season is because of the new fashion, 202 00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:50.000 and I am excited about my favorite brand, Isesot and what they bring to 203 00:15:50.039 --> 00:15:54.200 the party. When I used to work at the company and we were reinventing 204 00:15:54.279 --> 00:15:58.399 Iszod, which had always been a golf and tennis brand, we brought it 205 00:15:58.440 --> 00:16:03.279 to New Heights, new to I thought Isaac would be practical in skiing, 206 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:07.039 not necessarily for on the slopes, but for eproski. What do people wear 207 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:11.519 when they're relaxing, when they're in those hotels? What are you doing when 208 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:14.279 you're at home? What are you wearing to the movies? What are you 209 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:17.360 wearing to go out at night when you're no longer wearing your spring clothes? 210 00:16:17.399 --> 00:16:18.799 And here we are in full and I can tell you what it is. 211 00:16:19.159 --> 00:16:23.960 Polar flees, French dairy, different kinds of fleeces, color block colors, 212 00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:30.600 sweaters, great, great long sleeve items come into play. And with Isaac, 213 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:34.200 they were always about color and being colorful. I love what the brand 214 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:38.559 represents, whether we're talking about color block or solid colors. Always with the 215 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:45.600 logo, Isaac brings a dimension to sportswear fashion at affordable prices that you can't 216 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:49.960 find anywhere. And at the same time, it's all color related, from 217 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:53.799 the woven shirts, from the nit shirts to the matching sweaters or the sweaters 218 00:16:53.799 --> 00:17:00.039 that will look great layering over these shirts. Always matching pants, beginning with 219 00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:03.799 the core color of khaki, working into the navies and the blacks. ISOD 220 00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:10.519 is a spectacular brand, all about colors, and launching in full are the 221 00:17:10.599 --> 00:17:15.319 new fall shades you'll see in the stores. Listen, guys, Isod's a 222 00:17:15.319 --> 00:17:18.839 great brand. It's energetic, it's fun to be around, and it makes 223 00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:25.480 you feel and look your best. And now there's a color palette change and 224 00:17:25.519 --> 00:17:29.759 you get to change with it. ISOD. Come take a look j C. 225 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:34.519 Penny Cohal's and online ISID. What a history. How much I enjoy 226 00:17:34.599 --> 00:17:41.000 this brand. Welcome back to Always in Fashion. Here's your host, Mark 227 00:17:41.079 --> 00:17:45.559 Webber. I want to talk about selling, because salesmen are all about change. 228 00:17:45.079 --> 00:17:48.920 I'm always tough on salesman always. I'll tell you I had a nightmare 229 00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:52.200 one time. I've woke up and I thought I was a salesman. When 230 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:56.880 you say that joke, did any salesperson ever get insalted by it? Because 231 00:17:56.880 --> 00:17:59.519 you've said it in front of people before well, if you want to go 232 00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:00.799 by their yeah, but you know I do it. In front of a 233 00:18:00.839 --> 00:18:06.000 seller, I apologize right away. Look for me. There are good sellers, 234 00:18:06.119 --> 00:18:10.720 they're amazing sellers, and there are a lot of horrible sellers that you 235 00:18:10.759 --> 00:18:12.480 shake their hand, you look to make sure your figures are all there, 236 00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:15.759 or you feel greasy. A lot of people say and do anything to make 237 00:18:15.799 --> 00:18:19.680 a sale, and they give the profession a bad reputation. From my point 238 00:18:19.720 --> 00:18:25.880 of view, it's more about style. I like people coming to me and 239 00:18:25.960 --> 00:18:30.680 convincing me to do things. I don't want to be on the other side 240 00:18:30.200 --> 00:18:34.359 selling, trying to make money from selling things. I can't do it, 241 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:37.359 and I hate it. Doesn't mean I haven't seen brilliant sales, which I 242 00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:41.319 want to talk about in a minute. As a CEO or president or any 243 00:18:41.359 --> 00:18:45.799 position I held along the way, any officer of a company, you have 244 00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:49.359 to sell. You have to sell yourself, You have to sell the concept. 245 00:18:49.640 --> 00:18:53.039 You have to sell the viability of your company and your ideas and your 246 00:18:53.079 --> 00:18:56.960 products. You may not get it paid for that, but it's part of 247 00:18:56.960 --> 00:19:00.000 my job. When I was a CEO, it didn't matter which company. 248 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:03.519 When I stood up and talked about the company, either to our customers or 249 00:19:03.559 --> 00:19:07.319 to the Wall Street people or the investors or people we needed to lend money 250 00:19:07.319 --> 00:19:11.319 from. Sure, I could pitch the company as well or better than anyone 251 00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:15.799 in the world. But if it came to I have this shirt, I 252 00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:18.519 need you to buy one hundred pieces from me, I can't do it. 253 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:22.559 I won't do it, and I just can't, which brings me to the 254 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:29.200 idea that sellers are about change. They're about taking what they own and convincing 255 00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:32.880 you to buy it from them, saying no, they no longer have it 256 00:19:32.920 --> 00:19:37.119 as simple as that. Selling is change, and the approaches to selling are 257 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:41.880 different all the time. My oldest son, your brother Jared, after being 258 00:19:41.880 --> 00:19:45.480 an attorney for eight years, went into the fashion business and has an extraordinary 259 00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:52.519 job right now with an incredible growth company. I think their annual revenue, 260 00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:56.240 if you extrapolate it to retail sales, is about thirty billion dollars a year, 261 00:19:56.279 --> 00:20:00.440 and ten years ago this company didn't exist. I think your brother there 262 00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:03.559 eight or nine years, so he was there almost at the beginning, and 263 00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:08.440 he's been a party to what his transpirenter It's amazing. So many lessons I 264 00:20:08.519 --> 00:20:14.960 learned along the way, and my son recently visited with Dillard's department stores in 265 00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:18.240 Little Rock, Arkansas, and he met with one of the Dillard's family, 266 00:20:18.799 --> 00:20:23.519 Alex Dillard, who's I don't know his exact title, but he's one of 267 00:20:23.559 --> 00:20:29.880 the family that runs the company. And it just so happened because I know 268 00:20:30.039 --> 00:20:33.400 Alex Stillard and Jared's my son, they end up talking about things at one 269 00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:37.319 point that had to do with me and my company. When I was at 270 00:20:37.400 --> 00:20:41.359 van Usen, I worked at one point for the president of van us and 271 00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:45.920 Phillips van Usen, and his name was Charles J. Smith Chuck Smith. 272 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:52.960 He came from somewhere in Illinois. He was a former soldier. He had 273 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:59.079 a command about him. He was one of the world's great marketing and sellers 274 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:03.680 people that I met who had this multiple skills. He was brilliant. He 275 00:21:03.759 --> 00:21:07.759 came from the Arrow Shirt company, our nemesis. When I joined the company, 276 00:21:08.119 --> 00:21:11.319 venues and represented two and a half percent of the business in the United 277 00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:15.519 States and Arrow twenty six percent. Private label was over fifty percent, and 278 00:21:15.559 --> 00:21:19.519 the rest of the company in the industry shared the spoils, but we had 279 00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:23.000 two and a half percent. We were knowing. And Chuck Smith was the 280 00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:27.759 head of sales for the Arrow Company, and apparently he was with the Dyllan's 281 00:21:27.839 --> 00:21:32.759 brothers. He had a very interesting affectation. He took like this, you 282 00:21:32.880 --> 00:21:36.480 need the fizzle to sell a steak didn't get in his way. He was 283 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:41.200 an extraordinary guy. He said, you know, you really don't need two 284 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:45.240 shirt brands. You really only need one. And as Alex did was telling 285 00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:49.599 this to my son, the story changed a bit, but basically what happened 286 00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:56.200 is he told Chuck Smith at the time, I'm dropping Van Using and they 287 00:21:56.240 --> 00:22:02.359 became the single proprietary shirt maker for Dillon's department stores for a period in time 288 00:22:02.480 --> 00:22:06.119 until Chuck Smith joined us. He left Arrow, came to us for a 289 00:22:06.119 --> 00:22:08.160 better horizon, thought he could do better, and he was remarkably. He 290 00:22:08.279 --> 00:22:14.039 became the president and he was a great seller. And then in turn he 291 00:22:14.119 --> 00:22:18.240 went back to the Dillarz family because he had a great relationship with Dillard's department 292 00:22:18.279 --> 00:22:21.640 stores, and he sat down with them again and he said, listen, 293 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:25.920 I got one of the greatest brands in the industry. You got to buy 294 00:22:25.960 --> 00:22:29.799 from me. And Alex still looked at him and said, I have to 295 00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:33.880 remind you, Chuck, you said, we only need one brand, and 296 00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:37.880 I'm not buying this one from you. Now, what did he forget that? 297 00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:41.119 He said that. I don't know if he forgot it, but he 298 00:22:41.160 --> 00:22:44.440 certainly was held to what he said. You know, for many years I've 299 00:22:44.440 --> 00:22:48.279 told this before. Our company therefore didn't sell Dillard's department stores and use it. 300 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:52.799 And we tried and tried and tried. We didn't have a relationship, 301 00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:56.160 and we started to do extraordinarily well in the designer shirt business. We owned 302 00:22:56.200 --> 00:23:02.240 Dky Shirts, we owned Holston, we owned Jeffrey Bean. We were again 303 00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:06.759 forced to be reckoned with and we asked with Dillards and our head of marketing 304 00:23:06.799 --> 00:23:10.279 at the time still was Chalk and our head of advertising, guy named Henry 305 00:23:10.440 --> 00:23:12.720 Justice, a great friend, asked for an appointment. We got an appointment. 306 00:23:12.920 --> 00:23:17.359 They gave us a room to set up the night before we would meet 307 00:23:17.400 --> 00:23:19.960 them the next day, and we surprised them. We took over this large 308 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:25.599 meeting room they had and we turned it into a van using environment. We 309 00:23:25.720 --> 00:23:29.599 brought mannequin's, We brought people who trimmed windows, who knew how to dress 310 00:23:29.640 --> 00:23:33.319 the mannequins, put shirts ties them We brought our advertising, we bought inventory, 311 00:23:33.640 --> 00:23:37.079 we brought fixtures to show them what our shirts would look like in the 312 00:23:37.200 --> 00:23:44.200 actual fixtures, and we made a presentation to Dillard's and the presentation I was 313 00:23:44.279 --> 00:23:47.720 part of it. We were brilliant, and at the end of the meeting, 314 00:23:47.799 --> 00:23:52.319 the Diller's family said to us, we really appreciate your coming. This 315 00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:56.119 was very impressive and we do need to give some thought to what you presented. 316 00:23:56.200 --> 00:24:00.200 Day. Thank you for coming. We left. We felt great about 317 00:24:00.759 --> 00:24:03.920 a couple of days later, we got the call, we really appreciated you 318 00:24:03.960 --> 00:24:06.640 coming. We really thought you guys were impression, but we're going to stick 319 00:24:06.680 --> 00:24:10.720 with Arrow shirts. And we didn't break through the dillets. Hmmm, why 320 00:24:10.759 --> 00:24:14.359 do you think that was just didn't fit. They didn't feel they needed us, 321 00:24:14.440 --> 00:24:19.599 And I never did get that answer until one faithful day at dcyn Why. 322 00:24:21.079 --> 00:24:26.240 I had been with LVMH. I had just launched a moderate price women's 323 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:30.079 line to compete with Calvin Klein and Michael Kore's. It was called dcann Why. 324 00:24:30.160 --> 00:24:34.119 It was a different color label and it was priced to compete. So 325 00:24:34.200 --> 00:24:37.599 anyway, I launched this new business and Alex Dillard came up to see this 326 00:24:37.720 --> 00:24:41.400 new line because we're making a splash. I said, I've been waiting all 327 00:24:41.400 --> 00:24:45.000 this time to ask you. We came to see you in Little Rock. 328 00:24:45.319 --> 00:24:49.680 We made a venues and presentation that was extraordinary. You gave us the call 329 00:24:51.559 --> 00:24:53.559 that you weren't going to do business with I have to ask you if you 330 00:24:53.599 --> 00:24:56.960 would be gracious enough to tell me what happened and what's your thought of the 331 00:24:56.960 --> 00:25:03.200 presentation. After you guys left, all the buyers, all the merchandises, 332 00:25:03.240 --> 00:25:06.559 all the men, all the women, myself and my brother sat around and 333 00:25:06.599 --> 00:25:08.680 talked of what we saw and we said, you guys were brilliant. You 334 00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:12.440 did an amazing job, and we should do business with you, but we 335 00:25:12.519 --> 00:25:17.519 agreed not to. And when you left, we said we made the wrong 336 00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:22.839 decision. He was not just saying that because he's talking to you, right. 337 00:25:22.119 --> 00:25:27.079 No, people as impressive and in senior positions as that don't make up 338 00:25:27.119 --> 00:25:30.880 stories. They made a decision to stay with Arrow. They thought it was 339 00:25:30.920 --> 00:25:34.319 the right decision, but they thought long term we were better. Maybe. 340 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:38.119 As it turned out, Arrow faulted. We ended up buying the Arrow Shirt 341 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:42.119 Company and we had control of it all. But I hadn't heard until that 342 00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:45.759 time what happened, and I loved that selling story. Well, the fact 343 00:25:45.759 --> 00:25:49.279 that he remembered that too. It stuck with him. Of course, you 344 00:25:49.319 --> 00:25:53.960 know this whole show. I tell stories that happened either yesterday or twenty years 345 00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.319 ago, some even longer, because they made an impression on me. The 346 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:03.960 lessons learned don't change, and they are relevant to today and tonight. We're 347 00:26:03.960 --> 00:26:07.440 talking about nothing changes. If it doesn't change, I'm talking about selling and 348 00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:11.079 changes. You know what, I have a story to tell. It's about 349 00:26:11.160 --> 00:26:17.440 change. There was a time that if you owned a brand or you owned 350 00:26:17.440 --> 00:26:22.519 a retail store, the relationship was even you want my brand, you have 351 00:26:22.599 --> 00:26:26.200 to behave a certain way. If you want to be in my store, 352 00:26:26.759 --> 00:26:30.039 you missed the brand, have to behave a certain way. And we made 353 00:26:30.400 --> 00:26:34.640 decisions to do business together. Now, at the time, there were one 354 00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:40.640 hundred two hundred, three hundred independent department stores in the United States. You'd 355 00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:44.200 never heard of them unless you've been around a while. You ever hear of 356 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:48.240 Birdine's in Florida it was the key department store, and Fly on Earth in 357 00:26:48.279 --> 00:26:52.079 New York. There was Abraham and Strauss, not just Macy's. There was 358 00:26:52.079 --> 00:27:00.079 O'Neill's in Cleveland, Ohio. There was famous bar in the Midwest. There 359 00:27:00.079 --> 00:27:04.160 were stores everywhere, and there all were independent stores built by families who came 360 00:27:04.200 --> 00:27:11.319 to this country started building retail enterprises and built ten stores, fifteen stores, 361 00:27:11.359 --> 00:27:15.000 thirty stores. But there were so many of them. Nieman, Marcus, 362 00:27:15.240 --> 00:27:19.400 Nordstrom, the Belk family, all of these companies were named after families who 363 00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:25.160 started retail businesses. And because there was one hundred or two hundred, if 364 00:27:25.200 --> 00:27:27.720 Macy's in New York didn't want to buy my product, I could sell it 365 00:27:27.759 --> 00:27:33.039 to Abraham and Strauss. If Hess's apartment store in New Jersey didn't want my 366 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:36.920 product, I could sell it to Bamburgers. And we competed with each other, 367 00:27:37.160 --> 00:27:40.920 and we sold it against each other. And it was a remarkable time. 368 00:27:41.759 --> 00:27:47.799 But something changed, like everything does. Department stores were competing now in 369 00:27:47.880 --> 00:27:53.480 a very vibrant markets place. Ross discount dispartment stores was growing, Target was 370 00:27:53.559 --> 00:27:59.000 growing, TJ Max was growing, Marshalls were growing. So all these off 371 00:27:59.079 --> 00:28:03.839 priced people were taking market share. Then throw in Sears and J. C. 372 00:28:03.039 --> 00:28:10.319 Penny and Walmart, huge huge nationwide companies were taking over and taking more 373 00:28:10.319 --> 00:28:14.039 and more of the open to buy in the business, and things were changing, 374 00:28:14.359 --> 00:28:18.920 so department stores realized they had to consolidate, they had to become bigger. 375 00:28:19.440 --> 00:28:26.400 Dillard's brought up all the independent department stores in the South and the southwest. 376 00:28:26.160 --> 00:28:32.319 Macy's became a national chain, Robinson's May on the West coast, O'Neill's 377 00:28:32.400 --> 00:28:37.519 Lazarus as I mentioned, Burdine's in Florida, and on and on and on. 378 00:28:37.160 --> 00:28:42.440 And what happened was they all consolidated, so it became a handful of 379 00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:47.920 stores rather than hundreds of independent stores. And now, if you're a seller, 380 00:28:48.039 --> 00:28:52.039 or your brand or your designer, your choices went from hundreds from having 381 00:28:52.079 --> 00:28:56.640 the leverage to play one against each other to virtually little, if no leverage 382 00:28:56.880 --> 00:29:03.839 any longer. The deal was no longer even you had Nortstrom, Belk, 383 00:29:03.559 --> 00:29:08.799 Dillard, Macy's. And if I left someone out, I'm glad I don't 384 00:29:08.799 --> 00:29:12.400 work because no one can punish me. But you also had decisions to make 385 00:29:12.440 --> 00:29:18.359 whether or not your brands belonged to JC Penny or Sears or Target for that 386 00:29:18.480 --> 00:29:22.759 matter, And what did you feel about the off price market? Did you 387 00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:26.599 want your products? And tjmac and Rows stores and companies had to start making 388 00:29:26.640 --> 00:29:33.559 decisions about who they wanted to sell. There was still a huge opportunity to 389 00:29:33.599 --> 00:29:38.640 be in the carriage trade the better department stores until they started leveraging their strength. 390 00:29:40.119 --> 00:29:42.880 The first thing department store said, hey, we're big now, we're 391 00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:47.640 national. If we don't exert our leverage over our suppliers, if we don't 392 00:29:47.640 --> 00:29:49.519 get them to agree to terms that are more favorable to us, if we 393 00:29:49.559 --> 00:29:52.720 can't increase our margins, why did we do all of this? And they 394 00:29:52.759 --> 00:29:57.160 did. I hated them, but respected them. I'm sitting there, I'm 395 00:29:57.200 --> 00:30:02.160 making fifty percent markup and Ma walks in now to me and says, basically, 396 00:30:02.440 --> 00:30:03.599 you're going to sell me at this price, which all I could make 397 00:30:03.640 --> 00:30:07.960 now was thirty five percent. Oh and by the way, you want to 398 00:30:07.000 --> 00:30:10.880 sell my stores, you're going to guarantee at the end of the season, 399 00:30:11.319 --> 00:30:14.880 my margins are going to be what we agree on. I can't guarantee your 400 00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:17.839 margins. I'm not in your store. I'm not telling people what to do. 401 00:30:18.519 --> 00:30:22.839 If you don't guarantee my margins, I'm not going to sell you brutal. 402 00:30:22.480 --> 00:30:27.279 All our profits were under attack. What choice did we have? And 403 00:30:27.319 --> 00:30:33.480 the next thing that came was the apartment stores wanted to be in control of 404 00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:38.039 their own destiny. So if the Van Uesenshirt company was in Macy's, and 405 00:30:38.119 --> 00:30:42.960 Macy's ran a promotional agenda that once a month they'd have a twenty five percent 406 00:30:44.440 --> 00:30:48.799 discount sale, and Dillard's department store said, I don't do it once a 407 00:30:48.839 --> 00:30:51.119 month, I do it once a season. At the end of the season, 408 00:30:51.759 --> 00:30:55.160 Dillard's would say, if you're selling Macy's, I can't buy from you. 409 00:30:55.680 --> 00:30:57.279 And Belks had a different point of view, and Northstrom had a different 410 00:30:57.279 --> 00:31:02.839 point of view. So all of a sudd sudden, the windows started closing 411 00:31:03.000 --> 00:31:10.200 and the opportunity to be successful was severely hampering manufacturers. And if you ever 412 00:31:10.319 --> 00:31:15.000 wondered, why do people want to selling outlassas at a discount rather than departments, 413 00:31:15.480 --> 00:31:21.680 we had no choice. By going into your own retail business in the 414 00:31:21.720 --> 00:31:23.680 outlet vendu, the rents were cheap and the ability to open was easier. 415 00:31:23.759 --> 00:31:27.359 This was a growing new segment of business. Because you're the manufacturer, you're 416 00:31:27.440 --> 00:31:33.240 vertical. You could sell it advantageous prices, and the consumer understood the difference 417 00:31:33.279 --> 00:31:37.680 between shopping and a department store, which is generally speaking, regular price and 418 00:31:37.720 --> 00:31:41.759 sometimes on sale, but getting a similar item or maybe the same item for 419 00:31:41.880 --> 00:31:45.880 a deal every day of the week. And these outlet stores ended up all 420 00:31:45.920 --> 00:31:51.720 around the world. There's centers in every major metropolitan area anywhere you go in 421 00:31:51.720 --> 00:31:55.799 the world. Now, and the world changed and new formats opened up, 422 00:31:55.880 --> 00:31:59.599 warehouse clubs, Sam's, Costco, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. 423 00:32:00.039 --> 00:32:05.599 So in order for manufacturers to thrive, they had to make change. 424 00:32:06.000 --> 00:32:10.079 They had to open their own stores or find new channels of distribution. We 425 00:32:10.079 --> 00:32:16.559 were forced to make important decisions now. As it turns out, when you 426 00:32:16.599 --> 00:32:22.480 look at electronics Jesse, where can you buy cell phones? You ever think 427 00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:25.319 about it? It's an interesting question. So you can buy cell phones at 428 00:32:25.319 --> 00:32:29.119 a lot of places. You can buy them an Apple, you can buy 429 00:32:29.160 --> 00:32:32.559 them at Verizon, you can buy them at at and T. Why Look, 430 00:32:32.640 --> 00:32:37.000 if you're gonna go fishing, you're gonna go fish with the fish swimming. 431 00:32:37.680 --> 00:32:43.359 If you're going to sell products, the ideal situation is sell products where 432 00:32:43.359 --> 00:32:51.640 the consumer is, and the electronics industry per se sells to consumers wherever consumers 433 00:32:51.640 --> 00:32:57.279 are shopping for electronics. Best Buy. All these mom and pop stores selling 434 00:32:57.319 --> 00:33:00.559 an Apple stores, t Mobile, as you just said, some of the 435 00:33:00.079 --> 00:33:06.240 other they sell everywhere, food brands, home brands, aside from a few, 436 00:33:06.559 --> 00:33:12.359 they sell wherever consumers are shopping. That is not the case in luxury 437 00:33:12.400 --> 00:33:15.440 and fashion. If you are in the luxury business, you will sell in 438 00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:22.480 your own stores and a few hand picked luxury department stores, a few like 439 00:33:23.319 --> 00:33:29.240 Nieman, marcus Bergdorf sacksfith Avenue. If you have Vitone, that's all you 440 00:33:29.359 --> 00:33:34.119 sell there. And that's the way the luxury business operates to protect their brand. 441 00:33:34.759 --> 00:33:37.319 If you don't have your own stores, you have to decide where you're 442 00:33:37.319 --> 00:33:40.200 going to sell. But then you have to ask yourself, how do you 443 00:33:40.319 --> 00:33:45.319 feel about selling your brand in some of these distown entities. Does it hurt 444 00:33:45.359 --> 00:33:50.160 your brand if you sell there? And one of my great stories of all 445 00:33:50.279 --> 00:33:54.759 time is with Costco. When I was at d KNY, I needed growth. 446 00:33:55.400 --> 00:34:00.440 I told W M H when I joined them that the brand was bigger 447 00:34:00.440 --> 00:34:04.359 than the business, that the brand per se based on what was done with 448 00:34:04.400 --> 00:34:07.800 the three prior CEOs, and the volume they got to was minuscule to what 449 00:34:07.840 --> 00:34:12.440 I knew it could be. I had been a license for DKYE shirts that 450 00:34:12.599 --> 00:34:15.880 was the quickest most explosive shirt business I ever saw in my life. I 451 00:34:15.960 --> 00:34:19.360 knew how powerful the brand was. I told them we could do it, 452 00:34:19.679 --> 00:34:22.480 and the strategy we're going to put together was to build it in department stores, 453 00:34:22.559 --> 00:34:28.760 build my own outlet stores, and find select channels of distribution that could 454 00:34:28.840 --> 00:34:32.239 sell a lot of product. And we decided to sell Costco jens. Now, 455 00:34:32.239 --> 00:34:37.480 it wasn't an easy decision because the price of Gens in Costco would be 456 00:34:37.559 --> 00:34:43.039 significantly less than Macy's, but it would probably be a slightly different product. 457 00:34:43.320 --> 00:34:46.199 And even if it wasn't, I believed in the theory if people are going 458 00:34:46.239 --> 00:34:50.599 to Costco to buy jeans, or if people are going to a Gene store 459 00:34:50.800 --> 00:34:53.159 on Madison Avenue, or if people are going to Macy's if they're looking for 460 00:34:53.239 --> 00:34:57.559 jeens, why not be there? Why not be the tide of Genes? 461 00:34:58.199 --> 00:35:01.320 And it was a great strategy, and we opened up Costco in a relatively 462 00:35:01.440 --> 00:35:07.840 short period in time, we had a huge twenty five million dollar business at 463 00:35:07.840 --> 00:35:14.400 Costco justin jeans and a few genes tops. Extraordinary profitable business. We were 464 00:35:14.519 --> 00:35:16.840 fishing where the fish was swimming. People at Costco knew the brand, they 465 00:35:16.960 --> 00:35:21.639 liked the jeans that we put them in there. Now between us girls out 466 00:35:21.639 --> 00:35:28.159 there, did you know that Costco sells more wine and spirits than anyone else 467 00:35:28.199 --> 00:35:36.119 in America? Costco sells more champagne than anyone else in America. Now, 468 00:35:36.239 --> 00:35:40.079 LVMH knew this because they have a huge wine and spirits business LV Louis Vuitton, 469 00:35:40.280 --> 00:35:45.079 Moet, Hennessy, Moette, Hennessy, moat Is, Champagne, Hennessy's 470 00:35:45.159 --> 00:35:49.880 Cognac. Believe me, they knew, and we had this incredible business, 471 00:35:50.199 --> 00:35:54.119 incredible overnight. It's so profitable in every season, every year for the eight 472 00:35:54.199 --> 00:35:59.519 years i'm there, our profits are going. And then one day LVMH hired 473 00:35:59.599 --> 00:36:04.320 a concern Boston consulting you to come in and determine whether or not we should 474 00:36:04.440 --> 00:36:08.800 change course and decay. And why, I said to you, nothing changes 475 00:36:08.840 --> 00:36:14.079 if it doesn't change. The only problem is we were changing every day we 476 00:36:14.079 --> 00:36:15.639 were. The agents have changed. Now all of a sudden they want to 477 00:36:15.719 --> 00:36:21.119 change, and the consulting company convinced them that we should no longer be in 478 00:36:21.199 --> 00:36:24.199 Costco. I reported to the managing director of LVMH and he called me one 479 00:36:24.280 --> 00:36:27.960 day and said, look, we're changing the company. We want to take 480 00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:31.320 it more upscale. We want it to be more in line with what LVMH 481 00:36:31.440 --> 00:36:35.800 stands for as a luxury company. We no longer want you in Costco. 482 00:36:36.519 --> 00:36:40.079 I said to them, but it's extraordinarily profitable. Well, the consulting company 483 00:36:40.119 --> 00:36:44.400 showed us that if you took the overall expense of the company and layer it 484 00:36:44.440 --> 00:36:47.599 on your Costco business, it's really not all that profitable. I explained to 485 00:36:47.679 --> 00:36:52.639 him. We had two women handling the business for us, just two people. 486 00:36:52.239 --> 00:36:55.440 What expense are you talking about? The warehouse charges are in there, 487 00:36:55.519 --> 00:37:00.960 my fees are in there. Don't do this, it's too profitable. So 488 00:37:00.079 --> 00:37:02.840 jesse you and me on that trip. We go there to October to give 489 00:37:02.880 --> 00:37:06.679 us strategic plan, and our numbers are down. At the time, these 490 00:37:06.760 --> 00:37:09.800 numbers no longer relevant because it's old news, so I'm not giving away secrets. 491 00:37:10.079 --> 00:37:14.679 Our numbers were down by ten million dollars and the management of lv is 492 00:37:14.679 --> 00:37:15.679 looking at me. So what went wrong with the business? What's going on 493 00:37:15.719 --> 00:37:21.119 here? You told me to get rid of Costco. They were shell shot. 494 00:37:21.360 --> 00:37:24.400 They couldn't believe him. I tried to explain it. You want change, 495 00:37:24.400 --> 00:37:28.880 here's your change. Day later, I get a call, You'll have 496 00:37:28.960 --> 00:37:34.039 to get the Costco business. I work with this woman named Krista Michaelaros. 497 00:37:34.159 --> 00:37:38.559 She's the one who's opened up Costco. She was CEO of the jeans division. 498 00:37:38.639 --> 00:37:42.760 She had been CEO of other companies. I recruited her of the company 499 00:37:42.880 --> 00:37:45.079 she'd loved to work for LVMH. We knew each other from Afar and she 500 00:37:45.199 --> 00:37:50.000 was perfect. And she started building this business and she opened Costco and they 501 00:37:50.039 --> 00:37:52.920 loved her. And she told me when I needed to be at Costco. 502 00:37:52.000 --> 00:37:54.199 She told me which meetings I had to be, what I had to say, 503 00:37:54.199 --> 00:37:57.360 what I needed to do, what they wanted to hear from me, 504 00:37:57.400 --> 00:38:00.679 and on and on and on. She piloted us, brilliant me through this 505 00:38:00.719 --> 00:38:04.239 whole thing. She was devastated when we gave up on the business. She, 506 00:38:04.440 --> 00:38:07.199 like everyone else in the company, didn't understand it because Costco wasn't hurting 507 00:38:07.239 --> 00:38:12.280 our brand. If people wanted to buy your brand, like the electronics business, 508 00:38:12.280 --> 00:38:15.519 why not give it to them. If we were the luxury part of 509 00:38:15.559 --> 00:38:19.079 the company, the Donna Karen collection, it would be different. But TK 510 00:38:19.360 --> 00:38:23.199 was aimed at mass America. Get the call, get the Costco water back. 511 00:38:23.920 --> 00:38:28.360 When I told her She was astounded. She said, I don't know 512 00:38:28.400 --> 00:38:30.760 if I can. But in a matter of three weeks, after a number 513 00:38:30.760 --> 00:38:35.079 of trips to Costco, bringing him back to New York, with me throwing 514 00:38:35.119 --> 00:38:37.199 myself on the sword and telling him I made a mistake, we really want 515 00:38:37.239 --> 00:38:40.760 the business, she resurrected the business. We got a twenty five million dollar 516 00:38:40.800 --> 00:38:45.599 business back, we got our profits back. It was the also remarkable selling 517 00:38:45.960 --> 00:38:50.840 job I ever saw. So here I am a guy admitting that I have 518 00:38:50.920 --> 00:38:53.280 nightmares and waking up from them, that I'm a salesman. Here I am 519 00:38:53.280 --> 00:38:57.559 telling you there's nothing in this world I'd rather be less than a salesman. 520 00:38:57.880 --> 00:39:01.519 But I have great respect for a night where talking change, because in sales 521 00:39:02.360 --> 00:39:08.719 nothing changes. If nothing changes back in a minute, always in fashion. 522 00:39:09.039 --> 00:39:14.679 Spent a lifetime of my career building the van Usen brand, and I am 523 00:39:14.760 --> 00:39:21.039 so pleased that they're back with us now talking about suits. Men were dressing 524 00:39:21.119 --> 00:39:23.719 up again, and it's become cool to wear a suit. Suits can be 525 00:39:23.719 --> 00:39:29.199 worn on multiple occasions in multiple ways. You could wear a suit formally to 526 00:39:29.280 --> 00:39:31.159 go out at night or to an event. You wear a suit to the 527 00:39:31.199 --> 00:39:36.320 office with or without a tie. If you look closely. Now fashion trends 528 00:39:36.679 --> 00:39:42.320 suits are being worn with turtlenecks or mark next. The choices are endless and 529 00:39:42.440 --> 00:39:46.239 every one of them looks right. You could really really look the part. 530 00:39:46.400 --> 00:39:52.119 I believe that packaging yourself is as important does the products you package, and 531 00:39:52.199 --> 00:39:55.239 wearing a suit is one of those things that make men look their best. 532 00:39:55.679 --> 00:40:00.320 Venues and invented a new idea. It's called the cool Flex suit. It's 533 00:40:00.360 --> 00:40:06.360 been engineered with stretch technology, giving you the most comfortable fit and mobility. 534 00:40:06.559 --> 00:40:10.119 It's wrinkle resistant fabric, it's cool moisture wicki. It makes it perfect for 535 00:40:10.239 --> 00:40:15.159 all occasions. As we discussed just now, this new style of looking sharp 536 00:40:15.400 --> 00:40:21.039 while feeling cool and comfortable is amazing, and I'm so excited that the ven 537 00:40:21.199 --> 00:40:27.519 Using company is involved in this new technology and is embracing the whole idea of 538 00:40:27.599 --> 00:40:30.880 dressing up. Let's not forget van Ues and Maine It's name with dress shirts. 539 00:40:30.960 --> 00:40:35.920 It's only proper that the suit business follows strongly in its way. You 540 00:40:35.960 --> 00:40:40.000 can find van Ues in cool Flex Men's stretch suits at jcpenny are online at 541 00:40:40.079 --> 00:40:45.480 jcpenny dot com. Guys, they're great. You should go look at them. 542 00:40:45.079 --> 00:40:49.880 Welcome back to it. Always in fashion, here's your host, Mark 543 00:40:49.920 --> 00:40:54.639 Webber. Nothing changes if nothing changes. The one thing we have to learn 544 00:40:54.719 --> 00:41:00.480 in life that nothing is the same. Ever, if we don't embrace change, 545 00:41:00.480 --> 00:41:05.280 we'd all be riding horses. We'd be stuck to our phones in the 546 00:41:05.360 --> 00:41:08.800 house. We wouldn't have an Internet, we wouldn't have this life we have. 547 00:41:08.920 --> 00:41:15.960 It's all about change. Nothing changes if nothing changes. Now, having 548 00:41:16.000 --> 00:41:22.960 said this, I must admit I miss magazines. Magazine advertising was my favorite 549 00:41:23.000 --> 00:41:28.039 form of advertising, if you think about her. Over the course of time. 550 00:41:28.719 --> 00:41:32.880 Television was never really a place to advertise for fashion, luxury and apparel. 551 00:41:32.960 --> 00:41:37.360 There are exceptions in the early days of television. One of the reasons 552 00:41:37.440 --> 00:41:42.679 Van User, my former company, became well known with television advertising before anyone 553 00:41:42.719 --> 00:41:46.440 else would do it. I guess the exception might be Untucked, which became 554 00:41:46.480 --> 00:41:51.559 a TV phenomenon. But by and large, other than fragrance, TV is 555 00:41:51.599 --> 00:41:57.079 not a vehicle for advertising. Always magazines, billboards, in store windows, 556 00:41:57.599 --> 00:42:01.760 a lot of different things that would catch your attention, and I miss magazines. 557 00:42:02.920 --> 00:42:08.920 Now things change, the world changes. I joined LVMH. I knew 558 00:42:08.960 --> 00:42:13.559 a lot about marketing, but I didn't know anything even close to what they 559 00:42:13.639 --> 00:42:17.719 knew. When you think about it, LVMH is like the goalie on a 560 00:42:17.760 --> 00:42:22.880 football team football in this case soccer. He's the only one who sees the 561 00:42:22.880 --> 00:42:25.800 whole field. Some people are looking at him, some people have their backs 562 00:42:25.840 --> 00:42:30.599 to them, but nobody could see everything that's going on except for the goalie 563 00:42:31.199 --> 00:42:36.000 a United States person USA. The catcher on a baseball team. He's the 564 00:42:36.000 --> 00:42:39.639 only one facing the field. Nobody sees what's going on behind them except for 565 00:42:39.719 --> 00:42:45.639 the catcher. LVMH was kind of like that because they operate brands at the 566 00:42:45.679 --> 00:42:51.159 most distinctive brands in the industry. They have accessed everything they sell in every 567 00:42:51.320 --> 00:42:55.599 major geographical region in the world, every city that makes sense, every country 568 00:42:55.599 --> 00:43:01.239 that it makes sense. And they have multiple products from safforiur to newspapers to 569 00:43:01.360 --> 00:43:05.119 all kinds of things. And there are a lot of companies like that, 570 00:43:05.599 --> 00:43:08.079 And therefore, when I showed up and would talk, I had to be 571 00:43:08.239 --> 00:43:14.320 very very careful because they knew a lot more than I did. Didn't make 572 00:43:14.360 --> 00:43:17.119 them smarter than me, but they knew a lot more, and therefore it 573 00:43:17.159 --> 00:43:24.199 became difficult to negotiate and to navigate. I'll never forget. I was the 574 00:43:24.239 --> 00:43:29.239 CEO and chairman of Donna Karen International, and we were about to do a 575 00:43:29.280 --> 00:43:35.280 new campaign LVMH like they orbillinarily would. They wanted us suspend more marketing money 576 00:43:35.280 --> 00:43:37.880 than we had the year before, and they wanted us to launch a campaign 577 00:43:38.039 --> 00:43:46.239 using a viable celebrity. If you look at where celebrities are used by and 578 00:43:46.360 --> 00:43:53.480 large, they are actresses in some places by rare experception. There are athletes. 579 00:43:54.199 --> 00:43:59.079 There are actors, of course. Johnny Depp is the Dior Savage he 580 00:43:59.119 --> 00:44:06.199 has been before his trial with Amber Hurry is still now Chanelle use Brad Pitt. 581 00:44:06.559 --> 00:44:10.480 So there are men, George Clooney, various different things, but women 582 00:44:10.639 --> 00:44:17.519 actresses rule the roost, like Comb is still Julia Roberts, Joy, Taylor, 583 00:44:17.519 --> 00:44:21.880 whatever her name is. What's her name? Jesse oh Anna Taylor Joy, 584 00:44:22.199 --> 00:44:23.559 She's one. I see her in the stores. Don't ask me which 585 00:44:23.599 --> 00:44:28.280 product, by the way, because that's the problem. Do you really associate 586 00:44:28.840 --> 00:44:32.719 these celebrities with the products they endorse? I would venture to say Charlise Throne 587 00:44:34.400 --> 00:44:38.679 is identified with Door, the door, but they use them. And here 588 00:44:38.719 --> 00:44:44.199 we are having a meeting, we're talking about change, and my team and 589 00:44:44.239 --> 00:44:49.360 the LVMH representative are talking about the various different actresses they want to use to 590 00:44:49.440 --> 00:44:53.440 promote DKY. Anne Hathaway. I think Anne Hathaway is my favorite actress. 591 00:44:53.840 --> 00:44:58.280 I love the way she acts, I love the way she looks, I 592 00:44:58.320 --> 00:45:01.360 love the way she dresses. She's very diversified in her roles, but she 593 00:45:01.480 --> 00:45:06.800 was one of them. Emma Stone. ELVIMH guy wanted Emma Stone. My 594 00:45:06.880 --> 00:45:09.559 people wanted emmastone. She's got a bunch of movies coming out. She's gonna 595 00:45:09.559 --> 00:45:14.039 be bigger than life. They knew what her career would look like and I 596 00:45:14.119 --> 00:45:17.119 got it, but I didn't get it, and I took the change route. 597 00:45:17.679 --> 00:45:22.880 I wanted to pick someone from music, and they looked at me like 598 00:45:22.960 --> 00:45:27.800 I had three heads going back, let's say ten years, almost spending millions 599 00:45:27.840 --> 00:45:31.199 of dollars a year to offer to a celebrity to promote your brand, being 600 00:45:31.199 --> 00:45:36.840 the face of the brand and the advertising, picking a music star seemed like 601 00:45:36.920 --> 00:45:40.320 a little out of there. They really really wanted Emma Stone, who, 602 00:45:40.360 --> 00:45:44.920 by the way, I should tell you, I lost my vote and they 603 00:45:44.960 --> 00:45:50.840 picked her and she didn't accept our offer, which was unbelievable. Why because 604 00:45:50.920 --> 00:45:55.760 she knew that Fragrance adds perfume, and Fragrance Company spent a hell a lot 605 00:45:55.800 --> 00:46:01.320 more than fashion people for these involvements, and she was holding out waiting for 606 00:46:01.480 --> 00:46:06.440 Fragrance, and her agent felt if she's going to put her name out there 607 00:46:06.840 --> 00:46:09.440 and be the face of a brand, they were waiting for Fragrance. And 608 00:46:09.480 --> 00:46:15.599 I got blown away and my music star never heard from us, and I 609 00:46:15.639 --> 00:46:17.559 never got to be proven right. Well, wait a second, who did 610 00:46:17.559 --> 00:46:22.079 you want? Some woman? She was blonde, she was tall, she 611 00:46:22.199 --> 00:46:25.920 sang like an angel, but they didn't think music applied. And what was 612 00:46:25.960 --> 00:46:32.400 her name? Oh? Oh, Taylor Swift? Ah? Really yeah? 613 00:46:32.679 --> 00:46:37.400 And I hadn't seen my lvmage counterpart for quite some time, and the last 614 00:46:37.400 --> 00:46:39.400 time I saw him, I reminded him. Do you remember when I got 615 00:46:39.440 --> 00:46:44.280 voted down for Emma Stone versus Taylor's swift? Guy put his head down, 616 00:46:44.360 --> 00:46:49.800 he laughed, But yeah, that didn't go any further. But when I 617 00:46:49.840 --> 00:46:52.880 think about it, now, where do you go to market? And I 618 00:46:53.039 --> 00:46:57.920 had an experience this week that I have to talk about because it was brilliant, 619 00:46:58.559 --> 00:47:06.199 brilliant ABG Authentic Brands Group Authentic as they're known now bought David Beckham's company. 620 00:47:06.440 --> 00:47:10.280 David Beckham still owns a share their partners in the endeavor and a combination 621 00:47:10.840 --> 00:47:16.760 of Cody, the world famous fragrance and beauty company, J C. Penny 622 00:47:17.000 --> 00:47:23.559 who took an exclusive lodge on the Beckham Men's fragrance ABG and David Beckham made 623 00:47:23.559 --> 00:47:30.440 an appearance at j C. Penny this week. And although I'm no longer 624 00:47:30.519 --> 00:47:37.920 important, Jesse's brother Jared is because Jared is the President and Chief brand Officer 625 00:47:37.079 --> 00:47:43.880 of Authentic Brands Group for the fashion luxury retail side and they have the David 626 00:47:43.880 --> 00:47:47.719 Beckham responsibility for the business under his balue work. Now, Jared got to 627 00:47:47.760 --> 00:47:52.280 know David Beckham a bit and he was coming to make an appearance at J 628 00:47:52.400 --> 00:47:55.639 C. Penny at Roosevelt Field in Long Island, and I decided to go, 629 00:47:57.239 --> 00:48:02.440 and let me give you my observations. Everyone there was young, young 630 00:48:02.880 --> 00:48:09.719 and young. Everyone there was incredibly professional. It's not so jac Penny. 631 00:48:09.719 --> 00:48:13.800 I've been in Roosevelt Field before and when I'm there you have to struggle to 632 00:48:13.800 --> 00:48:16.760 find a sales associated. The place was packed with them. They're all dressed 633 00:48:16.760 --> 00:48:22.079 in black. The old J C. Penny logos pinted their dresses, mostly 634 00:48:22.079 --> 00:48:24.679 women, a lot of men packed. I happened to pull over to one 635 00:48:24.679 --> 00:48:29.719 of the women on the fragrance side in the cosmetics business and I said, 636 00:48:29.840 --> 00:48:31.480 you know, I'm usually here there's one or two people around. What's going 637 00:48:31.480 --> 00:48:35.000 on? She said, well, knowing this was going to be a big 638 00:48:35.039 --> 00:48:37.440 event, we bought in a lot of people from the branch stores to be 639 00:48:37.480 --> 00:48:42.119 here today and we're all represented and it was brilliant. J C. Penny 640 00:48:42.159 --> 00:48:45.119 had the chief marketing officer. Her name is Michelle something it escapes me. 641 00:48:45.159 --> 00:48:49.559 I apologize. She was sharp. I asked her where she was from. 642 00:48:49.760 --> 00:48:52.960 Did she live in Texas? Plano, where Jays Penny's base she does? 643 00:48:52.159 --> 00:48:55.320 Where did she come from? She had a series of other jobs that proved 644 00:48:55.320 --> 00:48:59.760 to me she was a season pro. She was in command. She's the 645 00:48:59.760 --> 00:49:04.159 one I went with David Beckham for this event. Brilliant, great great great 646 00:49:04.239 --> 00:49:07.960 David Beckham's people or sharp, understood who he was, understood how to manage 647 00:49:08.000 --> 00:49:13.280 him through this event. They were exceptional. And then of course Cody. 648 00:49:13.400 --> 00:49:17.639 These fragrance and beauty companies really know how to market, really know how to 649 00:49:17.719 --> 00:49:22.440 market, and I was so impressed with everything they did. But you know 650 00:49:22.480 --> 00:49:25.519 what has impressed more than anything, Jesse. What's that? I was impressed 651 00:49:25.599 --> 00:49:30.239 with David Beckham. First of all, he's a great looking guy, dressed 652 00:49:30.280 --> 00:49:37.719 well, charming, smiling, happy to be there, generous with his time. 653 00:49:37.800 --> 00:49:42.039 He arrived early, He took time to sign autographs. He took time 654 00:49:42.079 --> 00:49:45.599 to talk to the people. There were two little children at the event. 655 00:49:45.000 --> 00:49:50.519 He got down on his hunches to talk with them and ask them questions. 656 00:49:50.559 --> 00:49:53.920 He signed. They had two little soccer balls footballs and he signed them and 657 00:49:53.960 --> 00:49:58.079 he made a beautiful like love. David Beckay put his number twenty three. 658 00:49:58.280 --> 00:50:01.199 It was such a nice gesture. And before he went into the main event, 659 00:50:01.239 --> 00:50:05.239 he got back down on his answers to talk to them and asked him 660 00:50:05.239 --> 00:50:09.360 if they had any questions. This guy was a genuine guy. He's a 661 00:50:09.400 --> 00:50:13.840 family man. You could see it. I loved him. Now, when 662 00:50:13.840 --> 00:50:15.039 I tell you what he said to me when I met him, you might 663 00:50:15.079 --> 00:50:17.679 have a reason to believe. That's why I'm telling you. So. My 664 00:50:17.800 --> 00:50:22.119 son, who knows him on a first name basis, hugs you know, 665 00:50:22.199 --> 00:50:24.519 hey, yeah you're doing blah blah blah. They work together, introduces his 666 00:50:24.639 --> 00:50:30.199 wife and then he introduces me and David Beckham looks at me and he says, 667 00:50:30.440 --> 00:50:36.480 now I know where Jared got his good looks. Ah, no, 668 00:50:36.559 --> 00:50:38.440 wonder you're giving him a good review. No, no, no, that's 669 00:50:38.519 --> 00:50:43.239 awesome, that's amazing. Yeah, it was nice. And I said what 670 00:50:43.280 --> 00:50:46.079 I always do when I introduced or someone makes it comment to me about my 671 00:50:46.119 --> 00:50:50.880 looks, my hair for you or Jared, he's the new and approved version. 672 00:50:50.920 --> 00:50:52.360 And we all laughed and it was nice. And then David got up 673 00:50:52.360 --> 00:50:57.960 and was interviewed, spoke to the people and they were at least five hundred 674 00:50:57.960 --> 00:51:02.880 people lined up to sign autographs for and he did graciously spoke to every one 675 00:51:02.920 --> 00:51:07.800 of them. I have an incredible feeling about this guy. By the way, 676 00:51:07.840 --> 00:51:10.119 he's been on a Netflix, a new special done by Netflix. You 677 00:51:10.159 --> 00:51:14.840 want to see a guy a character, go watch that Netflix thing. I 678 00:51:15.079 --> 00:51:17.320 was proud to be there. I was proud of my son. I was 679 00:51:17.400 --> 00:51:22.880 proud to meet this guy who was so charming. I left earlier because I 680 00:51:22.960 --> 00:51:25.440 ran out of charming after talking to a bunch of people, and particularly me, 681 00:51:25.480 --> 00:51:30.159 a recluse doesn't like talking so much, but I ran out of charm. 682 00:51:30.440 --> 00:51:34.079 And on a personal note, while it was a remarkable experience, and 683 00:51:34.159 --> 00:51:39.239 it showed that life changes. I no longer was important, but my son 684 00:51:39.440 --> 00:51:45.000 was. And that's the way it's supposed to be. Nothing changes, if 685 00:51:45.000 --> 00:51:45.599 nothing changes. Good night,