Speaker 1: This show is produced and hosted by Mark Webber. The
Speaker 1: show is sponsored by G three of Parow. The views
Speaker 1: expressed in the following program are those of the sponsor
Speaker 1: and not necessarily the opinion of seven tenor or iHeartMedia.
Speaker 1: Who is Mark Weber. He's a self made business executive
Speaker 1: here to help you find your success from the New
Speaker 1: York City projects to the Avenue Montaigne in Paris. His
Speaker 1: global success story in the luxury world of fashion is inspirational.
Speaker 1: He's gone from clerk to CEO twice. Mark is classic
Speaker 1: proof that the American dream is alive. And well, here's
Speaker 1: your host of Always in Fashion, Mark Weber.
Speaker 2: Mark Weber. I like to talk, considering I'm here, I
Speaker 2: have to talk. I better like it. I've got a
Speaker 2: lot to say about a lot of topics, and I'm
Speaker 2: no nonsense. Tonight tonight aim all business, business and business.
Speaker 2: It's not personal. I'll tell you what is personal. I
Speaker 2: spent two careers in fashion, from clerk to CEO to
Speaker 2: the C suite. I saw it all, did it all, fashion, retail, luxury.
Speaker 2: I should say that my industry, the luxury, fashion and
Speaker 2: retail industry, is often maligned. People say it's not important.
Speaker 2: It's for all about vanity, for people who only care
Speaker 2: about how they look. I could be further from the truth.
Speaker 2: This industry, we're responsible or participating in making people feel good,
Speaker 2: feel comfortable, respecting themselves, giving them confidence, self esteem, increasing
Speaker 2: self worth. Well, it shouldn't matter how you look, it does,
Speaker 2: and we aim to help you look and feel good.
Speaker 2: On a strictly business note, our industry provides millions of
Speaker 2: jobs here in the US and around the world. These
Speaker 2: jobs provide for housing and education for the poor, the
Speaker 2: middle class, and the wealthy. When you consider the world,
Speaker 2: often in third world countries, the first industry developed is
Speaker 2: clothing manufacturing because relatively inac spencers to start up, but
Speaker 2: more relative it's important and easy to teach people to sew.
Speaker 2: I think of that great quote by Laos Sue. Give
Speaker 2: a man offici she eats for a day, Teach a
Speaker 2: man offici she eats for a lifetime. Same in our industry.
Speaker 2: Give a guy a shirt, he wears a shirt for
Speaker 2: the day, Teach him to make a shirt. He has
Speaker 2: a career for a lifetime. It's true we don't cure disease,
Speaker 2: but I will tell you that whenever there is need,
Speaker 2: whether it's disease, health issues or natural disasters. Our industry
Speaker 2: is there with money and there with clothes to help.
Speaker 2: It's an industry that wants to do right by people. Tonight,
Speaker 2: I want to talk strictly business. I've been observing my
Speaker 2: former industry former because for now I'm in broadcasting. But
Speaker 2: I will tell you when it came to my earlier careers,
Speaker 2: I'll humbly stated, I'm sorry, but I'm an expert. I'm
Speaker 2: an expert in retail luxury fashion. I'm watching what's going
Speaker 2: on and where we are. I'm watching where we're going.
Speaker 2: I don't i don't like it. It's all ready fire aim.
Speaker 2: You know what that is, ready fire aim versus ready
Speaker 2: aim fire. People are making decisions without thinking about the outcomes.
Speaker 2: There are problems, and rather than curing problems, for creating problems.
Speaker 2: The future is here and everyone is confused, losing sight
Speaker 2: of what's important. And on that note, more importantly than anything,
Speaker 2: I want to talk about tariffs, but I'm gonna do
Speaker 2: that in a minute. What is important as you remember
Speaker 2: that your brand, your reputation matters. My brand, Mark Weber
Speaker 2: stands for honest, tough and fair. That's how I'd be
Speaker 2: described with me. You knew what you were getting, you
Speaker 2: knew what you heard was the truth. You would need
Speaker 2: to be smart and thorough in dealing with me, but
Speaker 2: you would be treated fairly. I put my company first always,
Speaker 2: but so would you. In fashion, retail, luxury, the same
Speaker 2: holds true in any industry, the same. It's true. It's
Speaker 2: about what's good for you first. What is your brand?
Speaker 2: What do you stand for? What is your position? Where
Speaker 2: do you belong, whether you're Ralph Lauren or General Motives.
Speaker 2: You have your space. Those spaces are different. You own
Speaker 2: your space, whether your Vetone or Rolls Royce. You have
Speaker 2: to understand the luxury market. If you're in technology, Apple
Speaker 2: does what they do and Microsoft does what it does.
Speaker 2: Your brand, your products are your truth or your integrity.
Speaker 2: Where you sell, whom you associate with. What do your
Speaker 2: facilities look like, whether their brick and mortar or you're online,
Speaker 2: whether your airwaves are clean or not. You have to
Speaker 2: think about your navigation, how you treat your customers, how
Speaker 2: you package yourself is now in your future. Don't ever
Speaker 2: forget it. I think about Ralph Lauren, who's respected and admired,
Speaker 2: Amazon respected and appreciated hermes, desired and rewarding. I'm out,
Speaker 2: I'm about. I'm watching what's happening in business, and I
Speaker 2: choose to talk about what I see and what I
Speaker 2: think is important. I have some positives and many negative connotations,
Speaker 2: and I need to make this clear from the onset.
Speaker 2: The following opinions in this show tonight are mine and
Speaker 2: not the opinion of the sponsors nor the station. They
Speaker 2: never are. They're always mine, But I may have to
Speaker 2: apologize in advance tonight. This is me talking no one
Speaker 2: else tonight business for business sake. I'm looking at what's
Speaker 2: going on. Retailers, you're cheating. The look of your stores
Speaker 2: is not improving. The gap hasn't changed in twenty years,
Speaker 2: nor improved in twenty years. And I look at American Eagle,
Speaker 2: the competitor, and they're always doing the right things. After all,
Speaker 2: not only the American Ego outfitters look good, they also
Speaker 2: started Airy, which is a great brand for young women.
Speaker 2: I also look in stores where they're replacing corporate brand
Speaker 2: marketing with generic marketing. Retailers are not letting brands put
Speaker 2: up that stuff that they put the time and energy
Speaker 2: making their brands look special. After all, when you walk
Speaker 2: in a department store, or any store for that matter,
Speaker 2: you're going in there for the brands that are represented.
Speaker 2: Why wouldn't you scream about them and tell people that
Speaker 2: they're there. Then I look at quality deterioration, anew of quantity.
Speaker 2: The bigger you get, the worst the quality. I don't
Speaker 2: think that's a good formula, selling your brand, your name
Speaker 2: where it shouldn't be sold. I've seen a lot of
Speaker 2: brands showing up in places I wouldn't want them to be.
Speaker 2: I've seen a lot, and I want to talk about
Speaker 2: a lot. And first off, I want to talk about tariffs.
Speaker 2: And before I go there, Jesse's here tonight, Jesse, my son,
Speaker 2: my co host, my lawyer, Jesse Webber. Hey, Jesse, how
Speaker 2: you doing.
Speaker 3: I'm good.
Speaker 4: I feel like i haven't been on the show in
Speaker 4: a while because I've been so busy.
Speaker 3: You how much is going on in my life? My
Speaker 3: legal life. It's like every big case was happening at once.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Summary of Diddy, Oh.
Speaker 4: My gosh, two months of my life committed to it.
Speaker 4: He was he was acquitted of this most serious charges
Speaker 4: he was facing, and he was convicted of two other
Speaker 4: charges that I said from the day one he was
Speaker 4: going to be convicted of and now we're waiting on
Speaker 4: what his sentence will be.
Speaker 2: Should he have been let out, there.
Speaker 4: Was a good argument that he should have been, considering
Speaker 4: he was acquitted of the top charges, but the judge
Speaker 4: basically said, he's still a violent guy. You admitted he's
Speaker 4: a violent guy. Defense and danger is one of the
Speaker 4: factors I look at. He should be led, he should
Speaker 4: be behind bars until sentencing, which is on October third.
Speaker 2: And what do you think what's going on with Comy
Speaker 2: and whatever? That guy's name.
Speaker 3: Is, Brennan.
Speaker 4: I think I think it's a stretch to say that
Speaker 4: they should be criminally prosecuted. What that they didn't They
Speaker 4: weren't honest. I'm not really sure what they weren't honest about,
Speaker 4: because when.
Speaker 2: You well, I'll tell you they made up the whole thing,
Speaker 2: made up the whole thing. The steel doer was a
Speaker 2: day was made.
Speaker 4: Up if you look, if you look carefully, they didn't
Speaker 4: base their decisions on that. And by the way, by
Speaker 4: the way, aside from Durham, the other investigators who looked
Speaker 4: at that, including Horrowitz, they all said it was valid
Speaker 4: to open up an investigation on whether or not the
Speaker 4: Trump campaign was colluding with Russia. And while it was
Speaker 4: clear that there was no conspiracy, it was clear that
Speaker 4: Russia was trying to help Trump win the election, and
Speaker 4: at least the Trump campaign was welcoming it. Now, there
Speaker 4: wasn't a conspiracy, but at the very point is was
Speaker 4: it valid to open up an investigation?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 4: And the idea that the Steele dossier was used as
Speaker 4: a motivation to move forward not clear. And I don't
Speaker 4: think that they lied under oath or anything like that.
Speaker 4: I don't see what other than to frustrate them, other
Speaker 4: than this is going after enemies of the administration.
Speaker 3: I don't really see what the.
Speaker 2: Charges were conspiring to bring that you're making illegal.
Speaker 4: You're making a legal conclusion with no evidence. What's the evidence,
Speaker 4: what's the end?
Speaker 2: That's what we're going to find out.
Speaker 3: Okay, we're going to find out.
Speaker 2: I have a feeling this time, you're not going to
Speaker 2: be right. I'm going to be right.
Speaker 4: All right, Well, well, they could bring charges, doesn't mean
Speaker 4: that it's valid charges and it'll stick.
Speaker 2: We'll see.
Speaker 4: Well I don't, I don't. I don't see it. I
Speaker 4: could be wrong, but I don't see anything from right
Speaker 4: now what we know. I don't see any valid prosecution
Speaker 4: on them, and I know I'll talk that.
Speaker 2: I must be listening with crazy ears because I hear an.
Speaker 3: Awful lot wow wow.
Speaker 2: Questionable decisions made to try and bring down a candidate
Speaker 2: and then bring down a presidency.
Speaker 3: It was all based on I think.
Speaker 4: I think you're hearing a lot of talking points and
Speaker 4: a lot of bluster, but not getting into the details
Speaker 4: of what the reporting actually suggests.
Speaker 2: So what does it suggest that they're going to do.
Speaker 2: They're putting these guys in trial and they just investigating. No,
Speaker 2: they haven't been.
Speaker 4: They're going to be investigated, and whether or not charges
Speaker 4: will ultimately be submitted to the US Attorney. So I
Speaker 4: don't think right now it's too early to say. We'll
Speaker 4: see what they look into, we'll see if charges are
Speaker 4: actually submitted and filed, But right now, I think it's
Speaker 4: too early to say what to expect.
Speaker 2: Okay, that's fair. And while we're on this, let me
Speaker 2: just talk about tariffs. You know a few months back,
Speaker 2: we did show after show about tariffs. Tariffs were correct,
Speaker 2: in my opinion, President Trump. The idea that a country
Speaker 2: would have a high tariff on products to protect their
Speaker 2: industry thirty percent tariff on US goods coming in, then
Speaker 2: it's only fair that we would put tariffs on our
Speaker 2: products from the same countries of thirty percent coming in.
Speaker 2: And you took divisive action and just took a stand,
Speaker 2: and I applaud you for it. I've also applaued you
Speaker 2: in trying to get countries to buy as much from
Speaker 2: US as we buy from them. And to your credit
Speaker 2: and to your administration's credit, you went back and realized
Speaker 2: that you can't expect a country like Bangladesh to have
Speaker 2: the same needs and the same dollars to invest in
Speaker 2: our country because we're much bigger, we buy more, we're
Speaker 2: a wealthier country. And now that you've moderated that, you
Speaker 2: still should make it demanding that they by certain products
Speaker 2: from US if we make them. Were important trading partners,
Speaker 2: but you've made that correction I think all as well. However,
Speaker 2: there is so much confusion still out there. You made
Speaker 2: it clear you went as high as one hundred and
Speaker 2: forty percent duty on Chinese goods to force American companies
Speaker 2: to move to other countries. In so doing, you caught
Speaker 2: China's attention, and you clearly brought them to the battlefield,
Speaker 2: and clearly they need to make a deal. All well
Speaker 2: and fine, except where have you left our industry? Our
Speaker 2: industry moved to Vietnam, Bangladesh are the countries, and then
Speaker 2: you inserted new tariffs on them, and the frankly speaking,
Speaker 2: at China now registering at fifty percent on our products
Speaker 2: and Banglades' thirty, it's far more efficient to stayed with
Speaker 2: China than in Bangladesh. Everyone's confused. No one knows what
Speaker 2: to do, no one knows how to price their goods.
Speaker 2: The retailers are saying to the manufacturers, I'm not raising
Speaker 2: my price, so don't you dare try and sell me
Speaker 2: an higher prices. There is havoc going on, uncertainty, and
Speaker 2: it's not helpful. You have to get your guys in
Speaker 2: close to get rid of all this uncertainty in confusion.
Speaker 2: I presume that was clear no. Having said that, Jesse,
Speaker 2: you want to make a comment.
Speaker 4: Do you think that this is what Trump planned at
Speaker 4: the very beginning or do you think it's kind of
Speaker 4: like reactionary.
Speaker 2: Ready fire aim yep, yep, yeah. I don't think the
Speaker 2: beginning the middle of the end was thought through. I'm
Speaker 2: not quite sure the advisors to the president in his
Speaker 2: capacity knew what to do or knew how to talk
Speaker 2: to him and moderate him. I think everything he did
Speaker 2: makes sense. I think it requires timing. I think it
Speaker 2: revolves thought. I think it revolves around what can be
Speaker 2: done and how will everything be affected. You didn't do
Speaker 2: this to raise prices on consumers. You didn't do it
Speaker 2: to create havoc and uncertainty, and that's the byproduct. So
Speaker 2: go back, look closely. I applaud you for what you did.
Speaker 2: You know, I want to talk about retail. I have
Speaker 2: a story really close to home. You know, Jesse, you
Speaker 2: remember that convenience store we used to drive up to
Speaker 2: and buy whatever you want, like soda or bread or whatever.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yeah it was. It was awesome.
Speaker 4: I've never seen it anywhere else, but in our area.
Speaker 4: It's like a little drive through and you can get
Speaker 4: whatever you want.
Speaker 3: It was amazing. I loved it.
Speaker 4: I never know what was going on in that little hut.
Speaker 4: I feel like they had everything. It was like a
Speaker 4: little hut, but like they never ran out of anything.
Speaker 4: It's almost like they had a secret tunnel at the
Speaker 4: like a sewer tunnel where they had just extra stuff.
Speaker 3: They never ran out. It was amazing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I loved it. And they closed. All of them,
Speaker 2: were about twenty of them, I know, and about I
Speaker 2: don't know if you noticed, but about two months ago
Speaker 2: I noticed there was construction going on in the site
Speaker 2: that was that convenience store. And I started to look
Speaker 2: at it, and it was being rebuilt, and I got
Speaker 2: really excited because you know, as you said, that convenience store,
Speaker 2: I forgot the name of it. I loved it for
Speaker 2: what it was. You need bread to drive up, you
Speaker 2: need diekop, I'd dried up. I would drive up. Whatever
Speaker 2: it is you need tide, I would drive up, and
Speaker 2: there it was Napkins tooth based. It seems like they
Speaker 2: had everything. You're right, But I loved it. And it
Speaker 2: closed and forever reason. I think it had to do
Speaker 2: with the rent related I'm not sure. And after a while,
Speaker 2: as I said to you, it's being rebuilt and it's
Speaker 2: coming in a beautiful new standard. It's being built really
Speaker 2: really pretty, not like the other one that looked like
Speaker 2: a barn. Maybe it was cold the barn, I don't remember.
Speaker 3: It was called dairy barn.
Speaker 2: There you go. The other day I was walking by,
Speaker 2: and it's part of my new regimen. I'm always walking
Speaker 2: and I've been changing the directions and taking different tracks
Speaker 2: in different courses. And I was walking by, and as
Speaker 2: I was walking by the construction site, I saw a
Speaker 2: guy standing there. I said, you know what, let's see
Speaker 2: what he knows. And I walked in. I said hello
Speaker 2: and asked if he knew it was being built here.
Speaker 2: Turned out he was the owner. He was a very
Speaker 2: gracious guy, and I was happy to be talking him.
Speaker 2: He said, I was excited to see what's coming back.
Speaker 2: And I asked him, what are you building? And he
Speaker 2: shared with me that he began an idea for coffee
Speaker 2: stores on the go. I think, he said in Poughkeepsie
Speaker 2: was his first, and this is his eleventh store which
Speaker 2: he's building. And we're standing on the ground and I
Speaker 2: asked him what in fact he would offer in the store,
Speaker 2: and he told me they would be offering boutique coffee
Speaker 2: that people love. He's proven, and he's very excited about
Speaker 2: bringing it to the neighborhood. Now, I don't drink coffee,
Speaker 2: you know, I don't drink coffee, So I was curious
Speaker 2: what else would be in the store, and I said,
Speaker 2: what kind of iced tea are you going to have
Speaker 2: in the store? And he said, we don't do iced tea.
Speaker 2: And I said, you don't do iced tea. Okay, how
Speaker 2: about Dia cookes or other softties. No, we don't do
Speaker 2: that either. So I'm listening to him, and I said
Speaker 2: to myself, I should this guy knows what he's doing,
Speaker 2: but what's going on here? So I said, hey, then
Speaker 2: what kind of cakes or scones going to offer with
Speaker 2: the coffee? And he said to me, we don't do that. Listen,
Speaker 2: I'm shaking my head, and I'm thinking, you know, let's
Speaker 2: be frank. America is overweight. Who's gonna buy coffee without
Speaker 2: something to drink with it eat with it? I think
Speaker 2: about Starbucks.
Speaker 4: That's the beauty. That's the beauty, that's the beauty of
Speaker 4: the coffee cake. One of the best inventions in human history.
Speaker 4: It's the coffee cake.
Speaker 3: You need it.
Speaker 2: So I think about Starbucks and all the ancillary products
Speaker 2: that round out their assortment and make it so successful.
Speaker 2: So I'm talking about this with him. It's coming to
Speaker 2: the neighborhood. I'm I'm happy he's coming back. It's not
Speaker 2: going to be a convenience store, so it's going to
Speaker 2: be more directed. And I said to him, you know
Speaker 2: you sure you don't need iced tea and he says,
Speaker 2: we don't do that. I said, America's overweight. Gotta believe
Speaker 2: people like toast ork croissants or it's gone with their coffee.
Speaker 2: What do you think? He says, I know my business,
Speaker 2: but I thank you for telling me. And I said, oh, okay,
Speaker 2: I'm excited you coming. I'm waiting to see what it
Speaker 2: looks like. I want to consider it. And I was
Speaker 2: going to leave with that, and I did, and it
Speaker 2: reminded me of a story of Coal's Department Store. Everybody
Speaker 2: out there should know Coal's apartment store. There are a
Speaker 2: thousand of them in the United States. I remember when
Speaker 2: Cole's was being built. I remember what it stood for.
Speaker 2: I remember how they did it, and I'm going to
Speaker 2: talk about that in a little while. But I remember
Speaker 2: visiting Cole's. The last trip that I went to Cole's,
Speaker 2: I was in there in September, and I remember meeting
Speaker 2: with a fellow, the CEO guy named Kevin Mansfield, Kevin Mancell,
Speaker 2: who was the first CEO after the founder. He was
Speaker 2: a Midwestern guy, very basic in his approach, smart as
Speaker 2: could be. And we were there it was hot as
Speaker 2: can be in September, and we were discussing the fall
Speaker 2: business and what we were going to do for the
Speaker 2: next fall. And he looked at me, and he looked
Speaker 2: at the product and everything we did with sweaters and
Speaker 2: fleas and long sleeve button down shirts, and he said
Speaker 2: to me, thank you for coming up to Milwaukee. Really
Speaker 2: hot here this time here, don't you think? I said yeah,
Speaker 2: and Milwaukee expected to be cooler. He said, it's about
Speaker 2: ninety degrees now. I said, yeah, Kevin, it is hot.
Speaker 2: He said, I'm looking at all these products, and I
Speaker 2: noticed you're not offering us short sleeves in September. It's
Speaker 2: all fall and heavyweight goods and all long sleeves. Is
Speaker 2: that right now? What goes through my mind is if
Speaker 2: you start shipping short sleeves in September at the end
Speaker 2: of the season, you're going to be marking them down
Speaker 2: in a couple of weeks. They can't have a shelf
Speaker 2: life because the minute September ends in october's here, it's
Speaker 2: gonna be forty or fifty degree And I don't want
Speaker 2: to take the goods back. I don't want markdowns. I
Speaker 2: don't want things that don't sell. And I said to him,
Speaker 2: I had a choice to what to say to him,
Speaker 2: and say, now, not going to do short sleeves. You
Speaker 2: don't believe it. But then he looked at me, said, Mark,
Speaker 2: you have to have short sleeves for coals in September.
Speaker 2: And of course you're right, Kevin. I'll tell you what,
Speaker 2: why don't we pick out some of the patterns now
Speaker 2: and I'll put him into work for short sleeves, which
Speaker 2: reminded me of this fellow that I just was talking
Speaker 2: about opening up a coffee store with no tea, no cake,
Speaker 2: no coffee, nothing other than coffee. And whether or not
Speaker 2: he took the cue from me, But that's what I
Speaker 2: see going on in the world, and I wonder whether
Speaker 2: or not we're figuring out what is important, what's happening
Speaker 2: in retail? Are we doing the right things? I have
Speaker 2: been out and about, you know, being that I mentioned coals,
Speaker 2: being that I gave you a disclaimer that whatever I'm
Speaker 2: about to say is a problem and it's only on me.
Speaker 2: I'll take a break and we come back. I'm a
Speaker 2: rambling man talking about a lot of stuff and running
Speaker 2: around back in.
Speaker 3: A minute always, in fact.
Speaker 2: Than a lifetime of my career building the van usen Brand,
Speaker 2: and I am so pleased that they're back with us
Speaker 2: now talking about suits. Men were dressing up again and
Speaker 2: it's become cool to wear a suit. Suits can be
Speaker 2: won on multiplccasions in multiple ways. You could wear a
Speaker 2: suit formally to go out at night or to an event,
Speaker 2: to wear a suit to the office with or without
Speaker 2: a tie. If you look closely, now fashion trends, suits
Speaker 2: are being worn with turtlenecks or mark next. The choices
Speaker 2: are endless and every one of them looks right. You
Speaker 2: could really really look the part. I believe that in
Speaker 2: packaging yourself is as important does the products you package,
Speaker 2: and wearing a suit is one of those things that
Speaker 2: make men look their best. Then, using invented a new idea.
Speaker 2: It's called the cool flex suit. It's been engineered with
Speaker 2: stretch technology, giving you the most comfortable fit and mobility.
Speaker 2: It's wrinkle resistant fabric, it's cool moisture wicki it makes
Speaker 2: it perfect for all occasions. As we discussed just now,
Speaker 2: this new style of looking shop while feeling cool and
Speaker 2: comfortable is amazing, and I'm so excited that the van
Speaker 2: Using company is involved in this new technology and is
Speaker 2: embracing the whole idea of dressing up. Let's not forget
Speaker 2: van Usen made its name with dress shirts. It's only
Speaker 2: proper that the soup business follows strongly in its way.
Speaker 2: You can find van Using Kolflex Men's stretch suits at
Speaker 2: jcpenny are online at jcpenny dot com. Guys, they're great.
Speaker 2: You should go look at them. My favorite brand has
Speaker 2: always been Izod. My company at one time bought that brand.
Speaker 2: The CEO of the company handed it to me and said,
Speaker 2: you better make it work. And I put everything in
Speaker 2: my career to make Eyesod work and I fell in
Speaker 2: love with that brand, and to this day it is
Speaker 2: one of the most exciting endeavors I've ever gotten involved with.
Speaker 2: Isod is an incredibly strong golf brand. If you play golf,
Speaker 2: if you play tennis for that matter. They make a
Speaker 2: great polo shirts. I mean great, They're fit perfect. The
Speaker 2: material is unique because it's a PK fabric that waffle leave,
Speaker 2: you see, and it's made of a blend of cotton
Speaker 2: and microfiber that allows you to stretch and very often
Speaker 2: they are treated with solar protection as well, so they stretch,
Speaker 2: they're comfortable, and they breathe well. And one thing about
Speaker 2: isa they always fit. They'll never tug on you. You
Speaker 2: put it in your waist that they'll fit you great.
Speaker 2: The colors patterns are sensational. Now I will also tell
Speaker 2: you Isaac makes great shorts and great golf pants. You're
Speaker 2: a golf friend. You want to look good. You don't
Speaker 2: have to think about how do I look. You want
Speaker 2: to think about how you play, not how you feel.
Speaker 2: ISAAD is the brand for you. I know I was
Speaker 2: there when it was created. The strategy behind that brand
Speaker 2: is brilliant. That's one of my favorite brands. While I
Speaker 2: talk about it, I should tell you about the men's sportswear.
Speaker 2: ISOD wasn't enough being a golf brand. It wasn't enough
Speaker 2: being just great polo shirts with logos, without logos, incredible
Speaker 2: brands and story and history. ISAOD makes salt weather programs.
Speaker 2: They have great printed woven shirts, short sleeves that look
Speaker 2: excellent with colors, excellent with shorts, excellent with cotton pants,
Speaker 2: of which they also make. This whole salt order relaxed
Speaker 2: line from ISOD whether it be fleece, cotton sweaters, knit polos,
Speaker 2: woven shirts and pants of a range of colors and
Speaker 2: fabrics that are perfect for a guy wants to go
Speaker 2: casually in the spring and summer of this year. And
Speaker 2: here's the thing isod is affordable. Everyone listening to me
Speaker 2: talk about this brand can afford to buy it and
Speaker 2: know that there are a lot of other brands that
Speaker 2: are also have a look like Eyesid. Although I don't
Speaker 2: believe it's fun as Eyesid is. The brand has a
Speaker 2: lot of energy in it, but at the price points
Speaker 2: no one can compete. You can find eyes that at
Speaker 2: You're leading retailers and online at ion dot com. Talk
Speaker 2: to you latery guys. I wish you are very happy
Speaker 2: springing summer, and I help you by telling you if
Speaker 2: you were eyes On, you're gonna look great.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to it always in fashion, here's your host,
Speaker 1: Mark Webber.
Speaker 2: I've been rambling around. In fact, I've been thinking of
Speaker 2: those songs. I'm a rambling man. I've been rambling around,
Speaker 2: thinking about things, wondering about what's happening in the luxury
Speaker 2: fashion and retail industry. A lot of stupid stuff going on,
Speaker 2: a lot of people forgetting who their brands are, where
Speaker 2: their brand should be shold, what prices they should be selling,
Speaker 2: how they should protect the quality and the image of
Speaker 2: their brands. I've been thinking about it a lot, and
Speaker 2: I started to wonder if because I've been spending time
Speaker 2: in calls now I was active. I was the president's
Speaker 2: CEO of van Usen when Coles started building. Coles was
Speaker 2: an interesting retailer. They were like a department store, but
Speaker 2: not a department store. What is a department store? I
Speaker 2: guess when it comes down to it, the term was
Speaker 2: invented back in the day. Macy's might have been one
Speaker 2: of the early ones. They built a store with various
Speaker 2: different departments, offering many different ideas to customers to come
Speaker 2: in and shop at one location for very often different things.
Speaker 2: Kids clothes, women's clothes, men's clothes, fragrances, watches. Those are
Speaker 2: the department stores now Coals In the beginning, I may
Speaker 2: have called themselves a value department store. I don't think
Speaker 2: they called themselves a discount department store, but that's in
Speaker 2: fact what they were. When you look at at Macy's,
Speaker 2: Messi's invests heavily on the interior of the store, their presentation.
Speaker 2: They built shops, They built special designated areas to showcase
Speaker 2: brands and feature certain products. You walk into Macy's, you'll
Speaker 2: see beautiful Ralph lauryn shop. You're walking to Macy's, you'll
Speaker 2: see great underwear shops for men or dress shirt shops.
Speaker 2: Coals doesn't really do that. Coals has a different approach.
Speaker 2: They have central cash wrap, which means you go to
Speaker 2: one place to purchase all the goods, all the registers
Speaker 2: are there, which is generally a designation of a value
Speaker 2: oriented store. They're also not in malls calls. They're in
Speaker 2: strip centers where the real estate is different prices, which
Speaker 2: allows them to sell at lower prices than Macy's's in
Speaker 2: premium space in the best malls in the country. And
Speaker 2: that's what started to differentiate these brands, meaning these stores.
Speaker 2: And in order to make a decision on whether your
Speaker 2: brand should or should not be in a store like Coals,
Speaker 2: in a store like J. C. Penny, or in a
Speaker 2: store like Macy's, you have to ask yourself who you
Speaker 2: are and who you want to be. Jesse. There are
Speaker 2: two considerations on whether or not a brand sells a
Speaker 2: specific store or a specific distribution. Do you want to
Speaker 2: guess what those two things are?
Speaker 4: Sure one will be how many stores it has locations.
Speaker 2: That's always a good thing. If they have a lot,
Speaker 2: there's a lot of money to be made. But no,
Speaker 2: that's not what I'm looking for.
Speaker 3: Where their placement is going to be in a store.
Speaker 2: Again, that's an important area, but that's not the primarya
Speaker 2: That's something you might negotiate if you decide to sell
Speaker 2: a store. But what are you considering to sell a store?
Speaker 2: If you have a brand?
Speaker 3: Who their customer is? Does that matter?
Speaker 2: So if you and me had the Mark and Jesse brand,
Speaker 2: the first thing we're going to say is do we
Speaker 2: belong in this store? Is the customer we want to
Speaker 2: talk to in that store? Second?
Speaker 3: Oh, like what we're going to the markups? You know
Speaker 3: what we're going to get.
Speaker 2: Close, but not exactly what do you mean by markup?
Speaker 2: You're talking about what? Well?
Speaker 3: Isn't it?
Speaker 4: Also, if you have a concession store, if at what
Speaker 4: kind of what your return is going to be if
Speaker 4: you sell it to the store. And I forgot what
Speaker 4: the terminology is depending upon if they sell all of
Speaker 4: your units or not.
Speaker 3: I forget how it works.
Speaker 2: I think what you're trying to say, or what I'll
Speaker 2: say for you a little bit is can that customer
Speaker 2: afford that price?
Speaker 3: Okay, that sounds much better than what I was saying.
Speaker 3: I like it much better.
Speaker 2: Well, that's just so if you're going to go into
Speaker 2: a store. You know, stores are all positioned differently. Macy's
Speaker 2: positioned as a premium department store, where I just started
Speaker 2: talking about Coals, which is more of a value store,
Speaker 2: doesn't make Macy's better than Cole's. In the end, Wall
Speaker 2: Street reward the store that does the most business and
Speaker 2: makes the most money. But if you're a customer looking
Speaker 2: for designer brands like Calvin or Michael Core's, you'll find
Speaker 2: that it may you won't find that it calls. Doesn't
Speaker 2: make one better than the other. And part of the
Speaker 2: reason is stores are like banks. Some stores you're making
Speaker 2: deposits in and some stores you're making withdrawals in. You
Speaker 2: want your brand to be at the level that you're
Speaker 2: making a deposit. Van Usen had descermined a long time ago.
Speaker 2: It was a people's brand. It belonged with people in
Speaker 2: the moderate area. J. C. Penny and van Usen made
Speaker 2: the first deal of its kind it was hidden at
Speaker 2: the time, we didn't talk about We made one hundred
Speaker 2: million dollar deal back in nineteen ninety six ninety seven
Speaker 2: to put the van using brand to J. C. Penny.
Speaker 2: When we did it, we recognized that the Penny customer
Speaker 2: or the brand in j. C. Penny might get hurt.
Speaker 2: The cachet of van Usen might get hurt by being
Speaker 2: in j. C. Penny. However, if we've established beautiful product
Speaker 2: and they could sell our price points, we were willing
Speaker 2: to look away and take the chance. We also guaranteed
Speaker 2: one hundred million dollars in sale. Today this is not
Speaker 2: as frequent as it is, but people are making decisions
Speaker 2: to sell their brands in different channels of distribution, and
Speaker 2: these are very very difficult decisions because the future of
Speaker 2: your company is in place. And you mentioned when you
Speaker 2: talk about coals have a thousand dollars, they buy your product,
Speaker 2: They can buy a lot of it. So there's a
Speaker 2: big temptation. But if you believe it will ruin your
Speaker 2: brand in the marketplace that it grew in, like Macy's
Speaker 2: or Dyllard's or Sacks or what have you, that's a
Speaker 2: big conversation. You don't give it away for money. It's
Speaker 2: your future. But I was in Coals this week.
Speaker 4: What are you doing in Coals That doesn't feel like
Speaker 4: you didn't you just go on a shopping spree to
Speaker 4: like Ralph Lauren recently.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and seventy second in Madison. But I'm a man
Speaker 2: of the people. I'm a real shopper. I look for
Speaker 2: where there's great product at great prices. There's a brand
Speaker 2: that you haven't won. You probably didn't know of it
Speaker 2: back in the day. It is called Lee Jeans l Ee.
Speaker 2: They're one of the greatest brands. Over the course of time,
Speaker 2: they had been bought by another number of companies and
Speaker 2: they decided to be a value brand and sold in
Speaker 2: value department stores like cold. They make great pants, great
Speaker 2: cargo pants. Some of their genes are sensational. I found
Speaker 2: them at Coles and I'll buy them there. So yeah,
Speaker 2: you'll find me wearing a Ralph Lauren sport code that
Speaker 2: costs more than my first car with a pair of
Speaker 2: Lee jeans that are thirty eight dollars. So I'm a
Speaker 2: man of people.
Speaker 3: You are you are an anomaly. Let me tell you.
Speaker 2: Well, I know quality, I know style, I know fit.
Speaker 2: The the leg opening on the particular style of jeans
Speaker 2: from Leave that I buy a beautiful you see me
Speaker 2: wear them. They look like they look like they look
Speaker 2: like Ralph except they fit better anyway, make a long story,
Speaker 2: shut out.
Speaker 3: They fit better? They fit better?
Speaker 2: Wow, yeah they do. You know every brand has a
Speaker 2: version of how they should fit. Doesn't mean they're right.
Speaker 2: I'll tell you the ralph sport coat with alterations is
Speaker 2: a brilliant piece of clothing. Their genes tend to be
Speaker 2: different for different fits. I don't have the same feeling.
Speaker 2: I've tried them. I don't love them. Again. This is
Speaker 2: me talking, not a response anyway. Ami Colls and I
Speaker 2: bought a pair of jeans that had too much stretching them.
Speaker 2: They were ridiculous. They felt like plastic, they felt like rubber,
Speaker 2: and I wanted to return them, and I go to
Speaker 2: return Coals. They have a very convenient arean calls to
Speaker 2: return genes to return merchandise. It's actually the place that
Speaker 2: they take returns for Amazon, which is a very smart
Speaker 2: move they made. Amazon and Emmerine have a joint venture
Speaker 2: that Coals will take returns for Amazon, which makes it
Speaker 2: good for Amazon. I guess it brings more customers into
Speaker 2: their store, so it's good anyway. I guess there and
Speaker 2: there's a line around the block. It has so many
Speaker 2: people in the line I want to scream. And there's
Speaker 2: one woman servicing that line. I asked the person in
Speaker 2: front of me to hold my place and I walk
Speaker 2: around the line. I walk by thirty forty customers to
Speaker 2: watch what's going on here. And I see this woman
Speaker 2: processing one person and I'm saying to myself, she's sufficient.
Speaker 2: And I walk back to play my place holding thirty
Speaker 2: and I'm saying, what the hell is this all about?
Speaker 2: This is crazy. I see other people walking around doing
Speaker 2: different things, returning merchandise, you know, putting merchandise back in stock.
Speaker 2: I'm sure all that work is important, but you have
Speaker 2: customers to consider. I'm thinking Coals. And as I'm standing
Speaker 2: there waiting, I look on the wall and there's a
Speaker 2: sign and the sign says Coals Cares. And I'm online,
Speaker 2: and you know me, Jesse, Hey, everybody you see it
Speaker 2: says Coals cares. They don't care off of us to
Speaker 2: have more than one person to take returns. But Cole's cares.
Speaker 2: Forgive me calls because I like your store. But you know,
Speaker 2: if you're going to put it on the wall. Now,
Speaker 2: what Cares was referring to is they care about their community,
Speaker 2: they care about human rights, they care about the environment,
Speaker 2: And I get it. But you know, charity begins in
Speaker 2: the home. We are there standing on line. You should
Speaker 2: care about my time, should care about the thirty other
Speaker 2: people behind me, and you should have more than one
Speaker 2: person processing returns. But that's not the part that I
Speaker 2: really wanted to talk about. You know, I talked about
Speaker 2: brands making decisions. And when your brand is strong, what
Speaker 2: your brand is strong, you can do whatever you want
Speaker 2: and you will. You will win this conflict of where
Speaker 2: you should be. Think about Dura cell batteries, Jesse, where
Speaker 2: can you buy dur cell batteries?
Speaker 3: Uh, I don't know.
Speaker 4: Go to CBS, go to anywhere, Well, o, Dwayne read,
Speaker 4: get Dura cell batteries anywhere.
Speaker 2: That's the answer. You can buy them anywhere. And why
Speaker 2: is that?
Speaker 3: Because everybody needs them?
Speaker 2: Because people are happy to see them. They know what
Speaker 2: they are, They understand what dur sellers versus ever ready.
Speaker 2: They understand they need a battery, and wherever it's convenient
Speaker 2: to buy it, they'll buy it. So smart stores will
Speaker 2: carry batteries. It's not that way in fashion. In fashion,
Speaker 2: if you decide to sell jcpenny, they're a wonderful store.
Speaker 2: My son's company as an ownership in that store. I'm
Speaker 2: in jcpenny all the time for the same reasons I
Speaker 2: mentioned and cold. If you search, if you hunt, if
Speaker 2: you know what you're looking for, you could find great
Speaker 2: things in that store. I find a lot of home
Speaker 2: products in jcpenny. You need towels, you want to pay
Speaker 2: a fair price for towels. I bought towels and restoration hardware.
Speaker 2: A hand towel was thirty dollars. I didn't realize. I
Speaker 2: got embarrassed into it. You know. I bought ten tows
Speaker 2: for three hundred dollars. I walked into j C. Penny.
Speaker 2: It's not the same, not the same, but they're pretty serviceable.
Speaker 2: And that thirty dollars towel was twelve dollars. So there
Speaker 2: are a lot of great things you can buy. But
Speaker 2: if restoration Hardware put their talent in j C. Penny,
Speaker 2: chances are restoration hardware with feel it hurt their brand,
Speaker 2: which brings me to my former company, Calvin Klein. Calvin
Speaker 2: Klein Underwear is probably one of the best businesses ever
Speaker 2: invented in the history of apparel and accessory. Calvin Klein
Speaker 2: Underwear is like a bank. It sells and sells, and
Speaker 2: sells and sells. The quality is great, and for whatever
Speaker 2: the reasons, whether they're out of smart decision making for
Speaker 2: the Calvin Klein company or out of desperation, they needed
Speaker 2: to have more volume. They decided to put the Calvin
Speaker 2: Klein underwear brand in calls. Now back to the issues.
Speaker 2: First issue, will it hurt my brand? They made a
Speaker 2: decision that they felt Coals would work with Calvin Kline.
Speaker 2: I don't see em selling any other other products. I
Speaker 2: don't seem selling dresses or women's wear, or men'swear or genes,
Speaker 2: just underwear and maybe underwear. If it's a wrong decision,
Speaker 2: scoots in under that unique situation where you can sell
Speaker 2: fragrances in any store, you could sell underwear. And I
Speaker 2: go over to see the Calvin Cline I wanted to
Speaker 2: buy underwear, and I had it on my mind for
Speaker 2: while there. It is a cold. My former colleagues at
Speaker 2: PVH madted decision to sell the Calvin Cline brand a cold.
Speaker 2: I get that the fixturing was not good. All the
Speaker 2: shelves were broken in sizes and empty. You couldn't buy
Speaker 2: white basic Calvin Cline knitted briefs, knitted box of briefs
Speaker 2: in any size you wanted. It was a mess. And
Speaker 2: here's the issue. If you're going to make a decision
Speaker 2: to risk your distribution to put it in a brand
Speaker 2: like Coals, which may or may not be the right
Speaker 2: place for it. If you believe the three pair of
Speaker 2: underwear for forty eight dollars is a price point that
Speaker 2: the Coal's customer is willing to purchase it rather than
Speaker 2: buying Coal's private label brand or Jockey or Hagar any
Speaker 2: of those other brands that are price oriented. If you're
Speaker 2: willing to do it, PVH. If you're willing to do it,
Speaker 2: PVH CEO. If you're willing to do it, PVH. Business
Speaker 2: managers PVH presidents, PVH, shareholders, stockholders, and whatever. Don't you
Speaker 2: think you should have a system for keeping those products
Speaker 2: in stock. We all know that the retailers do not
Speaker 2: invest time and money in replenishment. They do not spend
Speaker 2: the money on keeping stock in place. They can't afford to.
Speaker 2: And we have agreements with every retailers to have a
Speaker 2: replenishment business that's automatic, and we know we have to
Speaker 2: help them. And here I am in coals looking at
Speaker 2: Calvin Klein, willing to buy the underwear. I could afford
Speaker 2: to pay forty eight dollars for three pair, and I
Speaker 2: couldn't find my size in anything other than stuff. We
Speaker 2: are ruining this industry. We're doing it to ourselves. We
Speaker 2: have to be smart. We have to know where we're selling.
Speaker 2: We have to understand whether a consumer could afford to
Speaker 2: pay it for the channel that we're in. And when
Speaker 2: we're in, we're there to win. Go in, go big,
Speaker 2: make sure you win, make sure it's successful. Don't create
Speaker 2: a self fulfilling prophecy. I couldn't believe what I saw.
Speaker 2: We're doing this to ourselves, and I'm just a rambling man.
Speaker 2: Back in a minute.
Speaker 3: Always in fashion.
Speaker 2: Done a Karen began her career as one of the finest,
Speaker 2: most successful, powerful women in the fashion industry. She developed
Speaker 2: a collection aimed at the luxury market for women on
Speaker 2: the go, women who were powerful in their workplace, women
Speaker 2: who had lives that extended beyond the workplace, and her
Speaker 2: clothes went from day and tonight extraordinary collection. But the
Speaker 2: interesting thing, Donna Karen had a young daughter, and she
Speaker 2: had friends and they couldn't afford to buy the Donna
Speaker 2: Karen collection, and Donna invented dk NY Donna Aaron, New York.
Speaker 2: It's an offshoot of the Donna Karen collection. The same
Speaker 2: concept a lifestyle brand. Then we talk about lifestyle brands.
Speaker 2: What does that really mean? Simply what they say, there
Speaker 2: are brands that follow you throughout your lifestyle. You get
Speaker 2: up in the morning, you start to get dressed Donna
Speaker 2: Karen decan why as intimate apparel, as hosiery, as all
Speaker 2: those products. You're getting dressed for work. You get accessorized shoes, handbags,
Speaker 2: and it takes you through the day. The remarkable thing
Speaker 2: about DK and Y clothes for work, they work into
Speaker 2: the evening. The dresses, the suits, the pants, the sweaters,
Speaker 2: the blouses, extraordinary clothes at affordable prices that go from
Speaker 2: day in tonight. Part of your lifestyle is active. You
Speaker 2: have weekends, you have events, you participate in sports. Donna
Speaker 2: Karen's casual clothes did that under the DK and Y label.
Speaker 2: A vast array of casual sportswear that make women look
Speaker 2: great as they navigate their busy lives. Whether you going
Speaker 2: to soccer games for your children, or whether you're going
Speaker 2: out to the movies, whatever you want to do. DCN
Speaker 2: y Genes, dcay Hy Sportswear is there for you. That's
Speaker 2: what a lifestyle brand is. I need to mention dk
Speaker 2: Y Activewear, which is extraordinary, the leggings, the sports bras,
Speaker 2: the sweats. You can wear dk Y active Wear certainly
Speaker 2: in the gym, certainly when you're working out at home,
Speaker 2: and certainly if you want on the street, because it's
Speaker 2: that well done. The quality of dk why is nothing
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Speaker 2: was born from the idea of luxury made affordable for
Speaker 2: women of America. DKY and Why a true lifestyle brand
Speaker 2: that takes you from day and tonight, from the week
Speaker 2: into the weekend, DCN Why, DKNY and Macy's DKNY dot com.
Speaker 2: As one of the world's most celebrated fashion designers, Carl
Speaker 2: Lagafeld was renowned for his aspirational and cutting edge approach
Speaker 2: to style. His unique vision of Parisian shit comes to
Speaker 2: America through Car Lagofeld Paris. He has women's collections men's collections,
Speaker 2: ready to wear, accessory, shoes and bags. The fashion house
Speaker 2: Carlagofeld also offers a range of watches, I wear and
Speaker 2: premium fragrances. You can explore the car LAGOFL collection at
Speaker 2: car Lagofelparis dot com. But it's more than that. I have,
Speaker 2: for one, love to shop. I love going around and
Speaker 2: seeing what's happening and what catches my attention, what would
Speaker 2: make me feel good to wear now. I don't wear
Speaker 2: the women's wear obviously, but I can appreciate it and
Speaker 2: they look amazing. If you want to look right, you
Speaker 2: want to have clothes that fits you well. You want
Speaker 2: to look like you're wearing something that's very expensive, that's
Speaker 2: exclusive for you and yours. You can find it at
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Speaker 2: women's ready to wear fashion is extraordinary, as well as
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Speaker 2: unlike my appreciation of women's clothes. I'm a modern guy.
Speaker 2: I want to look current. I want to look the
Speaker 2: way I want to feel. I go out at night,
Speaker 2: I'm in black and carl Lagafel is my buddy. Calls
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Speaker 2: you well. Carl Lagafeld Paris at Macy's Orcarlagafel dot com.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to it Always in fashion. Here's your host,
Speaker 1: Mark Webber.
Speaker 2: So this is Mark Weber. I'm a rambling man. I'm
Speaker 2: looking at the peril retail luxury industry. I have some
Speaker 2: bones to pick. I'm insulting some retailers and I'm sulting
Speaker 2: some manufacturers. Not intentionally. I gave you a qualify. This
Speaker 2: is just my idea. It's not the sponsors, it's not
Speaker 2: the station. But they're things that you have to consider
Speaker 2: when you're making decisions because every one of US has
Speaker 2: a brand. My brand is Mark Weber. Jesse Weber's Jesse Weber.
Speaker 2: We stand for something. Jesse is big in TV and
Speaker 2: news and all these different things. Jesse, you care about
Speaker 2: your brand?
Speaker 3: Of course? I care about my brand. What is my brand?
Speaker 3: Who am I? I don't know, but I care about it.
Speaker 2: Well, there are stations you wouldn't go on because you're
Speaker 2: afraid of the opinion you'd have to give.
Speaker 4: That is true, That is truem very selective on that. Well,
Speaker 4: now I work for news nations, so I'm limited and
Speaker 4: where I can go. But yes, one hundred percent. I
Speaker 4: was always very careful about where I go, what positions.
Speaker 4: Sometimes they would ask me, they'd say, hey, can you
Speaker 4: come on tonight? This is not NewsNation, this is another network.
Speaker 4: Hey can you come on tonight and defend them this
Speaker 4: person or make this point. Because they wanted me as
Speaker 4: like the I forgot the word, but basically, oh, what's
Speaker 4: the word I'm trying to use.
Speaker 2: Well, let's say there's a democratic or Republican approach. Pick one.
Speaker 2: They're asking you be the one. You don't feel comfortable.
Speaker 4: They wanted me to be the foil. They wanted me
Speaker 4: to be the foil. That's it, the foil to whatever
Speaker 4: the host was saying. So I would look like an idiot.
Speaker 4: I'm like, I'm good, I'm good. And you you you always,
Speaker 4: you always give me great advice.
Speaker 3: You're like the best manager.
Speaker 4: But I remember when I was first starting out and
Speaker 4: it was like a big show that it was asked
Speaker 4: to go on. But I would basically look like an idiot.
Speaker 4: You go, it's great exposure, you should do it. I'm like,
Speaker 4: this is not the exposure that I want.
Speaker 2: You're right, and that's what we're talking about today. You
Speaker 2: got to know who you are and who you play with.
Speaker 2: You have to know where you want to sell your
Speaker 2: goods and what have you, Jesse what else.
Speaker 4: Unfortunately, I know who I am and I'm a guy
Speaker 4: who has to run now because I'm always so busy.
Speaker 3: So I feel bad.
Speaker 4: I'm not on the show enough. I need to be
Speaker 4: on the show more. I'm sorry. I'm gonna try to
Speaker 4: come on more. But you're doing a good show so far.
Speaker 2: Okay, Well, I'm gonna let you leave back to you
Speaker 2: the audience. You know, I've talked about distribution, and I
Speaker 2: want to talk about the discount area and department stores
Speaker 2: versus department. I'm want to talk about discount stores for
Speaker 2: a minute. TJ Max. The other day, someone asked me
Speaker 2: where they should buy dress shirts. Now, my simple answer
Speaker 2: would have been, go to Macy's. You'll find Calvin, Michael Kre's,
Speaker 2: Tommy Hill Figure, you'll find the best designer brands at
Speaker 2: reasonable price points sixty five dollars dress shirts. But this
Speaker 2: guy was a young guy who was starting his career.
Speaker 2: He needed like ten shirts, and I said to myself,
Speaker 2: I'm going to tell them something different. I told them
Speaker 2: to go to TJ Max. If you go to TJ Max,
Speaker 2: one of the greatest companies in the world to sell
Speaker 2: first of all the solid they're well financed, they pay
Speaker 2: their bills, and they don't call out your brand dress shirts.
Speaker 2: It's all in call them bins. They're all mixed together.
Speaker 2: If you could find a Ralph Lauren or a Lauren
Speaker 2: dress shirt, or or a Calvin or a Ptomy or
Speaker 2: a Venues and they're all mixed together, they're not featured
Speaker 2: by brand. So you go in and you're lucky enough
Speaker 2: if you're a fifteen and a half to find a
Speaker 2: brand or a shirt that you like in your size
Speaker 2: and in the color you're looking for. They don't guarantee
Speaker 2: that if they you want a white shirt, you'll have
Speaker 2: it the exact white shirt you want, in every color
Speaker 2: or in every bin and every size you want. But
Speaker 2: you will find a white shirt, You'll find a blue shirt,
Speaker 2: you'll find a striped shirt. You'll find products that you
Speaker 2: can relate to at fail prices. Because the reason TJ
Speaker 2: Max can do that is they provide a service to
Speaker 2: the manufacturing industry. They buy the surplus at the end
Speaker 2: of the season. If you haven't sold everything you needed
Speaker 2: to sell, what do you do with it? See, fashion
Speaker 2: and clothing is not like fine wine. It doesn't improve
Speaker 2: with age. You have to sell it while the going
Speaker 2: is good. And while TJ Max understands this business well,
Speaker 2: they understand that dress shirts have a different shelf life.
Speaker 2: They can keep them longer, and they put them together
Speaker 2: and it's a great place to buy product. I gave
Speaker 2: them a recommendation. Then there's Costco. Yours truly as a
Speaker 2: Costco discount card, Costco membership card. I guess what it
Speaker 2: really is. I joined Costco a number of years ago.
Speaker 2: I go there very rarely. I bought I mentioned earlier.
Speaker 2: I bought batteries there. You can buy one hundred batteries
Speaker 2: for less than you'll buy them somewhere else. You can
Speaker 2: buy tissues, you can buy all this stuff. And there's
Speaker 2: a lot of apparel at Costco. Now there are times,
Speaker 2: well you'll find great brands at Costco, and they'll find
Speaker 2: times you'll find secondary brands. But there's some of the
Speaker 2: greatest deals you can find. I made a decision at DKY.
Speaker 2: President of DKY came to me and said, Mark, we
Speaker 2: really want to do business in Costco. I said, you know,
Speaker 2: it's dk andy. I'm not sure that's good for our brand.
Speaker 2: You know, I have a concept of store that make
Speaker 2: deposits and stores that take withdrawals. What about Costco? Said Listen,
Speaker 2: we'd be amongst good company. At the time, Lauren by
Speaker 2: Ralph Lauren were there, Michael Kors were there, some of
Speaker 2: the contemporary brands were there, and Mark, all we would
Speaker 2: do is put in one gene style and a range
Speaker 2: of colors. It sits on a palette, it comes in,
Speaker 2: it stays for a few weeks, and it's gone. That's
Speaker 2: the Costco formula. Because they don't want to get stale
Speaker 2: other than their tower racks that you'll see for socks
Speaker 2: or underwear. The fashion comes and goes, and Mark we
Speaker 2: could do a lot of business there. So I agreed
Speaker 2: to meet with the Costco people. They came to their office,
Speaker 2: They explained the premise. They told me why DK y
Speaker 2: be extremely important. They told me why they thought it
Speaker 2: would be good for the brand. Now we're going back
Speaker 2: fifteen years in this time and fashionable brands were few
Speaker 2: and far between in the store. But they convinced me
Speaker 2: to try it, and overnight we were doing thirty million
Speaker 2: dollars profitably at Costco. In my entire time at Costco,
Speaker 2: I never once heard someone walk into a DKY store
Speaker 2: on Madison Avenue and say, I'm not buying eu jeens
Speaker 2: anymore because I saw them at Costco. I never heard
Speaker 2: of retailer say to me, you know, Mark, Macy's or
Speaker 2: Dillard's or anyone else for that matter, I'm not buying
Speaker 2: eu genes anymore because we saw them at Costco. There's
Speaker 2: a way to do these things, and a way to
Speaker 2: do them right. Our positioning at Costco was DK. Why
Speaker 2: if you're in it, you're in it to win it.
Speaker 2: The price points were represented of DK and y. We
Speaker 2: didn't discount. We gave a fair price. We compared it
Speaker 2: to what we would have sold those streams at one
Speaker 2: of our alt stores. Now, our holot stores could have complained,
Speaker 2: but they'd have to come to me and I would
Speaker 2: throw them out the door. But we made a decision,
Speaker 2: and Costco is one of those fine retailers that office
Speaker 2: his service. Here's a trivia question. What is the retailer
Speaker 2: in the United States that sells more wine than any
Speaker 2: other retailer in America? Times up? It's Costco. Go no. Now.
Speaker 2: Having said that, we as manufacturers, we as brand managers,
Speaker 2: we as brand owners, we as designers, we as merchants
Speaker 2: and marketeers of our brand have to recognize who we are.
Speaker 2: We have to recognize the quality and the level of
Speaker 2: quality that we should make in the products bearing our name.
Speaker 2: Once you start taking quality out, which has seen a
Speaker 2: lot from a lot of brands this week, you're looking
Speaker 2: for trouble. I used to buy all my VNX sweaters
Speaker 2: at Target. Why I had bought my VNX sweaters from Isazart.
Speaker 2: I left the company. I didn't want to wear the
Speaker 2: brand anymore. I do again now, but I didn't then
Speaker 2: I found target by accident. I was looking for a
Speaker 2: bookstand for my TV, and there, lo and behold, I
Speaker 2: saw that PK polos, which of excellent quality. I saw
Speaker 2: the v Nex sweaters excellent choirs started buying them profusely,
Speaker 2: and for a period of a few years they were
Speaker 2: my go to place for polos and sweaters until they
Speaker 2: started making lighter and lighter and lighter, to the point
Speaker 2: that I could see through them. They lost one of
Speaker 2: their most important customers because when I was in the store,
Speaker 2: I found out they seld food and household appliances. I
Speaker 2: bought an iron, I bought all the things. But they
Speaker 2: disappointed me because they forgot that customers know what they're doing.
Speaker 2: Those of whose shop we come in with our time
Speaker 2: and money, we expect the quality and integrity in return.
Speaker 2: Having said all of this, I've been out there. I'm
Speaker 2: a rambling man. I'm moving around, I'm watching what's going on,
Speaker 2: but I'm also making observations. And those observations say, we
Speaker 2: are hurting ourselves. No one's forcing us to. You're making
Speaker 2: short term decisions rather the long term decisions. You're ready
Speaker 2: fire aim rather than ready aim fire. Think strategically, think smart,
Speaker 2: always put your brand first. If you don't, who will
Speaker 2: With that? I say good night,