THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 10, 1995 TAG: 9510100277
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Interview
SOURCE: Stephanie Stoughton
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
Catalog retailer Lillian Vernon is a household name. But the woman behind it is an aggressive merchandiser and marketer who runs a tight ship at her headquarters in New Rochelle, N.Y., and her warehouse and distribution center in Virginia Beach.
Lillian Vernon - the woman - began her business in 1951 with a $495 advertisement selling personalized belts and purses in Seventeen Magazine. Her company now posts more than $200 million in sales annually. Vernon will speak 8 p.m. Thursday at Old Dominion University's Mills Godwin Jr. Building auditorium as part of the President's Lecture Series. The title of the speech is ``The Entrepreneur and the Professional Manager: Getting the Best of Both Worlds.'' She spoke with staff writer Stephanie Stoughton last week.
Q: What will you be discussing in your speech in Norfolk?
A: The entrepreneur and the manager and how to build a management team. Essentially, how to help people who want to go into business . . . how to think about your own expenses and expansion.
Q: Are you still traveling around the world for your company?
A: Part of my job is to bring to the catalog merchandise that can't be found in the stores for a price that's compelling to our customers. The only way to do that is to be out there, looking.
Q: Do you approve each product in your catalog?
A: I do not anymore. I wish I did. If I really dislike a product, I'll manage to see if we can get out of it. But 99 percent of the time, I agree with them. We have wonderful buyers. Sometimes, I'll try to steer them in a different direction. They might run a product that doesn't photograph well. It might be the best product in the world, but you really need something need greater support by seeing the product.
Q: What are your day-to-day activities at work - time you get in, time you leave?
A: I try to make sure we have a high sell rate and are in stock. I work very hard with finance - all the numbers and all the costs. I monitor the end of the catalog, making sure the picture are big and the prices are right. That's where my biggest job is. I usually train (work out) in the morning. I'm in at work at quarter to 9 and leave at 5:15. I don't go out for lunch. I'm not a lunch person.
Q: What do people say they like about you the most?
A: I don't really know. My employees like me some days and don't like me some days. I treat everyone fairly.
Q: Some people say you're intimidating. Why do you think they're intimidated?
A: That's their problem; not mine. I don't want to intimidate people . . . But I guess if you're tough and strict, people might think you're intimidating.
Q: What advice do you have for women in business?
A: I think you have to have an idea and enough capital. And you have to put your money back into the business. That's very, very critical.
Q: What now? What's your focus now at work?
A: I really want to put out the very best catalog and keep my gross margins up.
Q: Do you have plans to retire?
A: I'm not planning to leave the company. I'm not dead yet, am I?
Q: Your warehouse and distribution center is in Virginia Beach. Would you consider moving your headquarters to Virginia Beach?
A: I think the headquarters needs to be where the arts world is. We use a lot of outside creative help.
Q: What do you like about this area?
A: I like the governor. He made a fair deal. Virginia had more to offer . .
Q: What do you not like about this area?
A: I don't talk about drawbacks. There are none.
Q: If you sell the company to someone else, will that company continue with the $37 million expansion in Virginia Beach?
A: Of course. We're committed to the expansion.
Q: What do you think when you sit back and look at your company?
A: I think I've gone over any of my own personal expectations. I'd like to concentrate on what I truly do best - and that's merchandising and marketing.
Q: How do you run such a tight ship?
A: I run a tight ship because I feel I have an obligation to my stockholders, employees and customers. I feel the most important thing I have is a management team. I work very hard at building that and I'm very pleased. It's more important this year because we have a terrible problem with . . . rising paper costs.
Q: What steps have you taken (to deal with rising paper costs)?
A: We decided we would cut our bad circulation, meaning someone we tried to bring back into the fold who might have bought something five years ago. We're making better calls on our customers. We're watching the products we put in our catalogs. ILLUSTRATION: B\W photo
Lillian Vernon
by CNB