Word: revson
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...induce Bergerac to switch companies, Revson offered him one of the lushest deals hi corporate history: a $1.5 million bonus just to sign, plus $325,000 a year guaranteed, plus some incentive payments geared to the growth of sales and profits. Last year Bergerac collected $794,000. The deal for a while caused the financial press to call Bergerac by the spectacularly inappropriate nickname of "Catfish," after Catfish Hunter, the pitcher whom the Yankees signed to another seven-figure contract at about the same time. Oddly, in Brussels, Bergerac presented himself as an American executive called Mike; back...
...financial side of the business was often overlooked by the original entrepreneurial managers, who relied on high profit margins to cover up sloppiness. Under Charles Revson, Revlon ground out products in huge volumes, took long risks with new lines and often wound up getting piles of merchandise returned from stores. Many other cosmetics makers still do, but at Revlon, Bergerac has put in tight inventory controls and persuaded customers to pay bills more promptly. He figures that if the company were still being run the way it was when he arrived, it would have...
Unlike Charles Revson, Bergerac does not devise new colors or designs; that is done by Cosmetic and Fragrance President Paul Woolard and executives grouped into seven "houses," which are practically minicompanies, each concentrating on a particular price range and type of customer. But Bergerac must approve all major changes, and he is an exacting judge with an eye for detail. The model in the Jontue ads is pictured leading a white horse; to Outdoorsman Bergerac the first horse that subordinates showed him looked like a sway-backed plow dragger. The boss bought his admen a book on horses and insisted...
Borghese's name, of course, was also chosen (by Revson) to lend a note of elegance; one woman who uses the perfume was let down to discover that it came from Revlon. Says she: "I bought it because I thought it was Italian." Cosmetics names in general are picked to convey some image, but among the thousands of nail polish and lipstick shade names, the images get a bit fuzzy...
...investors, happiness is rising sales and profits, and Bergerac has certainly given them that. Sales jumped from $639 million in 1974, Revson's last year, to $1.1 billion in 1977. Profits rose even faster, from $54 million in 1974 to $98 million last year. That includes international operations; Revlon manufactures in 25 countries and sells in more than 100. Bergerac is negotiating with officials of the Soviet Ministry of Food Industry, which has jurisdiction over cosmetics, to work out a deal to sell Revlon products in the U.S.S.R. "The market is clearly enormous," he says. Foreign cosmetics...