Word: stutz
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Metallics can both set off a new wardrobe and spruce up an old one. Says Bendel President Geraldine Stutz: "It's fancy as opposed to plain, and we've had a big dose of plain." Kathy Byrne, 23, daughter of Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne, sports her pink, gold and blue metallic sandals to official events, including a recent reception for President Reagan. Says she: "I wear them to work and out for the evening. I have a metallic purse and earrings, and some gold-and-white bloomers that can be casual or dressy. I like the look because...
...Bendel's upper four floors, Stutz in the early 1960s began selling the latest creations of young, and then unknown, designers such as Jean Muir, Sonia Rykiel and later, Mary McFadden. Then, in a move that shocked other retailers, she instructed them to design clothes that would fit only the slender. Bendel catered to women almost as thin as fashion models with dress sizes that ranged from 2 to 10. Instead of driving away business, the move gave the store a certain cachet. In 1979 Bendel earned $1.4 million on $15 million in sales...
Three years ago, Genesco's new chairman, John Hanigan, began shifting company strategy away from women's fashion and back to shoes and men's wear. Recalls Stutz's friend and Vogue Consulting Editor Diana Vreeland: "Gerry had her eye on buying the store for years." When she saw the conglomerate's new policy, Stutz asked Hanigan if he would give her first refusal on Bendel. After some scurrying to find an international group of Swiss-based financiers, Stutz was able to beat the best offer that Genesco had received...
...Stutz is planning to take some of the Bendel magic to other cities. Within a year or so, the intimate and elegant first-floor street of shops will start being copied in new stores in Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas and other high-income cities with high-fashion aspirants. Says she, confidently: "Our merchandise is absolutely suited for those places. We have a stocking department that does $500,000 a year in business because we have hosiery in a dozen colors that nobody else...
...Bendel stores will stock only the products that win Stutz's approval at those Wednesday-afternoon fashion forums. Once a curious customer asked why Bendel had suddenly started carrying house plants. Replied a saleswoman without a moment's hesitation: "Because Gerry is interested in plants." At Bendel, that is enough...