Rambling Man

Rambling Man

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This show is produced and hosted by Mark Webber. The
show is sponsored by G three of Parow. The views
expressed in the following program are those of the sponsor
and not necessarily the opinion of seven tenor or iHeartMedia.
Who is Mark Weber. He's a self made business executive
here to help you find your success from the New

(00:21):
York City projects to the Avenue Montaigne in Paris. His
global success story in the luxury world of fashion is inspirational.
He's gone from clerk to CEO twice. Mark is classic
proof that the American dream is alive. And well, here's
your host of Always in Fashion, Mark Weber.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
Mark Weber. I like to talk, considering I'm here, I
have to talk. I better like it. I've got a
lot to say about a lot of topics, and I'm
no nonsense. Tonight tonight aim all business, business and business.
It's not personal. I'll tell you what is personal. I
spent two careers in fashion, from clerk to CEO to
the C suite. I saw it all, did it all, fashion, retail, luxury.

(01:04):
I should say that my industry, the luxury, fashion and
retail industry, is often maligned. People say it's not important.
It's for all about vanity, for people who only care
about how they look. I could be further from the truth.
This industry, we're responsible or participating in making people feel good,
feel comfortable, respecting themselves, giving them confidence, self esteem, increasing

(01:29):
self worth. Well, it shouldn't matter how you look, it does,
and we aim to help you look and feel good.
On a strictly business note, our industry provides millions of
jobs here in the US and around the world. These
jobs provide for housing and education for the poor, the
middle class, and the wealthy. When you consider the world,

(01:53):
often in third world countries, the first industry developed is
clothing manufacturing because relatively inac spencers to start up, but
more relative it's important and easy to teach people to sew.
I think of that great quote by Laos Sue. Give
a man offici she eats for a day, Teach a
man offici she eats for a lifetime. Same in our industry.

(02:14):
Give a guy a shirt, he wears a shirt for
the day, Teach him to make a shirt. He has
a career for a lifetime. It's true we don't cure disease,
but I will tell you that whenever there is need,
whether it's disease, health issues or natural disasters. Our industry
is there with money and there with clothes to help.

(02:35):
It's an industry that wants to do right by people. Tonight,
I want to talk strictly business. I've been observing my
former industry former because for now I'm in broadcasting. But
I will tell you when it came to my earlier careers,
I'll humbly stated, I'm sorry, but I'm an expert. I'm
an expert in retail luxury fashion. I'm watching what's going

(02:56):
on and where we are. I'm watching where we're going.
I don't i don't like it. It's all ready fire aim.
You know what that is, ready fire aim versus ready
aim fire. People are making decisions without thinking about the outcomes.
There are problems, and rather than curing problems, for creating problems.
The future is here and everyone is confused, losing sight

(03:21):
of what's important. And on that note, more importantly than anything,
I want to talk about tariffs, but I'm gonna do
that in a minute. What is important as you remember
that your brand, your reputation matters. My brand, Mark Weber
stands for honest, tough and fair. That's how I'd be
described with me. You knew what you were getting, you

(03:42):
knew what you heard was the truth. You would need
to be smart and thorough in dealing with me, but
you would be treated fairly. I put my company first always,
but so would you. In fashion, retail, luxury, the same
holds true in any industry, the same. It's true. It's
about what's good for you first. What is your brand?

(04:04):
What do you stand for? What is your position? Where
do you belong, whether you're Ralph Lauren or General Motives.
You have your space. Those spaces are different. You own
your space, whether your Vetone or Rolls Royce. You have
to understand the luxury market. If you're in technology, Apple
does what they do and Microsoft does what it does.

(04:25):
Your brand, your products are your truth or your integrity.
Where you sell, whom you associate with. What do your
facilities look like, whether their brick and mortar or you're online,
whether your airwaves are clean or not. You have to
think about your navigation, how you treat your customers, how
you package yourself is now in your future. Don't ever

(04:49):
forget it. I think about Ralph Lauren, who's respected and admired,
Amazon respected and appreciated hermes, desired and rewarding. I'm out,
I'm about. I'm watching what's happening in business, and I
choose to talk about what I see and what I
think is important. I have some positives and many negative connotations,

(05:12):
and I need to make this clear from the onset.
The following opinions in this show tonight are mine and
not the opinion of the sponsors nor the station. They
never are. They're always mine, But I may have to
apologize in advance tonight. This is me talking no one
else tonight business for business sake. I'm looking at what's
going on. Retailers, you're cheating. The look of your stores

(05:35):
is not improving. The gap hasn't changed in twenty years,
nor improved in twenty years. And I look at American Eagle,
the competitor, and they're always doing the right things. After all,
not only the American Ego outfitters look good, they also
started Airy, which is a great brand for young women.
I also look in stores where they're replacing corporate brand
marketing with generic marketing. Retailers are not letting brands put

(05:59):
up that stuff that they put the time and energy
making their brands look special. After all, when you walk
in a department store, or any store for that matter,
you're going in there for the brands that are represented.
Why wouldn't you scream about them and tell people that
they're there. Then I look at quality deterioration, anew of quantity.
The bigger you get, the worst the quality. I don't

(06:20):
think that's a good formula, selling your brand, your name
where it shouldn't be sold. I've seen a lot of
brands showing up in places I wouldn't want them to be.
I've seen a lot, and I want to talk about
a lot. And first off, I want to talk about tariffs.
And before I go there, Jesse's here tonight, Jesse, my son,
my co host, my lawyer, Jesse Webber. Hey, Jesse, how

(06:42):
you doing.

Speaker 3 (06:43):
I'm good.

Speaker 4 (06:44):
I feel like i haven't been on the show in
a while because I've been so busy.

Speaker 3 (06:47):
You how much is going on in my life? My
legal life. It's like every big case was happening at once.

Speaker 2 (06:53):
Yeah. Summary of Diddy, Oh.

Speaker 4 (06:57):
My gosh, two months of my life committed to it.
He was he was acquitted of this most serious charges
he was facing, and he was convicted of two other
charges that I said from the day one he was
going to be convicted of and now we're waiting on
what his sentence will be.

Speaker 2 (07:11):
Should he have been let out, there.

Speaker 4 (07:15):
Was a good argument that he should have been, considering
he was acquitted of the top charges, but the judge
basically said, he's still a violent guy. You admitted he's
a violent guy. Defense and danger is one of the
factors I look at. He should be led, he should
be behind bars until sentencing, which is on October third.

Speaker 2 (07:31):
And what do you think what's going on with Comy
and whatever? That guy's name.

Speaker 3 (07:36):
Is, Brennan.

Speaker 4 (07:37):
I think I think it's a stretch to say that
they should be criminally prosecuted. What that they didn't They
weren't honest. I'm not really sure what they weren't honest about,
because when.

Speaker 2 (07:48):
You well, I'll tell you they made up the whole thing,
made up the whole thing. The steel doer was a
day was made.

Speaker 4 (07:55):
Up if you look, if you look carefully, they didn't
base their decisions on that. And by the way, by
the way, aside from Durham, the other investigators who looked
at that, including Horrowitz, they all said it was valid
to open up an investigation on whether or not the
Trump campaign was colluding with Russia. And while it was
clear that there was no conspiracy, it was clear that

(08:16):
Russia was trying to help Trump win the election, and
at least the Trump campaign was welcoming it. Now, there
wasn't a conspiracy, but at the very point is was
it valid to open up an investigation?

Speaker 2 (08:25):
Yes?

Speaker 4 (08:26):
And the idea that the Steele dossier was used as
a motivation to move forward not clear. And I don't
think that they lied under oath or anything like that.
I don't see what other than to frustrate them, other
than this is going after enemies of the administration.

Speaker 3 (08:42):
I don't really see what the.

Speaker 2 (08:44):
Charges were conspiring to bring that you're making illegal.

Speaker 4 (08:50):
You're making a legal conclusion with no evidence. What's the evidence,
what's the end?

Speaker 2 (08:55):
That's what we're going to find out.

Speaker 3 (08:57):
Okay, we're going to find out.

Speaker 2 (08:59):
I have a feeling this time, you're not going to
be right. I'm going to be right.

Speaker 4 (09:03):
All right, Well, well, they could bring charges, doesn't mean
that it's valid charges and it'll stick.

Speaker 2 (09:09):
We'll see.

Speaker 4 (09:10):
Well I don't, I don't. I don't see it. I
could be wrong, but I don't see anything from right
now what we know. I don't see any valid prosecution
on them, and I know I'll talk that.

Speaker 2 (09:19):
I must be listening with crazy ears because I hear an.

Speaker 3 (09:22):
Awful lot wow wow.

Speaker 2 (09:24):
Questionable decisions made to try and bring down a candidate
and then bring down a presidency.

Speaker 3 (09:30):
It was all based on I think.

Speaker 4 (09:32):
I think you're hearing a lot of talking points and
a lot of bluster, but not getting into the details
of what the reporting actually suggests.

Speaker 2 (09:39):
So what does it suggest that they're going to do.
They're putting these guys in trial and they just investigating. No,
they haven't been.

Speaker 4 (09:44):
They're going to be investigated, and whether or not charges
will ultimately be submitted to the US Attorney. So I
don't think right now it's too early to say. We'll
see what they look into, we'll see if charges are
actually submitted and filed, But right now, I think it's
too early to say what to expect.

Speaker 2 (10:00):
Okay, that's fair. And while we're on this, let me
just talk about tariffs. You know a few months back,
we did show after show about tariffs. Tariffs were correct,
in my opinion, President Trump. The idea that a country
would have a high tariff on products to protect their
industry thirty percent tariff on US goods coming in, then

(10:22):
it's only fair that we would put tariffs on our
products from the same countries of thirty percent coming in.
And you took divisive action and just took a stand,
and I applaud you for it. I've also applaued you
in trying to get countries to buy as much from
US as we buy from them. And to your credit
and to your administration's credit, you went back and realized

(10:45):
that you can't expect a country like Bangladesh to have
the same needs and the same dollars to invest in
our country because we're much bigger, we buy more, we're
a wealthier country. And now that you've moderated that, you
still should make it demanding that they by certain products
from US if we make them. Were important trading partners,
but you've made that correction I think all as well. However,

(11:09):
there is so much confusion still out there. You made
it clear you went as high as one hundred and
forty percent duty on Chinese goods to force American companies
to move to other countries. In so doing, you caught
China's attention, and you clearly brought them to the battlefield,
and clearly they need to make a deal. All well

(11:30):
and fine, except where have you left our industry? Our
industry moved to Vietnam, Bangladesh are the countries, and then
you inserted new tariffs on them, and the frankly speaking,
at China now registering at fifty percent on our products
and Banglades' thirty, it's far more efficient to stayed with
China than in Bangladesh. Everyone's confused. No one knows what

(11:51):
to do, no one knows how to price their goods.
The retailers are saying to the manufacturers, I'm not raising
my price, so don't you dare try and sell me
an higher prices. There is havoc going on, uncertainty, and
it's not helpful. You have to get your guys in
close to get rid of all this uncertainty in confusion.

(12:12):
I presume that was clear no. Having said that, Jesse,
you want to make a comment.

Speaker 4 (12:20):
Do you think that this is what Trump planned at
the very beginning or do you think it's kind of
like reactionary.

Speaker 2 (12:25):
Ready fire aim yep, yep, yeah. I don't think the
beginning the middle of the end was thought through. I'm
not quite sure the advisors to the president in his
capacity knew what to do or knew how to talk
to him and moderate him. I think everything he did
makes sense. I think it requires timing. I think it
revolves thought. I think it revolves around what can be

(12:49):
done and how will everything be affected. You didn't do
this to raise prices on consumers. You didn't do it
to create havoc and uncertainty, and that's the byproduct. So
go back, look closely. I applaud you for what you did.
You know, I want to talk about retail. I have
a story really close to home. You know, Jesse, you
remember that convenience store we used to drive up to

(13:10):
and buy whatever you want, like soda or bread or whatever.

Speaker 3 (13:14):
Oh yeah, yeah it was. It was awesome.

Speaker 4 (13:17):
I've never seen it anywhere else, but in our area.
It's like a little drive through and you can get
whatever you want.

Speaker 3 (13:23):
It was amazing. I loved it.

Speaker 4 (13:24):
I never know what was going on in that little hut.
I feel like they had everything. It was like a
little hut, but like they never ran out of anything.
It's almost like they had a secret tunnel at the
like a sewer tunnel where they had just extra stuff.

Speaker 3 (13:36):
They never ran out. It was amazing.

Speaker 2 (13:38):
Yeah, I loved it. And they closed. All of them,
were about twenty of them, I know, and about I
don't know if you noticed, but about two months ago
I noticed there was construction going on in the site
that was that convenience store. And I started to look
at it, and it was being rebuilt, and I got
really excited because you know, as you said, that convenience store,

(14:01):
I forgot the name of it. I loved it for
what it was. You need bread to drive up, you
need diekop, I'd dried up. I would drive up. Whatever
it is you need tide, I would drive up, and
there it was Napkins tooth based. It seems like they
had everything. You're right, But I loved it. And it
closed and forever reason. I think it had to do
with the rent related I'm not sure. And after a while,

(14:25):
as I said to you, it's being rebuilt and it's
coming in a beautiful new standard. It's being built really
really pretty, not like the other one that looked like
a barn. Maybe it was cold the barn, I don't remember.

Speaker 3 (14:36):
It was called dairy barn.

Speaker 2 (14:38):
There you go. The other day I was walking by,
and it's part of my new regimen. I'm always walking
and I've been changing the directions and taking different tracks
in different courses. And I was walking by, and as
I was walking by the construction site, I saw a
guy standing there. I said, you know what, let's see
what he knows. And I walked in. I said hello
and asked if he knew it was being built here.
Turned out he was the owner. He was a very

(15:00):
gracious guy, and I was happy to be talking him.
He said, I was excited to see what's coming back.
And I asked him, what are you building? And he
shared with me that he began an idea for coffee
stores on the go. I think, he said in Poughkeepsie
was his first, and this is his eleventh store which
he's building. And we're standing on the ground and I
asked him what in fact he would offer in the store,

(15:23):
and he told me they would be offering boutique coffee
that people love. He's proven, and he's very excited about
bringing it to the neighborhood. Now, I don't drink coffee,
you know, I don't drink coffee, So I was curious
what else would be in the store, and I said,
what kind of iced tea are you going to have
in the store? And he said, we don't do iced tea.
And I said, you don't do iced tea. Okay, how

(15:46):
about Dia cookes or other softties. No, we don't do
that either. So I'm listening to him, and I said
to myself, I should this guy knows what he's doing,
but what's going on here? So I said, hey, then
what kind of cakes or scones going to offer with
the coffee? And he said to me, we don't do that. Listen,
I'm shaking my head, and I'm thinking, you know, let's

(16:09):
be frank. America is overweight. Who's gonna buy coffee without
something to drink with it eat with it? I think
about Starbucks.

Speaker 4 (16:17):
That's the beauty. That's the beauty, that's the beauty of
the coffee cake. One of the best inventions in human history.
It's the coffee cake.

Speaker 3 (16:24):
You need it.

Speaker 2 (16:25):
So I think about Starbucks and all the ancillary products
that round out their assortment and make it so successful.
So I'm talking about this with him. It's coming to
the neighborhood. I'm I'm happy he's coming back. It's not
going to be a convenience store, so it's going to
be more directed. And I said to him, you know
you sure you don't need iced tea and he says,

(16:47):
we don't do that. I said, America's overweight. Gotta believe
people like toast ork croissants or it's gone with their coffee.
What do you think? He says, I know my business,
but I thank you for telling me. And I said, oh, okay,
I'm excited you coming. I'm waiting to see what it
looks like. I want to consider it. And I was
going to leave with that, and I did, and it

(17:09):
reminded me of a story of Coal's Department Store. Everybody
out there should know Coal's apartment store. There are a
thousand of them in the United States. I remember when
Cole's was being built. I remember what it stood for.
I remember how they did it, and I'm going to
talk about that in a little while. But I remember
visiting Cole's. The last trip that I went to Cole's,

(17:31):
I was in there in September, and I remember meeting
with a fellow, the CEO guy named Kevin Mansfield, Kevin Mancell,
who was the first CEO after the founder. He was
a Midwestern guy, very basic in his approach, smart as
could be. And we were there it was hot as

(17:52):
can be in September, and we were discussing the fall
business and what we were going to do for the
next fall. And he looked at me, and he looked
at the product and everything we did with sweaters and
fleas and long sleeve button down shirts, and he said
to me, thank you for coming up to Milwaukee. Really
hot here this time here, don't you think? I said yeah,

(18:14):
and Milwaukee expected to be cooler. He said, it's about
ninety degrees now. I said, yeah, Kevin, it is hot.
He said, I'm looking at all these products, and I
noticed you're not offering us short sleeves in September. It's
all fall and heavyweight goods and all long sleeves. Is
that right now? What goes through my mind is if

(18:34):
you start shipping short sleeves in September at the end
of the season, you're going to be marking them down
in a couple of weeks. They can't have a shelf
life because the minute September ends in october's here, it's
gonna be forty or fifty degree And I don't want
to take the goods back. I don't want markdowns. I
don't want things that don't sell. And I said to him,

(18:57):
I had a choice to what to say to him,
and say, now, not going to do short sleeves. You
don't believe it. But then he looked at me, said, Mark,
you have to have short sleeves for coals in September.
And of course you're right, Kevin. I'll tell you what,
why don't we pick out some of the patterns now
and I'll put him into work for short sleeves, which
reminded me of this fellow that I just was talking
about opening up a coffee store with no tea, no cake,

(19:21):
no coffee, nothing other than coffee. And whether or not
he took the cue from me, But that's what I
see going on in the world, and I wonder whether
or not we're figuring out what is important, what's happening
in retail? Are we doing the right things? I have
been out and about, you know, being that I mentioned coals,

(19:44):
being that I gave you a disclaimer that whatever I'm
about to say is a problem and it's only on me.
I'll take a break and we come back. I'm a
rambling man talking about a lot of stuff and running
around back in.

Speaker 3 (19:57):
A minute always, in fact.

Speaker 2 (20:00):
Than a lifetime of my career building the van usen Brand,
and I am so pleased that they're back with us
now talking about suits. Men were dressing up again and
it's become cool to wear a suit. Suits can be
won on multiplccasions in multiple ways. You could wear a
suit formally to go out at night or to an event,

(20:22):
to wear a suit to the office with or without
a tie. If you look closely, now fashion trends, suits
are being worn with turtlenecks or mark next. The choices
are endless and every one of them looks right. You
could really really look the part. I believe that in
packaging yourself is as important does the products you package,

(20:42):
and wearing a suit is one of those things that
make men look their best. Then, using invented a new idea.
It's called the cool flex suit. It's been engineered with
stretch technology, giving you the most comfortable fit and mobility.
It's wrinkle resistant fabric, it's cool moisture wicki it makes
it perfect for all occasions. As we discussed just now,

(21:04):
this new style of looking shop while feeling cool and
comfortable is amazing, and I'm so excited that the van
Using company is involved in this new technology and is
embracing the whole idea of dressing up. Let's not forget
van Usen made its name with dress shirts. It's only
proper that the soup business follows strongly in its way.

(21:26):
You can find van Using Kolflex Men's stretch suits at
jcpenny are online at jcpenny dot com. Guys, they're great.
You should go look at them. My favorite brand has
always been Izod. My company at one time bought that brand.
The CEO of the company handed it to me and said,
you better make it work. And I put everything in

(21:47):
my career to make Eyesod work and I fell in
love with that brand, and to this day it is
one of the most exciting endeavors I've ever gotten involved with.
Isod is an incredibly strong golf brand. If you play golf,
if you play tennis for that matter. They make a
great polo shirts. I mean great, They're fit perfect. The

(22:12):
material is unique because it's a PK fabric that waffle leave,
you see, and it's made of a blend of cotton
and microfiber that allows you to stretch and very often
they are treated with solar protection as well, so they stretch,
they're comfortable, and they breathe well. And one thing about

(22:33):
isa they always fit. They'll never tug on you. You
put it in your waist that they'll fit you great.
The colors patterns are sensational. Now I will also tell
you Isaac makes great shorts and great golf pants. You're
a golf friend. You want to look good. You don't
have to think about how do I look. You want
to think about how you play, not how you feel.
ISAAD is the brand for you. I know I was

(22:55):
there when it was created. The strategy behind that brand
is brilliant. That's one of my favorite brands. While I
talk about it, I should tell you about the men's sportswear.
ISOD wasn't enough being a golf brand. It wasn't enough
being just great polo shirts with logos, without logos, incredible
brands and story and history. ISAOD makes salt weather programs.

(23:17):
They have great printed woven shirts, short sleeves that look
excellent with colors, excellent with shorts, excellent with cotton pants,
of which they also make. This whole salt order relaxed
line from ISOD whether it be fleece, cotton sweaters, knit polos,

(23:37):
woven shirts and pants of a range of colors and
fabrics that are perfect for a guy wants to go
casually in the spring and summer of this year. And
here's the thing isod is affordable. Everyone listening to me
talk about this brand can afford to buy it and

(23:57):
know that there are a lot of other brands that
are also have a look like Eyesid. Although I don't
believe it's fun as Eyesid is. The brand has a
lot of energy in it, but at the price points
no one can compete. You can find eyes that at
You're leading retailers and online at ion dot com. Talk
to you latery guys. I wish you are very happy

(24:20):
springing summer, and I help you by telling you if
you were eyes On, you're gonna look great.

Speaker 1 (24:26):
Welcome back to it always in fashion, here's your host,
Mark Webber.

Speaker 2 (24:31):
I've been rambling around. In fact, I've been thinking of
those songs. I'm a rambling man. I've been rambling around,
thinking about things, wondering about what's happening in the luxury
fashion and retail industry. A lot of stupid stuff going on,
a lot of people forgetting who their brands are, where
their brand should be shold, what prices they should be selling,
how they should protect the quality and the image of

(24:52):
their brands. I've been thinking about it a lot, and
I started to wonder if because I've been spending time
in calls now I was active. I was the president's
CEO of van Usen when Coles started building. Coles was
an interesting retailer. They were like a department store, but

(25:13):
not a department store. What is a department store? I
guess when it comes down to it, the term was
invented back in the day. Macy's might have been one
of the early ones. They built a store with various
different departments, offering many different ideas to customers to come
in and shop at one location for very often different things.
Kids clothes, women's clothes, men's clothes, fragrances, watches. Those are

(25:37):
the department stores now Coals In the beginning, I may
have called themselves a value department store. I don't think
they called themselves a discount department store, but that's in
fact what they were. When you look at at Macy's,
Messi's invests heavily on the interior of the store, their presentation.
They built shops, They built special designated areas to showcase

(25:59):
brands and feature certain products. You walk into Macy's, you'll
see beautiful Ralph lauryn shop. You're walking to Macy's, you'll
see great underwear shops for men or dress shirt shops.
Coals doesn't really do that. Coals has a different approach.
They have central cash wrap, which means you go to
one place to purchase all the goods, all the registers

(26:19):
are there, which is generally a designation of a value
oriented store. They're also not in malls calls. They're in
strip centers where the real estate is different prices, which
allows them to sell at lower prices than Macy's's in
premium space in the best malls in the country. And
that's what started to differentiate these brands, meaning these stores.

(26:40):
And in order to make a decision on whether your
brand should or should not be in a store like Coals,
in a store like J. C. Penny, or in a
store like Macy's, you have to ask yourself who you
are and who you want to be. Jesse. There are
two considerations on whether or not a brand sells a

(27:02):
specific store or a specific distribution. Do you want to
guess what those two things are?

Speaker 4 (27:08):
Sure one will be how many stores it has locations.

Speaker 2 (27:14):
That's always a good thing. If they have a lot,
there's a lot of money to be made. But no,
that's not what I'm looking for.

Speaker 3 (27:20):
Where their placement is going to be in a store.

Speaker 2 (27:23):
Again, that's an important area, but that's not the primarya
That's something you might negotiate if you decide to sell
a store. But what are you considering to sell a store?
If you have a brand?

Speaker 3 (27:36):
Who their customer is? Does that matter?

Speaker 2 (27:39):
So if you and me had the Mark and Jesse brand,
the first thing we're going to say is do we
belong in this store? Is the customer we want to
talk to in that store? Second?

Speaker 3 (27:52):
Oh, like what we're going to the markups? You know
what we're going to get.

Speaker 2 (27:57):
Close, but not exactly what do you mean by markup?
You're talking about what? Well?

Speaker 3 (28:02):
Isn't it?

Speaker 4 (28:03):
Also, if you have a concession store, if at what
kind of what your return is going to be if
you sell it to the store. And I forgot what
the terminology is depending upon if they sell all of
your units or not.

Speaker 3 (28:15):
I forget how it works.

Speaker 2 (28:16):
I think what you're trying to say, or what I'll
say for you a little bit is can that customer
afford that price?

Speaker 3 (28:24):
Okay, that sounds much better than what I was saying.
I like it much better.

Speaker 2 (28:27):
Well, that's just so if you're going to go into
a store. You know, stores are all positioned differently. Macy's
positioned as a premium department store, where I just started
talking about Coals, which is more of a value store,
doesn't make Macy's better than Cole's. In the end, Wall
Street reward the store that does the most business and

(28:50):
makes the most money. But if you're a customer looking
for designer brands like Calvin or Michael Core's, you'll find
that it may you won't find that it calls. Doesn't
make one better than the other. And part of the
reason is stores are like banks. Some stores you're making
deposits in and some stores you're making withdrawals in. You

(29:13):
want your brand to be at the level that you're
making a deposit. Van Usen had descermined a long time ago.
It was a people's brand. It belonged with people in
the moderate area. J. C. Penny and van Usen made
the first deal of its kind it was hidden at
the time, we didn't talk about We made one hundred
million dollar deal back in nineteen ninety six ninety seven

(29:38):
to put the van using brand to J. C. Penny.
When we did it, we recognized that the Penny customer
or the brand in j. C. Penny might get hurt.
The cachet of van Usen might get hurt by being
in j. C. Penny. However, if we've established beautiful product
and they could sell our price points, we were willing

(29:59):
to look away and take the chance. We also guaranteed
one hundred million dollars in sale. Today this is not
as frequent as it is, but people are making decisions
to sell their brands in different channels of distribution, and
these are very very difficult decisions because the future of
your company is in place. And you mentioned when you

(30:21):
talk about coals have a thousand dollars, they buy your product,
They can buy a lot of it. So there's a
big temptation. But if you believe it will ruin your
brand in the marketplace that it grew in, like Macy's
or Dyllard's or Sacks or what have you, that's a
big conversation. You don't give it away for money. It's
your future. But I was in Coals this week.

Speaker 4 (30:41):
What are you doing in Coals That doesn't feel like
you didn't you just go on a shopping spree to
like Ralph Lauren recently.

Speaker 2 (30:49):
Yeah, and seventy second in Madison. But I'm a man
of the people. I'm a real shopper. I look for
where there's great product at great prices. There's a brand
that you haven't won. You probably didn't know of it
back in the day. It is called Lee Jeans l Ee.
They're one of the greatest brands. Over the course of time,
they had been bought by another number of companies and
they decided to be a value brand and sold in

(31:12):
value department stores like cold. They make great pants, great
cargo pants. Some of their genes are sensational. I found
them at Coles and I'll buy them there. So yeah,
you'll find me wearing a Ralph Lauren sport code that
costs more than my first car with a pair of
Lee jeans that are thirty eight dollars. So I'm a
man of people.

Speaker 3 (31:32):
You are you are an anomaly. Let me tell you.

Speaker 2 (31:36):
Well, I know quality, I know style, I know fit.
The the leg opening on the particular style of jeans
from Leave that I buy a beautiful you see me
wear them. They look like they look like they look
like Ralph except they fit better anyway, make a long story,
shut out.

Speaker 3 (31:56):
They fit better? They fit better?

Speaker 2 (31:58):
Wow, yeah they do. You know every brand has a
version of how they should fit. Doesn't mean they're right.
I'll tell you the ralph sport coat with alterations is
a brilliant piece of clothing. Their genes tend to be
different for different fits. I don't have the same feeling.
I've tried them. I don't love them. Again. This is

(32:21):
me talking, not a response anyway. Ami Colls and I
bought a pair of jeans that had too much stretching them.
They were ridiculous. They felt like plastic, they felt like rubber,
and I wanted to return them, and I go to
return Coals. They have a very convenient arean calls to
return genes to return merchandise. It's actually the place that

(32:43):
they take returns for Amazon, which is a very smart
move they made. Amazon and Emmerine have a joint venture
that Coals will take returns for Amazon, which makes it
good for Amazon. I guess it brings more customers into
their store, so it's good anyway. I guess there and
there's a line around the block. It has so many

(33:05):
people in the line I want to scream. And there's
one woman servicing that line. I asked the person in
front of me to hold my place and I walk
around the line. I walk by thirty forty customers to
watch what's going on here. And I see this woman
processing one person and I'm saying to myself, she's sufficient.

(33:25):
And I walk back to play my place holding thirty
and I'm saying, what the hell is this all about?
This is crazy. I see other people walking around doing
different things, returning merchandise, you know, putting merchandise back in stock.
I'm sure all that work is important, but you have
customers to consider. I'm thinking Coals. And as I'm standing
there waiting, I look on the wall and there's a

(33:47):
sign and the sign says Coals Cares. And I'm online,
and you know me, Jesse, Hey, everybody you see it
says Coals cares. They don't care off of us to
have more than one person to take returns. But Cole's cares.
Forgive me calls because I like your store. But you know,

(34:09):
if you're going to put it on the wall. Now,
what Cares was referring to is they care about their community,
they care about human rights, they care about the environment,
And I get it. But you know, charity begins in
the home. We are there standing on line. You should
care about my time, should care about the thirty other
people behind me, and you should have more than one
person processing returns. But that's not the part that I

(34:33):
really wanted to talk about. You know, I talked about
brands making decisions. And when your brand is strong, what
your brand is strong, you can do whatever you want
and you will. You will win this conflict of where
you should be. Think about Dura cell batteries, Jesse, where
can you buy dur cell batteries?

Speaker 3 (34:55):
Uh, I don't know.

Speaker 4 (34:56):
Go to CBS, go to anywhere, Well, o, Dwayne read,
get Dura cell batteries anywhere.

Speaker 2 (35:02):
That's the answer. You can buy them anywhere. And why
is that?

Speaker 3 (35:06):
Because everybody needs them?

Speaker 2 (35:09):
Because people are happy to see them. They know what
they are, They understand what dur sellers versus ever ready.
They understand they need a battery, and wherever it's convenient
to buy it, they'll buy it. So smart stores will
carry batteries. It's not that way in fashion. In fashion,
if you decide to sell jcpenny, they're a wonderful store.

(35:32):
My son's company as an ownership in that store. I'm
in jcpenny all the time for the same reasons I
mentioned and cold. If you search, if you hunt, if
you know what you're looking for, you could find great
things in that store. I find a lot of home
products in jcpenny. You need towels, you want to pay
a fair price for towels. I bought towels and restoration hardware.

(35:53):
A hand towel was thirty dollars. I didn't realize. I
got embarrassed into it. You know. I bought ten tows
for three hundred dollars. I walked into j C. Penny.
It's not the same, not the same, but they're pretty serviceable.
And that thirty dollars towel was twelve dollars. So there
are a lot of great things you can buy. But
if restoration Hardware put their talent in j C. Penny,

(36:15):
chances are restoration hardware with feel it hurt their brand,
which brings me to my former company, Calvin Klein. Calvin
Klein Underwear is probably one of the best businesses ever
invented in the history of apparel and accessory. Calvin Klein
Underwear is like a bank. It sells and sells, and

(36:38):
sells and sells. The quality is great, and for whatever
the reasons, whether they're out of smart decision making for
the Calvin Klein company or out of desperation, they needed
to have more volume. They decided to put the Calvin
Klein underwear brand in calls. Now back to the issues.
First issue, will it hurt my brand? They made a

(36:59):
decision that they felt Coals would work with Calvin Kline.
I don't see em selling any other other products. I
don't seem selling dresses or women's wear, or men'swear or genes,
just underwear and maybe underwear. If it's a wrong decision,
scoots in under that unique situation where you can sell
fragrances in any store, you could sell underwear. And I

(37:23):
go over to see the Calvin Cline I wanted to
buy underwear, and I had it on my mind for
while there. It is a cold. My former colleagues at
PVH madted decision to sell the Calvin Cline brand a cold.
I get that the fixturing was not good. All the
shelves were broken in sizes and empty. You couldn't buy

(37:43):
white basic Calvin Cline knitted briefs, knitted box of briefs
in any size you wanted. It was a mess. And
here's the issue. If you're going to make a decision
to risk your distribution to put it in a brand
like Coals, which may or may not be the right
place for it. If you believe the three pair of
underwear for forty eight dollars is a price point that

(38:05):
the Coal's customer is willing to purchase it rather than
buying Coal's private label brand or Jockey or Hagar any
of those other brands that are price oriented. If you're
willing to do it, PVH. If you're willing to do it,
PVH CEO. If you're willing to do it, PVH. Business
managers PVH presidents, PVH, shareholders, stockholders, and whatever. Don't you

(38:29):
think you should have a system for keeping those products
in stock. We all know that the retailers do not
invest time and money in replenishment. They do not spend
the money on keeping stock in place. They can't afford to.
And we have agreements with every retailers to have a
replenishment business that's automatic, and we know we have to

(38:50):
help them. And here I am in coals looking at
Calvin Klein, willing to buy the underwear. I could afford
to pay forty eight dollars for three pair, and I
couldn't find my size in anything other than stuff. We
are ruining this industry. We're doing it to ourselves. We
have to be smart. We have to know where we're selling.

(39:13):
We have to understand whether a consumer could afford to
pay it for the channel that we're in. And when
we're in, we're there to win. Go in, go big,
make sure you win, make sure it's successful. Don't create
a self fulfilling prophecy. I couldn't believe what I saw.
We're doing this to ourselves, and I'm just a rambling man.

(39:34):
Back in a minute.

Speaker 3 (39:36):
Always in fashion.

Speaker 2 (39:38):
Done a Karen began her career as one of the finest,
most successful, powerful women in the fashion industry. She developed
a collection aimed at the luxury market for women on
the go, women who were powerful in their workplace, women
who had lives that extended beyond the workplace, and her
clothes went from day and tonight extraordinary collection. But the

(40:01):
interesting thing, Donna Karen had a young daughter, and she
had friends and they couldn't afford to buy the Donna
Karen collection, and Donna invented dk NY Donna Aaron, New York.
It's an offshoot of the Donna Karen collection. The same
concept a lifestyle brand. Then we talk about lifestyle brands.
What does that really mean? Simply what they say, there
are brands that follow you throughout your lifestyle. You get

(40:24):
up in the morning, you start to get dressed Donna
Karen decan why as intimate apparel, as hosiery, as all
those products. You're getting dressed for work. You get accessorized shoes, handbags,
and it takes you through the day. The remarkable thing
about DK and Y clothes for work, they work into
the evening. The dresses, the suits, the pants, the sweaters,

(40:44):
the blouses, extraordinary clothes at affordable prices that go from
day in tonight. Part of your lifestyle is active. You
have weekends, you have events, you participate in sports. Donna
Karen's casual clothes did that under the DK and Y label.
A vast array of casual sportswear that make women look

(41:05):
great as they navigate their busy lives. Whether you going
to soccer games for your children, or whether you're going
out to the movies, whatever you want to do. DCN
y Genes, dcay Hy Sportswear is there for you. That's
what a lifestyle brand is. I need to mention dk
Y Activewear, which is extraordinary, the leggings, the sports bras,

(41:28):
the sweats. You can wear dk Y active Wear certainly
in the gym, certainly when you're working out at home,
and certainly if you want on the street, because it's
that well done. The quality of dk why is nothing
short of exceptional. And why shouldn't it be because it
was born from the idea of luxury made affordable for

(41:49):
women of America. DKY and Why a true lifestyle brand
that takes you from day and tonight, from the week
into the weekend, DCN Why, DKNY and Macy's DKNY dot com.
As one of the world's most celebrated fashion designers, Carl
Lagafeld was renowned for his aspirational and cutting edge approach

(42:11):
to style. His unique vision of Parisian shit comes to
America through Car Lagofeld Paris. He has women's collections men's collections,
ready to wear, accessory, shoes and bags. The fashion house
Carlagofeld also offers a range of watches, I wear and
premium fragrances. You can explore the car LAGOFL collection at
car Lagofelparis dot com. But it's more than that. I have,

(42:34):
for one, love to shop. I love going around and
seeing what's happening and what catches my attention, what would
make me feel good to wear now. I don't wear
the women's wear obviously, but I can appreciate it and
they look amazing. If you want to look right, you
want to have clothes that fits you well. You want
to look like you're wearing something that's very expensive, that's

(42:56):
exclusive for you and yours. You can find it at
very affordable prices at Macy's Orcarlagofel dot com Paris. The
women's ready to wear fashion is extraordinary, as well as
the handbigs and the shoes. I for one wear men's clothes,
unlike my appreciation of women's clothes. I'm a modern guy.
I want to look current. I want to look the

(43:17):
way I want to feel. I go out at night,
I'm in black and carl Lagafel is my buddy. Calls
are great, they fit great, and they have little tweaks
and touches, whether it's a stripe on the sleeve or
button at the neck or on the shoulder. There's a
lot of details that go into Carlagafel because he's always been,
he always had been one of the world's great designers,
and this legacy and goes on and on. I can't

(43:40):
speak enough about it except to say to you, you
want to feel good about yourself. You want to know
that you're dressing properly. You want to clothes that fits
you well. Carl Lagafeld Paris at Macy's Orcarlagafel dot com.

Speaker 1 (43:53):
Welcome back to it Always in fashion. Here's your host,
Mark Webber.

Speaker 2 (43:58):
So this is Mark Weber. I'm a rambling man. I'm
looking at the peril retail luxury industry. I have some
bones to pick. I'm insulting some retailers and I'm sulting
some manufacturers. Not intentionally. I gave you a qualify. This
is just my idea. It's not the sponsors, it's not
the station. But they're things that you have to consider
when you're making decisions because every one of US has

(44:19):
a brand. My brand is Mark Weber. Jesse Weber's Jesse Weber.
We stand for something. Jesse is big in TV and
news and all these different things. Jesse, you care about
your brand?

Speaker 3 (44:31):
Of course? I care about my brand. What is my brand?
Who am I? I don't know, but I care about it.

Speaker 2 (44:38):
Well, there are stations you wouldn't go on because you're
afraid of the opinion you'd have to give.

Speaker 4 (44:42):
That is true, That is truem very selective on that. Well,
now I work for news nations, so I'm limited and
where I can go. But yes, one hundred percent. I
was always very careful about where I go, what positions.
Sometimes they would ask me, they'd say, hey, can you
come on tonight? This is not NewsNation, this is another network.
Hey can you come on tonight and defend them this
person or make this point. Because they wanted me as
like the I forgot the word, but basically, oh, what's

(45:07):
the word I'm trying to use.

Speaker 2 (45:08):
Well, let's say there's a democratic or Republican approach. Pick one.
They're asking you be the one. You don't feel comfortable.

Speaker 4 (45:14):
They wanted me to be the foil. They wanted me
to be the foil. That's it, the foil to whatever
the host was saying. So I would look like an idiot.
I'm like, I'm good, I'm good. And you you you always,
you always give me great advice.

Speaker 3 (45:25):
You're like the best manager.

Speaker 4 (45:27):
But I remember when I was first starting out and
it was like a big show that it was asked
to go on. But I would basically look like an idiot.
You go, it's great exposure, you should do it. I'm like,
this is not the exposure that I want.

Speaker 2 (45:39):
You're right, and that's what we're talking about today. You
got to know who you are and who you play with.
You have to know where you want to sell your
goods and what have you, Jesse what else.

Speaker 4 (45:48):
Unfortunately, I know who I am and I'm a guy
who has to run now because I'm always so busy.

Speaker 3 (45:51):
So I feel bad.

Speaker 4 (45:52):
I'm not on the show enough. I need to be
on the show more. I'm sorry. I'm gonna try to
come on more. But you're doing a good show so far.

Speaker 2 (45:59):
Okay, Well, I'm gonna let you leave back to you
the audience. You know, I've talked about distribution, and I
want to talk about the discount area and department stores
versus department. I'm want to talk about discount stores for
a minute. TJ Max. The other day, someone asked me
where they should buy dress shirts. Now, my simple answer

(46:20):
would have been, go to Macy's. You'll find Calvin, Michael Kre's,
Tommy Hill Figure, you'll find the best designer brands at
reasonable price points sixty five dollars dress shirts. But this
guy was a young guy who was starting his career.
He needed like ten shirts, and I said to myself,
I'm going to tell them something different. I told them
to go to TJ Max. If you go to TJ Max,

(46:42):
one of the greatest companies in the world to sell
first of all the solid they're well financed, they pay
their bills, and they don't call out your brand dress shirts.
It's all in call them bins. They're all mixed together.
If you could find a Ralph Lauren or a Lauren
dress shirt, or or a Calvin or a Ptomy or
a Venues and they're all mixed together, they're not featured

(47:05):
by brand. So you go in and you're lucky enough
if you're a fifteen and a half to find a
brand or a shirt that you like in your size
and in the color you're looking for. They don't guarantee
that if they you want a white shirt, you'll have
it the exact white shirt you want, in every color
or in every bin and every size you want. But
you will find a white shirt, You'll find a blue shirt,

(47:27):
you'll find a striped shirt. You'll find products that you
can relate to at fail prices. Because the reason TJ
Max can do that is they provide a service to
the manufacturing industry. They buy the surplus at the end
of the season. If you haven't sold everything you needed
to sell, what do you do with it? See, fashion

(47:49):
and clothing is not like fine wine. It doesn't improve
with age. You have to sell it while the going
is good. And while TJ Max understands this business well,
they understand that dress shirts have a different shelf life.
They can keep them longer, and they put them together
and it's a great place to buy product. I gave

(48:10):
them a recommendation. Then there's Costco. Yours truly as a
Costco discount card, Costco membership card. I guess what it
really is. I joined Costco a number of years ago.
I go there very rarely. I bought I mentioned earlier.
I bought batteries there. You can buy one hundred batteries
for less than you'll buy them somewhere else. You can
buy tissues, you can buy all this stuff. And there's

(48:32):
a lot of apparel at Costco. Now there are times,
well you'll find great brands at Costco, and they'll find
times you'll find secondary brands. But there's some of the
greatest deals you can find. I made a decision at DKY.
President of DKY came to me and said, Mark, we
really want to do business in Costco. I said, you know,

(48:53):
it's dk andy. I'm not sure that's good for our brand.
You know, I have a concept of store that make
deposits and stores that take withdrawals. What about Costco? Said Listen,
we'd be amongst good company. At the time, Lauren by
Ralph Lauren were there, Michael Kors were there, some of
the contemporary brands were there, and Mark, all we would

(49:14):
do is put in one gene style and a range
of colors. It sits on a palette, it comes in,
it stays for a few weeks, and it's gone. That's
the Costco formula. Because they don't want to get stale
other than their tower racks that you'll see for socks
or underwear. The fashion comes and goes, and Mark we
could do a lot of business there. So I agreed

(49:35):
to meet with the Costco people. They came to their office,
They explained the premise. They told me why DK y
be extremely important. They told me why they thought it
would be good for the brand. Now we're going back
fifteen years in this time and fashionable brands were few
and far between in the store. But they convinced me
to try it, and overnight we were doing thirty million

(49:56):
dollars profitably at Costco. In my entire time at Costco,
I never once heard someone walk into a DKY store
on Madison Avenue and say, I'm not buying eu jeens
anymore because I saw them at Costco. I never heard
of retailer say to me, you know, Mark, Macy's or
Dillard's or anyone else for that matter, I'm not buying

(50:18):
eu genes anymore because we saw them at Costco. There's
a way to do these things, and a way to
do them right. Our positioning at Costco was DK. Why
if you're in it, you're in it to win it.
The price points were represented of DK and y. We
didn't discount. We gave a fair price. We compared it

(50:39):
to what we would have sold those streams at one
of our alt stores. Now, our holot stores could have complained,
but they'd have to come to me and I would
throw them out the door. But we made a decision,
and Costco is one of those fine retailers that office
his service. Here's a trivia question. What is the retailer
in the United States that sells more wine than any

(51:02):
other retailer in America? Times up? It's Costco. Go no. Now.
Having said that, we as manufacturers, we as brand managers,
we as brand owners, we as designers, we as merchants
and marketeers of our brand have to recognize who we are.

(51:22):
We have to recognize the quality and the level of
quality that we should make in the products bearing our name.
Once you start taking quality out, which has seen a
lot from a lot of brands this week, you're looking
for trouble. I used to buy all my VNX sweaters
at Target. Why I had bought my VNX sweaters from Isazart.

(51:46):
I left the company. I didn't want to wear the
brand anymore. I do again now, but I didn't then
I found target by accident. I was looking for a
bookstand for my TV, and there, lo and behold, I
saw that PK polos, which of excellent quality. I saw
the v Nex sweaters excellent choirs started buying them profusely,

(52:06):
and for a period of a few years they were
my go to place for polos and sweaters until they
started making lighter and lighter and lighter, to the point
that I could see through them. They lost one of
their most important customers because when I was in the store,
I found out they seld food and household appliances. I
bought an iron, I bought all the things. But they

(52:26):
disappointed me because they forgot that customers know what they're doing.
Those of whose shop we come in with our time
and money, we expect the quality and integrity in return.
Having said all of this, I've been out there. I'm
a rambling man. I'm moving around, I'm watching what's going on,

(52:46):
but I'm also making observations. And those observations say, we
are hurting ourselves. No one's forcing us to. You're making
short term decisions rather the long term decisions. You're ready
fire aim rather than ready aim fire. Think strategically, think smart,

(53:08):
always put your brand first. If you don't, who will
With that? I say good night,