We Don't Remember Days, We Remember Moments

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This show is produced and hosted by Mark Webber.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
The show is sponsored by G three Aparo.

Speaker 1 (00:05):
The views expressed in the following program are those of
the sponsor and not necessarily the opinion of seven ten
wr or iHeartMedia. Who is Mark Weber. He's a self
made business executive here to help you find your success
from the New York City projects to the Avenue Montaigne
in Paris. His global success story in the luxury world

(00:27):
of fashion is inspirational. He's gone from clerk to CEO twice.
Mark his classic proof that the American dream is alive
and well, here's your host of Always in Fashion, Mark Webber.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
Mark Weber. It's the holiday season for me. That means
it's time to slow down, enjoy life, tell my blessings.
The atmosphere is amazing outside, it's live with hope, the lights,
the lighting up the nights, music brings my free time

(01:03):
even has free time either. I'm with family of friends.

Speaker 3 (01:08):
But it's the holidays and I'm loving it.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
I'm like it. You ever notice in life, and we
don't remember days, per see, we remember the moments. I
found a lot of moments this week that I want
to think about and talk about. I found new things
to enjoy, and I'm most enjoying those things I find precious.
Some have memories, some mean things to me. But after

(01:33):
all is said and done, I have my private time
and I do things in my time. Now, those of
you who know me or listen to this show know
that I go out of my way to avoid people. Yeah,
I try it and be alone whenever I can. And
now I have a new thing. I try to be
incognito when I can. Apparently people know me, particularly in

(01:57):
the neighborhoods I travel in the city. Now in the
sub I tried my my own business, yet I seem
to be other people's businesses. I've been shopping. I was
in Bloomingdale's yesterday at night walking. A guy comes out
to me, says Joe Mark Webber. I said, how did
you know that? He said, you friendly with another guy
who works here. He always talks about you. He introduced

(02:19):
me to you a while back. I've listened to your show.
How is it, I asked, and he said, You're doing great,
So that's not bad. Of course, I just at times
want to just blend in leave me alone. But I
must admit I've rediscovered something. This holiday a boyhood memory hold.

(02:40):
I thought, for a second, I've been successful losing weight
and more importantly, metaining it. It's going on four years now,
which I've managed to stay below one hundred and sixty
five pounds. But I'm doing so I don't eat as
much as I shouldn't. I probably aren't eating as well
as I should. And I realized that I've read enough

(03:00):
to know that protein is the key. You must have
thirty milligrams. I believe the number of protein every day
and one meal a day doesn't get it. So I figured,
I know if I lunch, I won't have the ability
to eat it. So I started to find breakfast. What
am I gonna do about breakfasts? Have some protein, eggs, whatever,
And of all things, I found a diner, a Dina,

(03:25):
just like when I grew up in Brooklyn. And here
I am, once again eating in the diner, A man
of the people, simple food, huge menu, choice, their prices,
and most importantly, no one knows me. I dress like
I belong. I'm not all in black, I'm not all
in white. I'm not wearing my double breastlets sports coats.

(03:47):
I'm wearing a knit hat. I could be anyone. I
tone down everything. I dress like I belong. You know
my family growing up with blue collar workers. I grew
up with blue collar mindset. I'm a laborer in this dina.
I have been a corporate guy strictly my entire adult life.

(04:10):
I can't tell you how relaxing it is to leave
the pomp and circumstance behind. It reminds me of a
time with no nonsense, a simple time. We're common sense
people did common sense things. I'm happy here in obscurity.
No one knows my history, no one knows the radio show,
my podcast, my accomplishments. I'm just another guy on the job.

(04:33):
Or are they're looking me a retiree living on a pension.
I don't know how they look at me, but I
don't think anybody's looking at me. I'm happy here at
the diner, as happy as I've been at the Polar bar.
I'm a guy now balancing two systems, two lives. I'm
a one percenter, or I live in the city project
you decide. I'm not sending any signals. I like it now.

(04:53):
Don't get me wrong. I've enjoyed my success, the challenges
and the rigors of going out and winning in corporate life.
But I'm mosto proud. I never forgot or forget where
I've come from, from buses and subways to private jets,
working at the post office, shoveling snow stop, boy at
a local retail store, selling suits at another, to president

(05:15):
of public corporations, managing thousands of people. But I never forgot,
nor will I ever forget my roots. I appreciate my principles.
And it sounds like I'm about that, you know. It
sounds like I'm about to declare running for governor of
New York. But alas, no, that's not for me. But
I'm remembering how important your word is and how it's

(05:38):
really the only thing we own. And I preach it
in different words when I tell you my stories. I
don't mind spending many I just hate wasting it. To
this day and age, I've never had one of my
cars washed. I do it myself because I appreciate what
it took to going into afford to buy a car.
I spend time in Brooklyn. These days, I'm doing different things.

(06:01):
I suppose to take the Boy out of Brooklyn, but
you can't take the Brooklyn out of the Boy. This
holiday is a great reminder for me of who I am.
As I reflect, I'm reminded. We don't remember days, we
remember moments, and tonight I want to share some of
those moments with you. I got a call this week

(06:24):
from one of my closest friends in life. His name
is Stud Rosendal Stuart and I go way back. We
go way back, and hearing remember in the holiday season
is always for sure. And I spent some time on
the phone with him and it got me thinking on
how I met him, and I want to tell you
a story because it's an important story on business. I

(06:44):
was working at pH Phillips Naneusen as a designer. I
have been with the company almost three years. I was
doing really well. I was in the persuaded division while
everyone was in the big jobs man's dresser. It's the
largest shirt company in the world, sportswear, one of the
largest sports wear. I was in the boys wear. I
was kind of bummed out about it, but you know,

(07:07):
it was my first job in design. And here's what happened.
I learned everything. If you think about boys clothes and
girls clothes to them and those the boys boys with pants, shorts, socks, shirts,
t shirts, dress shirts, suits, kids have to dress for everything.
I mean, you are the boys who are a designer

(07:27):
at a big company. You have to learn every one
of those products. Now, as it turns out, I was
competing with.

Speaker 3 (07:35):
The best of the best, but they were all specialists.

Speaker 2 (07:38):
The guy who was designing if the company men's dress
shirts was brilliant. He was amazing, and he could talk
dress shirts. He could talk woven fabrics, she could talk
it with the best of them, But he couldn't talk
all those other things that I could talk about, sweaters, knitwear,
polo shirts, shorts, pants, shoes, everything. And after a year

(07:59):
or two doing that, I knew more than anyone else
in the company. No one could compete with me because
I knew every product. When they start looking for people
who are heavy enough and experience enough to do the
entirety of the job, who are they looking at me?
The guy in the kids division used to drive those
people nuts because the management of the company would come

(08:20):
see what we're doing, and then they'd bring in the
head of the dress shirt division and say, go, look
what Mark is doing in boys where it would be
good for you and dresser or the sportswear division. Marks
doing a polo shirt program. You have to look at
it's better than what we're doing, go and put it in.
So I was really making a name for myself, and
as it turned out, I needed an assistant. It got

(08:42):
to the point I couldn't do everything myself. I had
a clerical assistant. I needed a designer assistant. And I
was starting to plan what I would do, go to
the outside as someone in the company, and hence bring
back my friends to it. There's a guy in the company.
He was the only guy in the company time that
looked like me. He didn't look like a corporate guy.

(09:03):
He had long hair, he was a little rough at
the edges, but a smart guy and an easy guy
and a nice guy. He heard about me and he
started coming into my office every day to say hello
and ask what we're working on. And I would show
him ideas and he'd give me some ideas, and his
ideas were always good, and we became friends. We started

(09:25):
to hang out together every day at lunch. I would
walk with him. We'd go to the park where you
go and we were The offices were on sixth Avenue
and fifty second Street, so it's a straight shoot into
the Central Park. We started hanging out, and then one day,
after a couple of months, he said to me, Mark,
I'm in trouble, So what's the matter to do it?
He said, Look, they have me doing one of these

(09:45):
operations jobs. It's all paperwork. I'm getting it done, but
I hate it. I'm not good at it. I want
to come into design. Would you think about hiring me
to work for you? I said, I definitely would think
about it. I'm not sure how to do it, you know,
after all, I was relatively new, he said, Laura, let
me see. He said, that would be great. More so,

(10:06):
I went into my boss at the time. And here's
where the story gets interesting in terms of corporate America.
I went into my boss. His name was Ray Bittener.
I don't know where Ray is now. I don't know
anything about him. I only knew he's a mean guy,
tough guy. It's not mean tough, too tough, too much
to bear for anyone. But he and I had a

(10:26):
good working relationship. And then I was oh, frankly, I
was pretty good at what I did, and therefore I
had a good relationship. After all, that's what boss an
employer about. The boss needs someone to work for him,
to deliver. That's all he cares about. I was a deliverer.
So I walked in and said, you know, we agreed.
I need someone to help me. He said, yeah, I'm
thinking about who you need. I said, you know what.

(10:47):
There's a guy in the company. You must have seen him.
His name is Stuart Rawson Tall. He's an interesting guy.
He's smart, but he really knows fashion. I think he
could be really asked to us. He said, not my guy.
I want to find someone else. I want to go
to the outside, hire someone to find the place. I said,
but Ray, the guy is going to work for me.
Can I pick my own assistant? He said, no, you

(11:09):
work for me and I'm going to pick the assistant.
Really bothered me. Start to think about it. I'm with
the company now almost three years, and every day somebody's
coming in, the most senior people that come in. Hey, Mark,
how you doing? There's great things. I love what you're doing.
It all that's going on, and I can't pick my
own assistant. So I got upset by it. And there

(11:29):
was a gentleman. His name was Robert J. Solomon. He
was the senior vice president of Merchandising at the company
at that time number three in the pecking or the
president head of sales in him very highly regarded, and
as it turned out, I got to know Robert Solomon
over the course of my three years, not because I

(11:49):
was a pretty face, which that might have helped, but
really because I was known for working hard for delivery,
and I learned in his three years how to be
respect and how to play the corporate game more so
than I ever dreamed I would. But it was three
years that I wanted to fit in and I learned.
So I asked to see him through his assistant and

(12:11):
she said, mister Solmon available at three o'clock. You want
to come balance, It's sure, I really appreciate it. Three o'clock.
I go down and I asked to see rob Solomon's
system lets me and Roberts says, Hi, Mark, how are
you o? Great? Said, what's up? Well? Do you want
to talk about? I said, I have a problem that
I wanted to talk to you about. So now you

(12:32):
know his demeanor change is right away. What kind of
problem do I have a problem with the company? If
somebody did wrong? Am I leaving the company? He could
see his demeana change he didn't know what to expect
to say. Come sit down, and I sat and said, look,
mister Solomon, we've agreed in the boys division that I'm
going to hire an assistant, and I know who I

(12:54):
want to hire. He's a young guy who works here.
He's been in the operations department for the last six months.
He admitted that he's can deal the job he's doing,
but he really wants to be in design. I spent
a lot of time, we become friends. I think it'd
be great if I can hire him. So he said, well,
go ahead and hire them. Did you talk to Ray
Ray as my boy? I said, I took to Ray

(13:16):
and Ray said, I can't hire them. Bob gets quiet.
Did he say why? He said he wants to hire
the person who's going to work for me. No, Solomon's requiet,
and he said, Mark, you're putting in a very difficult
position here. I said, before I put you in any position,
let me explain to you why I'm sitting here now.
I got to tell you, over the course of time,
I made so many mistakes in my career. I could

(13:37):
fill a book with him. But I had the poise
at the right times, you know, I said before the
title of the show actually is we don't remember days.
We remember special moments, and this is one of those
special moments. I said, this is Solomon. I've spent three
years in this company. I don't ask for money. I
don't back away from work. I take what it takes.

(13:58):
I do the hours, whatever it is needed. I don't
ask for anything. After three years, every day or every
few days, someone coming down telling me how great I am,
telling me how much they appreciate the work I'm doing.
I want to hire an assistant. I can't hire my
own assistant kind of put his head down from me,
and he said, you don't know what you're putting me
through here right now, But you're right. I can't argue

(14:20):
with it. But you are going above the head of
your boss. Your boss has told you no, you're not
accepting it. Instead of creating a working relationship with him,
you're coming to me and asking me to override him, which,
by the way, I'm going to do for you. But
I want to make sure you understand what you're doing.
By doing this, you may change your working relationship with

(14:43):
your boss forever. He may resent you, he may never
forgive you. He may lose interest in you. And I
was quiet for a minute, and they said, look, mister Solomon,
I am committed to this company. I've worked here, I
love it here, I've done what's asked to me. Have
to believe that if I have a problem with my
boss because he doesn't want me to hire my own assistant,

(15:05):
that he wants to hand me somewhat. He has plenty
to do in this company without worry about who's working
for me. And if I'm wrong, we'll deal with it.
If it means that I will have to a problem
with him, I am comfortable that this company will find
another role for me. And he looked at me. He
smiled and said, I don't know where you've learned this, mart,

(15:26):
but there's nothing I could say to disagree with you,
and I will talk to Ray about you hiring your
own assistant. Fast forward two days later, I'm in Ray
Bettner's office. Mark. I am not pleased that you went
to seeing Robert Solomon about your assistant, but I do
respect the fact that you did it, and whether I

(15:47):
agree or not, it doesn't matter. I'm going to allow
you to hire your own assistant. All I will do
is tell you make sure he works hard. Make sure
you train him properly, and let's be successful. Go ahead
and talk to Stuart. How much can I offer him?
Give him a ten percent raise above what he's currently earning.
And you gave him on and I did, and Stewart

(16:08):
and I became the best of friends. Now the funny
thing that would happen three months later, I resigned from
the company. It's a long story. I'll give you the
short version. Very briefly. I had a president of another
company who is a supplier to the company. He sold
us the buttons for all our shirts. They told me

(16:30):
I have a job for you. I said, I don't
want to work at a bunt and company. He said, no,
you're idiot. I have a job in another company. They
specifically asked for someone like you. You're perfect for it.
You could w salary. They're gonna worship you. There there's
another guy who they hired from Venues and had just left.
They want you. I ended up leaving the company. I
walk into Stewart. I said, Stuart, come I offer. Three

(16:51):
months after I had gotten them the job, I'm leaving.
He said, can you do this to me? I said,
you're going to be fine. And I left the company.
I eventually came back. That's the story again for another
time I left the company, But back to the moments.
Over the course of time, Stewart and I remained very
close friends, and he worked at farious different companies. He
had actually left end use it. He went to another company,

(17:13):
working for the founder and chairman. He got an education
like I got from one of the great knitwear makers
of all time. The founder of the company took him
under his wing and taught him everything. But as time
went on, Stewart and I would always be confidence. And
when he called me this week, I reminded him of
the story. I had my ups and downs. My career
didn't go from bottom to top without a lot of

(17:34):
zigzags in the long way. Ah, he's up and down
problems here there. One day we're walking to the Central
Park and I'm really discouraged because one of my fiercest
competitors got the job that I was hoping i'd get.

Speaker 3 (17:50):
And I was really damn And he looked at me
and started yelling at me. He said, what the f
is wrong with you, dear man? What are you doing here?

Speaker 2 (18:01):
It's like The Godfather with Johnny Fontaine, you gotta act
like a man. He did that to me. He said,
you're forgetting the most important thing. Everyone in that company
is smart. Your company mark. Every single one of those
people are smart, and therefore you're smart. That's the only
way you could survive. But you're forgetting that. You have

(18:23):
a different talent you as a merchant. Your ability to
see into the future, your ability to see around corners,
your ability to know what looks good, your ability to
know what men want to wear out address them. Your
eye for fashion is different than anyone else in that company.
Nobody has it, and you have to remember it. This
is who you are and you are not behind. I

(18:45):
have to remind you that a price fight is twelve rounds.
So you're in the sixth round. You took a hit,
you're down on one knee, Get up and win. And
I gotta tell you something. When he said that to me,
just picture the rocky music play. All of a sudden,
I'm hearing the rocky music and I'm listening to my
friend Stuart, and he was right. And over the course

(19:06):
of time, I will tell you that because of my training,
because of my public corporation life, because he was an entrepreneur,
worked at a handful of other companies. I had a
different course than he had, and I think he would say,
and I would have to agree, if I do say
so myself. From a corporate point of view, disis point
of view. He might have known more of things than

(19:27):
I did about a lot of subjects, but when it
turned to guiding careers and helping him, I did more
of that than he did for me. But when he
did it for me, it was huge. So in the
night where I talk about we don't remember days, we
remember moments. That was one of the moments coming into

(19:47):
the holiday season that helped change the directory of my career.
And I'll never forget it. We don't remember days, we
remember moments back in a minute always. In fact, Donna
Karen began her career as one of the finest, most successful,
powerful women in the fashion industry. She developed a collection

(20:10):
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 to night. An extraordinary collection. But the
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.

(20:34):
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
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,

(20:57):
and it takes you through the day. The remarkable thing
about DK Y clothes for work, they work into the evening.
The dresses, the suits, the pants, the sweaters, 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

(21:21):
did that under the DK and Y label. A vast
array of casual sportswear that make women look 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. Dkn Y Jeans,
dk Y Sportswear is there for you. That's what a

(21:42):
lifestyle brand is. I need to mention dk Y active Wear,
which is extraordinary, the leggings, the sports bras, the sweats.
You can wear dk WHY 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.

(22:05):
And why shouldn't it be Because it was born from
the idea of luxury made affordable for women of America.
Dk and Why a true lifestyle brand that takes you
from day and tonight, from the week into the weekend.
DCN why you can find DCNY and Macy's DKY dot com.

(22:26):
I love Polar fleece. It's lightweight, takes colors beautifully, it's comfortable,
keeps you warm, and even if it's warm out, it
doesn't hamper you. It doesn't make you perspire. I love
Polar Fleece. I also love sweatshirts and sweatpants, love them,
love them, love them. I'm a big fan of khaki
pants and a big fan of a golf clothes and

(22:48):
I'm a big fan of ISAID. I used to be
the head of iszide. In fact, my company bought it
and at of bankruptcy and the CEO of the company
asked me to come in and fix it. And he
said to me, marked the future the companies in your hands.
Can you do this? And I said, I will do it.
I put everything, my heart and soul into making Eesad
the powerhouse that it is today. Now. I left a

(23:09):
long time ago and the company just continues to thrive.
ISAOD is one of the great sweater makers, pant make
a shirt makers, knit shirt makers, Polar shirt makers. They're
incredible company. The colors are great, the fabrics are great. Guys,
you ever wonder what you should wear, I'll make it
easy for you. If you're going to be casual, go
in and look at ISID. Now that doesn't say that

(23:29):
they don't have dress shirts and they don't have suits.
You go find them. ISAOT is a collective brand that
offers lifestyle apparel to everyone in America. And it's true
it's a fun brand, but it's also priced at fun
prices everyone can afford it. I love this brand of
all the brands that I'm involved with, and you can
name them. Think about PVH and LVMH and all the brands.

(23:50):
Isaod is the one that's most personal to me because
I was involved in crafting the future of this brand.
The clothes are great, fall is great, They're doing well.
Isod dot com, isaactat JC Penny go look for it.
I think you're going to be very happy. And ladies,
those of you do shopping for the guys in your lives,
take a look. I think they'll be very happy with
your choices. Isaac for men, welcome back to it. Always

(24:14):
in fashion.

Speaker 1 (24:15):
Here's your host, Mark Webber.

Speaker 2 (24:17):
It's a night's show. We don't remember days, we remember moments.
And I'm going through moments in a holiday time that
are important or just tickle my fancy this week, and
I have to say to you, I have been shopping.
I spend so much time shopping. Funny thing is I
don't need anything. Ever, generally speaking, I don't want anything

(24:39):
now either, So I don't need anything and I don't
want anything. So why am I shopping? Because I enjoy it.
But I'm in the stores and I have an announcement
or or message for my friends at retail, What are
you doing? You are so bad right now. It's unbelievable
what I'm seeing now. They're except to the rule. I

(25:01):
will tell you American Eagle outfit has looks great. The
handbags if the tone, look amazing. But buy and large
all you brands out there, you look terrible. I don't
understand what you're thinking. Here are some observations. There's just
too much stuff. No, I don't mean you have too

(25:22):
many things in your store. You want to fill your
store with a million products, go right ahead. But that stuff,
they don't catch my attention. There's nothing special about it.
There's no reason to buy it. It's like watching paint dry.
You have racks and racks of merchandise that are there
just to fill the racks. Nobody wants it. Maybe the

(25:45):
other day I shouldn't have blown off Elon Musk when
he said fashion hasn't changed since two thousand and five. Oh,
let's be honest. Okay, when you look at Elon Musk,
he needs a makeover. I'm the first to offer it.
There's no one I could think of in this world
that I admire more than Elon Musk. But his taste

(26:07):
buds and his tastes level. I'm not where it should be.
I would personally if anybody hears the show knows them,
I would love the opportunity to help him dress for
any occasion. I can make him look great. I'll give
him the makeover, won't charge him, just the opportunity to
talk to him and listen to him. But I have
to say to you, he's right, there's just stuff out there. Now.

(26:30):
You want to know the reality. We all want things
that are basic. Now. They are those of us who
are fashioned people, and you want to make a statement.
They're those like myself that walk in a room and
people look at me and if anybody wants to comment, wow,
that really looks nice. And then there are people who

(26:50):
walk in a room they want people to comment and
they say, WHOA look at you? There are plenty of
WHOA look at us. I don't subscribe to that format.
You look at Uniclob, that Japanese store that are in
every more the word that doesn't have any really English
transfer Uniqlo, Uniclow. It's all about basics. It's all about

(27:13):
simple things. T shirts, sweaters, fleet chance, they all are basic.
But everyone could wear them. Everyone leads them and they'll
look good on everyone. But the reality is, I'm looking
at men'swear in all these different.

Speaker 3 (27:29):
Shops and it's all stuff. I'd have a hard.

Speaker 2 (27:33):
Time putting outfits together, with the exception of Ralph Lauren
or maybe suit supply. So with a couple of observations
for shopping in men'sweth that I will see you the first.
What's happening to craftsmanship is a strange thing. I grew
up in men'swear. Working in factories, I learned the way
products were supposed to be made. No talking to men

(27:56):
out there, I would say nine, maybe eight or nine
of you probably have one of those sweaters or one
of those knit shirts with the zipper turtleneck. The reality
is when those were made in factories where people knew
what they were doing, those things were made in a
specific way to leave you comfortable. When you think about it,

(28:17):
it can be one as a turtleneck. The zipper goes
up and it sits on your neck. Every quality zipper
garment that I was ever involved with would be lined
on the inside with the fabric from the turtleneck, so
that when the zipper was against your neck, you didn't
feel the metal, You didn't feel the zipper. You don't
feel it pushing against your throat. Ralph and everyone I

(28:37):
saw in the stores this week had the zipper exposed.
I don't get it. They're supposed to be covered with
the material from inside. When did you not learn how
to do that? Are all the skill sets that were
developed to teach people how to make garments gone? I
don't know, but ninety nine percent of the ones I've

(28:58):
seen are wrong, and it is wrong. On another note,
I was shopping Jacy Penny the other day. Say I'm
a man of the people. As I said before, I
could shop in Vitona and I could shop at Penny.
I like them both. You want to talk about stuff,
I think they should change the name of the store

(29:18):
to stuff by J. C. Penny. Oh, they have a
lot of great brands. They have a lot of our
own great brands, but they are by and large, one
big store of stuff. Now, I will tell you that
private brands are generally speaking, finance better than their national brands,
better shops, better fixes. They won't admit it, but you

(29:39):
have to look. Every one of their private labels has
their own unique area and certain of which I would
definitely consider important and they treat properly. You walk in
that store, you know what they stand for, on who
they think is important, and the lion's share of the
product is made in a certain way to make the
shop appetizing to you. I'm in that store looking around,

(30:00):
and I'm saying, what do they want me to buy?
I can't tell, but I look for basics, like now,
I'm looking for a crew neck, long sleeves. I'm looking
for a mock turtleneck. I'm looking for turtlenecks and I
can't find them. Could someone please explain to me, in
the winter being twenty five to thirty degrees outside, why

(30:21):
I can't find a black mocked net or a white
turtleneck in JC Penny And then lo and behold, I'm
walking in Saint John's Bay, the private label area, and
they have a mock turtle in six colors. Three of
them are colors you can't possibly wear red, gold, and
a colored tan or khaki or camel. The worst color

(30:43):
I've ever seen in my life was black and navy
and brownness. Okay, none of them have on the rack
a full size range, no small, medium, lodge and extra lot.
This is the middle of shopping season for Chrystmals. How
could you have a rack of core shirts and basic
items that they don't have mediums, so they don't have

(31:04):
lodges and they have too many extra lodgers of double exits.
What is going on here? I don't know what's happening,
which brings me to really what I wanted to talk about.
I want to talk about Macy's. Macy's is one of
my favorite stores in the world. Why you might ask,
because they're in areas where are fun to shop. They're
usually in good malls. They have a huge assortment of

(31:26):
brands that you know and recognize, many of which are
my sponsors, many of which you know I've talked about,
whether it's Calvin Klein, Tommy Hill, figure that use it.
I walked into the Locals macy store and right when
I walked in the front display men's cashmere sweaters Crew
nex VNX. One of the most important items this time

(31:47):
of year for anyone are cashmere sweaters, particularly when they
come with the stores label. In this case it was Clubroom.
They're listed for one hundred and hundred and twenty dollars
and they're on self with fifty nine dollars good deal
for consumer. It's right up front, you know the value.
And the colors in this case were gray, black, navy, gray,
light gray camel. I walk over. I don't know why

(32:11):
I wanted a gray v neuck Cashmas sweater. I suppose
if I looked at my closet, I could find ten
of them. But back in the day, I was much
bigger than now. Four years ago, I've mentioned that I
decided to get fit, changed my life, my lifestyle, the
way I ate.

Speaker 3 (32:28):
And I lost fifty seven pounds. I went from my
excel or double xcel to a medium. And here I am.
It's four years later, and I held on to the
weight and I'm looking for.

Speaker 2 (32:36):
A gray neck sweater no mediums.

Speaker 3 (32:40):
I was shocked.

Speaker 2 (32:41):
It's the key focal point of the store, walking in
cashmere sweaters for men, regular price on sale, blah blah blah.
So I walk over to one of the young ladies
who are sales associates, and I say, you know, I'm
looking for cashmus sweaters. Can you point me in the
right direction. She points me to the table. I was
just hat, I said. You know, when I walked in,
I started the table. I walked over. There's no sizes.

(33:04):
That's why I'm asking you. Said, well, we had a
good Black Friday, we don't have sizes. And I'm saying
to myself, how can you make money Macy's not having
your most important items in size and in color at
this time of year? I said, there are no sizes.
I don't care how good Black Friday was. This is
what you have left. This isn't this one of the

(33:26):
most important tables in the store. Isn't this one of
your feature products? You're having your store? How can you
be out of it now? Being the shopper that I
am and I was, I said, I'm not going to
give up. I walked over to a corner. I took
out my cellphone. I went to Macy's online. I looked
for Man's Cashmere clubroom sweaters, and there I found the

(33:46):
gray sweater. No mediums. How do you plan your store? Oh,
you had plenty of ugly stuff hanging. You had plenty
of stuff like Penny had plenty of stuff. As a
matter of fact, that sweater I saw there. You had
plenty of purple sitting there. But your core program? What
is going on? I don't care how busy you are.

(34:08):
I don't care what your job is? You have one job.
You're buying Macy's keeping in stock because that will make
your store profitable. Anyway, I went online. As much as
I didn't want to buy a large, I bought a
large and I ordered it now, I.

Speaker 3 (34:23):
Purposely, pregnantly pausing.

Speaker 2 (34:25):
For a moment. I ordered the large V neck sweater.
Eight days later, it shows up, comes in a loft
soft package. I open it up in a plane see
through cellophane bag. Is my Macy's cashmere sweater wrapped in

(34:45):
a ball with a receipt like garbage. I am a
fan of macy I bought something for myself. I bought
a treat for myself. I was looking forward for coming
to my house. And you send it to me, wrapped
dinner and ball, all crease with a receipt in it.
No bag, no package, no nothing like garbage? Is that

(35:08):
the signal you're sending the most unappetizing package I've ever
seen in my life. It's like a shoveled crap into
a plastic badge. Shame on you. What are you thinking?
I guess you know Macy's and I, you know, have
a goolong relationship. I knew both their chairman's. I know
the current sitting chairman. Good guys, smart guys. His predecessor

(35:32):
told me that they view Macy's as having five hundred
distribution centers, that every one of their stores is a
distribution center today, and their whole system e commerce is
tied into getting inventory wherever they have it. It could
be in the warehouse, it could be a store in
San Diego, it could be a store in New York City.
They'll locate it wherever you located by zip COO, They'll

(35:55):
find the closest one and send it to you. But
what rules are you giving them? Don't you want to
excite me? Don't you want me to feel like I'm
buying gold at a fair price. Don't you think it
matters the presentation and the image you give me in
the way you represent yourself. I can't tell you how
disappointed I was. The sweater again, looked all wrinkled. I

(36:19):
don't want to even meet a box, but to roll
it in a ball. And what wasn't bad enough? Here
was the keck. You want to talk about a bad experience.
I'm in my house. It's stark out, freezing, the snow's
on the ground. Whatever it was I get a ring
on my doorbell eight o'clock at night. Now, I don't

(36:39):
care who you are. You're a home in a private home,
and somebody rings the doorbell at eight o'clock at night.
It's not a pleasant thought. Doesn't make you feel good?
Sure enough, Macy's delivering this to me at eight o'clock
at night. What do you think. I looked through my
exam system. The guy standing ignored him. I waited, and
it looks as it turns out, delivering for me. See,

(37:01):
this experience you created in me is a disaster. If
I was a normal person I wasn't from the industry,
I would after eight days I get this product, I'd
return it to your store and throw it at the
clerk and say, hey, you.

Speaker 3 (37:12):
Can have this back.

Speaker 2 (37:14):
Oh my gosh, I'm telling you this. So everyone else
there you know you have problems if you have problems
with me. Don't you think you should make up rules
for your stores if they're going to nail to consumers directly.
I'm buying from the greatest store in the world, and
yet everything you did for me and this transaction was ugly.

(37:34):
So even so, I'm having a great holiday season, and
I'm sure you are. But those retailers out there that
I resent through my sponsors to my talking, you could
do better. You got to give it a little fought.
You gotta make everything special. You're competing with everyone in
the world. Believe me, You're not the only place I
could buy a great cashme V neck sweater. You're probably

(37:56):
the last place I would ever do it again. See
here's the problem. I'm not gonna remember what they came.
I'm not going to remember the fact that the guy
delivered it at night. We don't remember days. We remember moments,
and this wasn't your finest moment. Macy back in a minute.

Speaker 1 (38:13):
Always in Fashions.

Speaker 2 (38:15):
As one of the world's most celebrated fashion designers, Carl
Lagafeld was renowned for his aspirational and cutting edge approach
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 in

(38:37):
premium fragrances. You can explore the car lagofl collection at
Carlagofelparis dot com. But it's more than that. I have,
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

(39:00):
want to have clothes that fits you well. You want
to look like you're wearing something that's very expensive, that's
exclusive for you and yours. You can find it at
very affordable prices at Macy's Orcarlagofel dot Comparis. The women's
ready to wear fashion is extraordinary, as well as the
handbigs and the shoes. I, for one, wear men's clothes,

(39:22):
unlike my appreciation of women's clothes. I'm a modern guy.
I want to look current. I want to look the
way I want to feel. I go out at night,
I'm in black and carlagafelt Is my buddy. Clothes 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

(39:45):
always had been one of the world's great designers, and
this legacy and goes on and on. I can't 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 Lagafell Paris at Macy's. Orcarlagofel dot com spen a
lifetime of my career building the van Usen Brand, and

(40:08):
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 multiple occasions, in multiple ways. You could wear a
suit formally to go out at night or to an event.
You wear a suit to the office with or without
a tie. If you look closely, now fashion trends, suits

(40:30):
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 packaging
yourself is as important does the products you package, and
wearing a suit is one of those things that make
men look their best venuesn't invented a new idea. It's

(40:52):
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 wiki. It makes it perfect
for all occasions. As we discussed just now, this new
style of looking sharp while feeling cool and comfortable is amazing,

(41:13):
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 Using made
it's name with dress shirts. It's only proper that the
suit business follows strongly in its way. You can find
van Using cool Flex Men's stretch suits at Jacpenny are

(41:34):
online at jcpenny dot com. Guys, they're great. You should
go look at them.

Speaker 1 (41:40):
Welcome back to it always in fashion. Here's your host,
Mark Webber.

Speaker 2 (41:44):
It's a holiday season. I'm talking on the radio, I'm
talking on podcasts, and I'm happy. I like this time
of year. I like what I'm doing. Frankly speaking, I
like talking. There was a period in time that most
of the show turned into interviews. It's before COVID producers
on the network had told me, you know, people want

(42:05):
to hear interviews and they might like it more. And
I did a whole lot of interviews. I interview Tommy Hilfiger,
John Varvados, Harris Faukner, CEO Barnie's DANIELO Vatelli at the time,
CEO of Rodin Taylor at the time, front to a
lot of people, and I really enjoyed it. It was interesting.
But now I find that more times than that I
like to talk about life. It's interesting. The first two

(42:29):
years of the show, or I'll step back a minute,
when we named the show Always in Fashion, I had
a lot of concerns about the name, because, you know,
some truck driver driving down the highway's on WR and
he's listened to some other, you know, political show, and
all of a sudden, stay tuned next for Always in Fashion.

(42:50):
I think it he turned the channel because what does
he want to know about fashion? But the name of
the show came from the name of my book, and
I was building a brand called Always in Fashion, and
everyone insisted, and it didn't take much for me to
agree that the name of the show should be Always
in Fashion. But for first two years, every time we
started the show, after my introduction, who is Mark Weber? Again,

(43:13):
I'd say, this is Mark Weber, this is business, this
is always in fashion. Where I kept driving home the
theory that this was a business show. And when you
talk about moments, that was a very important moment in
the show. So if you're tuning in, you're going to
hear about business as luck would have it, or life
would have it alone and Behold would have it, Apple

(43:34):
and Spotify. No matter what I did, no matter what
I said, categorize this show as lifestyle and cultural. And
here I am fighting this uphill battle every day to
be a business show. No matter what I getting categorizes
lifestyle and cultural. And I decided to go with the flow.
And that's when the show took a different turn. It

(43:56):
wasn't hardcore business. All the time was things that would
happen that may or may not have business lessons, and
I did it. I always like public speaking. I've always
enjoyed it. I've told the story one hundred times. I'm
with the company, my first company. A weekend CEO of
the company, president announces he's having a townhole meeting. I

(44:18):
go to the townhole meeting. I go sit in the
back because I was still a reclusive guy at the
time and I was hiding from everyone. I didn't know
what I knew it he gets up there as president company,
he stoughts and he said, I can't tell you how
happy I am to be here and how proud I
am to be your president, but even more so, how
excited I am to see all the young faces that

(44:39):
are in this audience that represent our company. Because you
are the future. It is our job, the people with
gray and their hair, people like myself, to teach you
how to become the executives we need to lead this
company into the future, because you are our future, and
that is our responsibility. And I watched this fellow Stangelette,

(45:00):
who I talk about all the time because I can't
forget that moment, watching him talk without any notes, without
any paper for an hour, and then on top of
the next forty five minutes, they questions and answers with
no notes, and I was enthralled by it. And I
never had any business goals. I never thought i'd be successful.
I didn't know what I was going to do in
my life. I only knew I was lucky to be

(45:22):
in this company, to see this, to be around the
people I was around, to know that there was a
future gear, and I was determined to figure it out,
even though I didn't know what figuring it out there.
But my first goal in business was to learn how
to speak without notes, answer questions and be prolific in
that regard. And I studied it, and I started making speeches,

(45:44):
and I was in positions where I had to make
presentations and give speeches and craft information for people to
listen and learn. In the design part of my life.
When I was doing that, and you presented a collection
to your own slab and your hundred salesmen taken around
the country or the world to present other people, you
had to give them the key footnotes and the key

(46:05):
ideas and concept they needed to take with them because
you knew it dated. Which brings me to a great
story where I was in Sweden talking to CEO of
the Gant Company which we owned, my company on Gant
Gant and behind him on his wall there was a
tapestry and it said, I don't know if it's political
correct right now, but it's the holiday. Give me a break. Said,

(46:28):
building a brand without advertising is like kissing a girl
in the dark. You know what you're doing, but no
one else does. So it goes back to speaking. When
you speak, you have an obligation to teach people, to
let them know what you're thinking, to give them information
so they can move on from there. Even President Trump,
the good, the bad, the ugly of President Trump, when

(46:51):
he's making a speech, there are things he's saying that
he wants you to remember to take with you into
your cities, into your towns, into your school. Does he
get in the way of himself. Yes, I'm not going
there right now. Talking about speaking, And as I learned
a true story, I wrote a book in twenty fourteen,
Always in Fashion, and chapter seventeen is called Negotiating with

(47:15):
the Master. And I knew Donald Trump, and I did
a major, major licensing deal with Donald Trump back in
the day. All Donald Trump dress shirts and tie suits
were stemming from a deal that I did with Donald Trump.
I met him, he came to my office. He was
a straight up guy, made it clear that he wanted
this business. He promised that if we gained a license

(47:36):
with him, he would do everything that we needed to
be successful, and he did. We signed the license use
forever grateful. And anytime we asked IMF, we asked them
to get on a plane to meet with Nordstrom, he
would get on a plane, go to the Seattle and
meet with Nortrum. He did it, he promised, and he
did what he said he would do. He was remarkable
in that way, and I really really appreciated him for

(47:57):
what he did and what he promised to what he
said long before he got down the escalator to talk
about becoming present. But he too knew how to speak
and knew what he wanted to say. I don't remember
if I told you this story or not, but I'll
tell you. I remember one of the things he did.
We were opening a showroom in our Phillips I used
an office look a little showroom for Donald Trump. We

(48:18):
invited like everyone from the company. A few hundred people
were there. The press was there from Wimswear Daily, from Mr. Magazine,
and they were there. And I'm standing next to him
because I used to be imbordant and Meimania getting ready
to do the ribbon cutting ceremony for the showroom, and
I looked over at Donald Trump, and I'd be intellectual, honest,

(48:39):
I looked over and up at Donald Trump. He's tall,
and I said to him, don't I kind of ask it,
why are you here doing this? Because I thought it
was ben Ethan And he looked at me and he said, Mark,
because I want to win. If this helps, I'm here,
And I was. I was really taken with Donald Trump
at the time. But my standard had always been I

(49:02):
love to speak, and when I love to speak, most
with schools. I went through a period in time where
I was a guest lecturer at FIT between two and
four times a year. It started because our chairman at
the time CEO, wanted us to give back. He wanted
our company to be involved in the community. And he

(49:23):
said to all the senior most executives that are twenty
six of us at the time, he said, if you
want your full bonus, you're going to have to give back.
You're going to have to do some form of charity work. Otherwise,
automatically ten percent of your bonus is going to be
given to charity. So, of course, all twenty six people
decided to do work. I decided to lecture at FIT

(49:44):
and I met with the people from FIT or are
a little perfectly honest. My head of marketing head of
licensing met with the people out of FIT in order
to arrange for me to guests speak at their school,
and we had to have certain criteria. Had the same criteria.
I will only speak in your largest ballroom or meeting room,

(50:05):
your theater. I will not come unless there's one hundred people,
and if there's less than one hundred people, I won't
come again. And I must speak with a podium. Those
are my rules. My first time speaking in FIT, it
were close to two hundred people standing room only. It
was an amazing night, amazing experience. I won't take credit
because it was me, but I'll take credit for the

(50:27):
titles that I held. And that's what drew people fucking
at particularly fashion schools, you know, with the names of
the brands that I represented at the time, back in
the day, ven using Tommy Hill figure o eyes. It
was a big deal and I love doing it and
the school appreciated and I did it for eight years.
When I wrote the first book, Dressed Casually for Success,

(50:48):
I went to many many people, you know, as life
turns out, my first interview on television, my first book,
Dress Casually for Success. But then there's a book about
dressing casually now that uniform of suit and tie were disappearing,
or as I would say, competition in the workplace doesn't
end with the removal of the jacket and thyme. My

(51:08):
first interview was with Bill O'Reilly on The Factor. We
did a twelve minute piece. He was smart, he was affable,
he wasn't very friendly. I remember asking him, you talk
about special moments tonight? Shit down? Which camera do I
look at? I was overwhelmed. Their cameras, everybody, you just
look at me. Leave the cameras deside, They'll know what
to do. Okay. Two weeks ago, Jesse's hosting a show.

(51:32):
Who's his guest Bill O'Reilly boy? The world changed and
that was one of those things that just had such
a great feeling for me special moments. Seeing the situation
reversed my ebisent. Jared now manages companies that I used
to manage, eyes on and using remarkable turn of events.
But back to speaking, I always speak. I went and

(51:54):
spoke at the business school at stern different Ilka people
who was a graduate school. The questions were much more
intuitive and I love doing it. I used to make
presentations the Powers to Be at Wall Street when we
were pitching our stock and explaining why people should be
investing our stock. I always did it. I always had
my rule. Don't hand me a microphone. I'm not Frank Sinatra.

(52:16):
I want a podium without a podium.

Speaker 3 (52:18):
Back to Trump, why didn't I tell you about Trump?

Speaker 2 (52:20):
When he first went on the campaign trail, was in
twenty fifteen or sixty. I noticed every time he got
to the podium he would take out his notes and
put it down on the podium. It drove me crazy.
Also drove me crazy he kept his jacket open, and
he kept his tie too long. I couldn't win that one,
but I did do in the podium. I remember calling
the White House and asked him to speak to the

(52:42):
public directions whoever it was. Turned out it was the
woman who they accused of writing the speech for Malania
that she played your eyes. But anyway, back in the day,
I said, listen, I'm a friend of Donald Trump. I
have a book. I'll send it to you again. I
wrote this book in twenty fifteen, before he was running.
He has his own. She thanked me proficiently, and then

(53:02):
she called me back a few days later, told me
miss Trump's sword and to really appreciate it. I said, listen, now,
I got you on the phone. Every time Donald Trump
shows up the podium, he takes his notes out of
his jacket, puts it on the podium. It doesn't look professional.
Why not put the notes before he gets up on
that now. I don't know if they got it from me,
but I know I never saw that again, and I
was very pleased. But of all the places and all

(53:24):
the lectures and all the things I learned, I'll never forget.
I was asked to speak at a function and it
bothered me because it didn't feel bigger than life, didn't
have all the criteria. But there were other speakers. I
was on a panel. One of them was with Andrew Rosen,
whose famous successful guy in this industry. His father thought

(53:44):
of a company I forget the name of it now,
that was the licensee for Calvin Klein Jeans. He is
the founder of Regenball and the founder of Theory. He's
a gazillionaire, successful entrepreneur in the business. And he was
with me on the podium. We go up there, we
go into this facility I don't know what it was,
and it was catered. I don't know who the audience

(54:05):
was the only thing I remembered was when we walked in,
I smelled chicken roasting, and the whole place was catered
with food for people to eat while we were on
the podium speaking. And I will never, ever, ever, ever
again speaking a function where I didn't understand how it
was set up and what the criteria was. Because I

(54:25):
always believed that good was not good enough. You had
to be great. I always believed that your word was
more important than anything. It's the only thing you own.
I always believed that being able to speak without notes
was something that was critical. I always believed no matter
what school I went to, my alma mat of Brooklyn College,
the f t l Im to Stern, whatever it was,
to Cartosa Law School, to New York Law School, where

(54:48):
I spoke, wherever I went, I always knew that I
had to leave those students or those people behind was
something they hadn't heard before, And I always knew I
had a responsibility to show them how to speak without notes,
create something special for them, how to take questions on
any subject and be able to answer them without any

(55:10):
reference or notes, Because I knew we don't remember days,
but we remember special moments and that was what I
was trying to create. Hope you enjoyed tonight's show. Good
Night