One Cool Lady

Just the other day I got to chat with one of my retail inspirations.

I was engrossed in a computer project when the commanding energy field from a trim and sharply dressed customer caught my eye.

It was Judith Hofer, former president of Meier & Frank (now....eeek....Macy's), former president of Filene's, Famous-Barr and May Merchandising.

She hails from Portland but has lived all over the country. Where she now resides in retirement, I don't know, but she was window shopping with a couple of friends when she strolled into French Quarter.

I was a buyer at Meier & Frank (a division of May Company) under Ms. Hofer and I have to credit her with my departure from corporate life after six years. I began as a management trainee out of college and worked as a store department manager and assistant buyer before being promoted to a high-volume and fashion-forward buyer for junior girl's knits and activewear (sounds soooooo department store, right?!).

Being young (I was 28 when I left M&F) and independent, I wasn't really cut out for the constraints and rigidity of my position. And these were the days (the '80's) when department stores were struggling for survival and towing the corporate line was de riguer or la mort.

So, back to chatting with Ms. Hofer in the store the other day. I was able to remind her of two things she said that have remained etched in my memory.

The first etching was her speech to buyers assembled in the now defunct 10th floor Georgian Room in the downtown Portland building where our offices were located. She was rallying the forces around markdowns and store presentation and spoke about a silk blouse she had recently bought from a markdown rack at Nordstrom.

When she got that blouse home it was a brand new blouse and an exciting addition to her wardrobe. To staff in most stores, however, markdown merchandise is treated as third class merchandise and relegated to the back of the store and to unruly racks. The lesson was to treat markdown merchandise with the same respect and care as newly arrived product.

And these are words we live by at French Quarter: our markdown product is always organized, tagged and signed to make it as easy as possible to shop.

The second "etching" I got to share with Ms. Hofer the other day, were the words she spoke in my ear at a corporate meeting. While she didn't actually fire me, my bosses had never heard her speak to a buyer that way and I knew that I had better move on, which I did a few months later.

May Company buying staff from around the country were assembled for a few days in upstate New York to sort out the private label program. I wasn't being a team player and my commitments to this important May Company program were weak and therefore glaringly stood out during the president's meeting.

Ms. Hofer took me aside with my two bosses (DMM Norine Metzger and GMM Mark Blankenship for you department store folks!), lowered her reading glasses and quietly growled into my ear, "Who in the hell do you think you are?"

I think I'm still trying to figure that out, but it was the kick I needed to get out and move on!

After I reminded her of these two memories, she left the store telling her two companions that she was too hard on us and that we all hated her.

Not true! We loved and respected her.