The Off-Price Community and Me

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We are grateful for the continued presence of the Off Price Specialist Center on this blog.This poat comes from Dan Browne (I think) and it’s mainly about some of the personalities that make the Off Price shows some of our favorite events on the calendar.
On behalf of the Off-Price Specialist Center, including founder Bill Jage; CEO Steve Krogulski; Executive Show Director Julie “Over” Ichiba; Show Director and fellow Crossword junkie Carol Fitzmaurice; Queen of Classic Rock Pam Payne Dillon, VP David Lapidos – the Peter Clemenza of the Off-Price Family; Director of Operations and fellow lefty (which means she’s cooler than most of you) Tricia Barglof; Buyer Relations Director/Marketing Manager/ROOKIE OF THE YEAR Mary Spitzer (no relation, seriously, she’s never even been to New York, but she might be there in January and October 2009 when Off-Price takes more bites of the Big Apple); Marketing and Operations Coordinator Katie “I get projects done for you in a New York minute (speaking of the Big Apple)” Chapman; Deb Reynolds (my new neighbor from New Berlin) and everyone else from the Off-Price/Tarsus team and overall vendor/buyer Off-Price Community, I am honored to participate in this blog made available to us by our friends and partners from Top Ten Wholesale.

Justin Prescott has advised us to make these blogs personal, and it’s easy to do when you are part of an internal team and broader customer base that considers the Off-Price Show to be one big family. Notice I didn’t say “happy.” And I don’t mean that in a negative sense. When we have our disputes and are often times forced to make difficult decisions that aren’t always popular for some, it’s because our people are very passionate about their businesses, about the Off-Price Show and the industry in general. And there’s always a healing process because everyone knows how hard we work and how much the Off-Price team really cares about our “family.”

You will notice I spared the first two members of the team – founder Bill Jage and CEO Steve Krogulski – from the Berman-esque nicknames I gave the rest of the group. These guys took a big chance on me about five years ago when they selected my firm to work on the first re-branding campaign for Off-Price. After a successful effort involving my former employer, Chicago-based Trungale, Egan & Associates and the Off-Price team, I was hired by Steve and Bill to launch a new event for our parent company Tarsus and become the eventual Marketing Director for our exciting portfolio of US products – namely Off-Price.

For the second time in my professional career, I’ve had the great privilege to work closely with an entrepreneur who was a visionary and was way ahead of his time. First, it was Chicago restaurant mogul Steve Prescott, who built an empire of four conceptually unique businesses in historic Evanston, Illinois, after two failed ventures in Chicago. Now of course, it’s Bill Jage, who made tremendous personal and professional sacrifices to make the Off-Price Show the #1 (and perhaps only) show of its kind in the apparel industry. Even though he has been semi-retired from Off-Price, it is always a big deal to see him at the shows and receive his support and consultation on an ongoing basis. His endorsement of our 2008 marketing campaign at the show last February was greatly appreciated, as our approach was a bit of a departure from traditional trade show marketing.

And while Steve Krogulski claims to not possess Bill’s entrepreneurial spirit, he has great marketing vision and a willingness to take chances. He also has that entrepreneur’s slash small businessman’s work ethic. He likes getting on the phone and pounding out the “sales-type” calls, as well as pouding the pavement on the show floor to get customer feedback in a manner that results in very positive relationships. He reads business sections and trade pubs cover to cover. He then takes this feedback and constantly challenges marketing to come up with new ideas, to expand our more personal approach to the creative to include the other retail and end-user sectors that can benefit from Off-Price (e.g. gas stations, zoos, museums, schools, hospitals, recreation and other publicly funded departments, etc.).

At a recent post-February all-staff meeting, Steve congratulated Marketing Coordinator Mary Spitzer and myself with personal training gift certificates to be redeemed by his own trainer at the health club below our office. Words can not express our gratitude to him for this accolade. A big part of his acknowledgment came from an exhibitor who was amazed by the influx of international buyers at the February Show. This exhibitor wrote a very significant order with a buyer from a developing country who had excellent credit. In short, a lot of the success on our recent marketing efforts is directly attributable to Steve’s challenges to us since taking over as CEO in 2006. These challenges include getting students more involved in Off-Price, doing more trend-spotting at the show, expanding our internet and publishing capabilities, and actively engaging both the new and various segments of our buyer community to make Off-Price a stronger and constantly evolving value proposition to their businesses.

I would also like to acknowledge many of the exhibitors and buyers at Off-Price who I made a positive connection with at our last show. Rick and Rob Bosch and Beth Mendick from Alliance Wholesale allowed our students to source a spa outfit for me to wear at the Opening Night Cocktail reception as part of our TOP$ promotion. The Speedo suit, goggles and bathing cap, along with the skulls t-shirt were a big hit. Rob gave me the t-shirt because he ended up writing a new order with a guy who saw me modeling it at the party! I was like Hansel that night! Beth worked closely with me in selecting the gear. We figured out at the August ‘06 Show that my brother Terry was her RA (i.e. Resident Assistant) when she was a student at the State University of New York at Albany (known in those days as SUNY Albany and considered by Barron’s as “the Paupers’ Princeton). Since then, she’s been like a big sister to me at the show. If I remember correctly, her and Rick Bosch announced their engagement at one of the first Off-Price Shows, so I think it’s pretty cool how closely tied their lives and families are to the Off-Price Show.

I would also like to thank Kathy Chikato from DLM Specialists who gives me great feedback on industry happenings, as well as good advice on marketing for the show.

There is also Polly Piraino from Off-Price Network who is very accessible to me for media activities and overall show support. She is very proud of her Linq brand for which her company is the exclusive Off-Price distributor.

Through my Top Ten pals, I had the great pleasure of meeting the Via Trading people over a nice dinner at the Hard Rock. Alan, Natania and their entourage are a lot of fun and are not intimidated by several offerings of lemon drops. Thanks again for an eventful evening and for the nice gifts. They were a big hit back home to say the least.

Let’s not forget our New Buyer Tour Leader David Abbate, whose pearls of wisdom were like manna from Heaven for this last show’s new crop – which included several new boutique owners, international buyers and new boutique owners from countries like Switzerland and Croatia. He was again a great resource for our students from the International Academy of Design & Technology (IADT-Vegas), many of whom represent tomorrow’s Off-Price buyers.

From the media, there is Max Padilla from WWD and Robert MacAlister from California Apparel News. Their interest and enthusiasm for Off-Price is greatly appreciated. Thanks for the excellent coverage in your pubs.

There are to be sure, many people I have forgotten, and so I will be returning to this blog. But I encourage anyone reading this to share personal experiences on the show from which they have profited on a personal and profitable level.

I invite everyone both old and new to check out our new Off-Price Retail Summit and Expo on May 6 and 7 at the South Point Hotel, Casino and Spa in Vegas. We are going back to our Off-Price roots by having the show and housing all in the same house, so buyers and vendors can enjoy each other’s company over refreshments, dinner or both after a busy day of bargaining and writing, without having to leave the building! Our industry day on May 5 includes golf, tennis and an evening cocktail reception prior to the show opening. We are also pleased to host the inaugural meeting of our Retail Advisory Board, which consists of the biggest names in off-price apparel retail. They are bringing their buying teams, too. This will be a great opportunity for last-second opportunities in the mid-year, and is the perfect venue for new buyers who often time feel overwhelmed by our larger Fashion Week shows.

More to come from me. Justin, Jason and Buddy thanks again for the opportunity to blog on Top Ten.