Marking Marcus' unmincing words
By Carole Sloan -- Furniture Today, February 10, 2002
"As an industry of handcraftsmen, you are going out of business. You will be replaced by power tools operated by less-skilled workers that will enable you to increase your production a thousand-fold and reduce prices per unit by 50%."
Sound like an ominous forecast?
It's actually a comment made by the late Stanley Marcus to several hundred furniture mavens at a DuPont Future Leadership Award dinner in 1991.
The remarkable, visionary Marcus died last month. He made the above observation about the furniture industry as though he were addressing it shortly after the invention of the steam engine in 1769. His sense of the furniture industry of the early '90s was that "it had to become more progressive or suffer the consequences of change."
Marcus' long lifetime embraced a range of activities — heading the family business, famed retailer Neiman Marcus, supporting the arts in many forms. He was widely regarded for his sense of style and his ability to understand what consumers wanted. It only seemed natural that he would warn the furniture industry that it had better wake up and get into the late 20th century.
And that was 1991!
Later in the decade, in assessing the role of department stores, he said they would have to be redefined and reinvented. While noting the relevance of the department store as a distribution channel, Marcus minced no words in saying, "It's out of date. They don't even have the charm of a warehouse."
His vision for department stores was to eliminate the mass of merchandise and fixtures, offer a new contemporary ambience and sell goods at a 28% markup.
Marcus was most focused on service in stores — or the lack of it, in most cases. "Service," he said, "is not just selling a customer but having the right goods on hand when they're wanted and in the right quantities."
I wonder what he'd say to furnitureland folks today.
-
American West returns to company founder
Oct 14, 2011 -
Documenting core trends reveals host of others
Feb 24, 2011 -
What's happened to most original petitioners?
Oct 5, 2010 -
Kittle experienced dramatic shifts in retailing
Sep 13, 2010
Featured Company
-
Wright Labels
Bill and Tom Wright founded Wright of Thomasville in 1961 on the idea that printing was a creative medium and the belief that "a promise made is a promise kept." The Wright brothers focused their attention on providing exceptional printing for the... more
VIEW ALL GALLERIES
