Lillian Vernon, founder of the eponymous catalog company, is joined by husband Paolo Martino, left, and son David Hochberg, right, at an event in New York City three years ago.
Sign up for our free newsletter
An (almost) holiday-free compilation of five things you missed awaits you. We won't invoke any corny Christmas clichés, in the interest of urging you forward.
The queen of the catalog. Millennials could learn a lesson or two from the playbook of Lillian Vernon, who built a new retail segment from scratch.
Vernon, who was 88, died Monday. Women of a certain generation probably recognize her as the name behind the Lillian Vernon brand, sold through small mail-order catalogs delivered regularly to homes across North America.
Her niche? Low-cost products that could be monogrammed.
Vernon was born Lillian Menasche, a Jewish immigrant whose family fled Nazi Germany. She married and became a homemaker in Mount Vernon, N.Y.
She adopted the name of her town to launch a small business in 1951. Her first big hit was a personalized leather handbag. The secret was knowing which segment of the market to target: She advertised its sale in an issue of Seventeen magazine, and it took off.
Over the years, she expanded to a nationwide audience with her catalog, filled with kitschy and personalized products, along with a personal message from Vernon herself.
Lillian Vernon was the first company owned by a women to be listed on the American Stock Exchange in 1987. It was the first to offer specialty and seasonal catalogs. At one point, Lillian Vernon had yearly revenue close to $300 million.
The company still exists, sold and sold again, but it is no longer the power retail merchandiser it was, thanks to online and on-demand shopping.
Gilt's shine fading. Gilt was touted as the next big thing in retail, but reports this week that it might be sold for one-fourth of its value certainly are turning heads, and not in a good way.
