Lillian Vernon began her career when hardworking, would-be entrepreneurs with a good idea and a few bucks could start a catalog at home. Still, in 1951, pregnant newlyweds who took such risks weren’t the norm. In Vernon’s case, even her mother was against the idea. She defied convention and pushed ahead, raising her two sons while growing her company. While defining a niche of gift catalogs specializing in personalization, she helped redefine women’s standing in the workplace. Fifty-one years later, as she steps down from her role as CEO of Lillian Vernon Corp. to chairman of the board, she reflects on her career and a vastly more competitive and complicated catalog industry.
DIRECT: The way you started your business on your kitchen table with an idea and a direct response ad has become part of direct marketing lore. What was the most challenging aspect of that period in your life?
LILLIAN VERNON: There were several challenges that confronted me when I decided to launch my business in 1951 from my small apartment in Mount Vernon, NY. I was newly married and expecting my first child. The business world was male-dominated and not used to women working, and they frowned upon a woman who was pregnant and wanted to start her own business. At the time, most women stayed home to raise their families while their husbands worked. I challenged this stereotype by being strong and preparing myself for the obstacles that inevitably lay ahead when I entered the work force as an entrepreneur.
DIRECT: Did your family back you up?
VERNON: My husband at first was not supportive of me risking our [$2,000 in] wedding gift money to go into business. He was skeptical of my business succeeding [even] though the first ad I placed in Seventeen magazine for a personalized handbag and belt brought in $32,000 in orders. My mother criticized me for not placing my family’s needs before my own. She felt my priorities were wrong and she refused to watch my children while I worked. Only my father was supportive of my decision to launch a business from home. He gave me positive feedback and tremendous encouragement.
DIRECT: What would you have done differently?
VERNON: I should have taken more time off throughout the years and gone on more vacations.
DIRECT: Why do you think your catalogs thrived when other gift catalogs couldn’t survive?
VERNON: When I started, there were very few specialty catalogs in the marketplace, so there wasn’t a great deal of competition like there is today. There were few major catalogs at the time like Montgomery Ward, Sears, Roebuck and L.L. Bean.
DIRECT: What set yours apart?
VERNON: My catalogs were different because they appealed to two niches that were relatively untapped. My merchandise focused on customers who were young women like myself, so I instinctively knew what products would appeal to them. I also successfully pioneered personalization, which distinguished our brand.
DIRECT: Would you like to be starting out again?
VERNON: Absolutely not! We are faced with major competition today from a glut of 10,000 mail order catalogs and tens of thousands of e-commerce Web sites selling gifts, so it’s hard to retain customer loyalty. The economy is also very uncertain and consumers are spending more cautiously and waiting to see what will happen on a national and global scale. It is very hard to launch a business during this period of economic and political uncertainty. Besides, you would never be able to start a business with $2,000 of venture capital.
DIRECT: Could a person start a catalog company today the way you did?
VERNON: With great difficulty! If a person wants to publish a catalog on a small scale, it would be very difficult to launch a mail order business the way I did 51 years ago.
DIRECT: But surely you believe it can be done?
VERNON: There are still magazines that feature small direct response ads and the Internet is a good marketing vehicle to promote a business online because of its unlimited reach. The constant higher costs of printing and postage, however, are a major detriment to launching a catalog. But if someone believes they have tapped a niche and they have the capital and resources to finance their business for a few years, they absolutely should follow their passion.
DIRECT: What is your opinion of the state of the catalog business today?
VERNON: Catalogers today face a major challenge to thrive and grow in a highly competitive and difficult retail environment. In order to be successful, you must have a unique niche, good prices, a strong brand and superior customer service and fulfillment, or else customers will take their business elsewhere.
DIRECT: Where is the company looking for new customers?
VERNON: I believe our best prospects are the new channels. We see this as the way to grow our business and expand our customer base. Lillian Vernon Corp. has a successful chain of 15 outlet stores and a business-to-business division. Our fastest-growing channel is our Web site (www.lillianvernon.com), which features state-of-the art and customer-friendly technology and all of our 6,000 products.
DIRECT: How much of your sales come from the Web?
VERNON: While our site still accounts for only 15% of our company’s annual sales, it is our fastest growing channel. We have made a major investment in the Internet because we believe it is an integral part of the future of retailing.
DIRECT: Do you think women have made a particular contribution to direct marketing?
VERNON: Women have made and continue to make major contributions to the direct marketing industry. There are pioneers like Harriet Carter [who founded the Harriet Carter gift catalog from her home in 1958] and myself. And there are many talented women who either own small catalog companies or hold key executive positions in the industry, like Ruth Owades [founder of Gardener’s Eden and Calyx & Corolla] and Becky Jewett [president of Norm Thomson Outfitters]. I include in that the many talented women who help run Lillian Vernon Corp. It is gratifying to be a role model who has helped encourage so many women to have successful careers.
DIRECT: How would you like to be remembered as you change your role?
VERNON: Although I am stepping aside as chief executive officer, I will still play an active role as chairman of the board. I helped change the culture of our society so that women can follow their dreams and have successful careers. I gave back to my community and was a pioneer in cause-related marketing. I opened the door to dozens of women in our company and our industry.
