Larry Rosen on Harry Magazine and Training
A Discussion of Ask Harry and Sales Training / Experience
Mar 8, 2009
S101 : One thing that I did notice on your website there, Mr. Rosen, was your closet clean up service and that seems extremely intriguing to me. Can you tell me a little more about that, and if you have any interesting stories feel free to share them!
Larry : It's a service we offer to our clients.It's actually a very positive type of experience, in that men are terrible pack rats; they don't ever clean out their closet! They have everything in there from the suit they wore to their high school dance through everything else — they can't part with stuff. We come over and we'll go right through the closet and we'll ask the most important question, and that is “Are you wearing this, because if you're not — it should be given to charity.”
You have to get down to the things that you are regularly wearing and those things may need a few alterations — maybe you have gained or lost a little weight or they need a little bit of freshening. And then we can start helping you plan what you need to add to your wardrobe that's going to make it effective. So, you may have too many outdated suits and you may not have a navy blazer or you may not have enough sports jackets or what have you, but we can help you plan out how to effectively invest in your wardrobe.
The objective of any wardrobe is to have appropriate stuff to wear for any occasion. That's what your wardrobe should be doing for you and we can help you reach that level.
S101 : Wonderful! I will say that when I've dealt with staff who work for Harry Rosen I found then to be extremely knowledgeable. Can you tell me a little bit more about the training that you offer your sales associates and why we should feel confident in purchasing our clothing from Harry Rosen Menswear.
Larry : Thank you for that opportunity. Listen, we work very hard at training our people. We recognize that people choose us, not just for the selection of quality that we represent but also because we have an added value, we can advise people correctly.
We spend over a million dollars a year training our associates, teaching them about every aspect of each make of garment and trying to help them understand for what kind of client it would it be appropriate. This is teaching them, helping them advise our clients, because in essence we sell clothes — but really we're in the business of helping men develop a confident personal image for any time, place, and occasion.
So, really what we do is — we sell confidence. In the current economy that we're dealing with, a man has to look on his game and what we have to offer. I think this edge is very important and having associates in all 15 of our stores be able to competently advise people is very crucial to us and our success.
S101 : I would agree that experience on the associate level is super important because they are the guys that are dealing day to day with your clients, and if you invest that much work into them that'll pay off in the long run as well.
Larry : 100 percent.
S101 : Just a few brief questions about your magazine, Harry. We've mentioned it a few times here on Suite101, and in my own articles very positively. It's a graphically intriguing magazine. What do you think makes Harry Magazine such a resource for men that are looking to draw inspiration for their own wardrobes and how do you feel about the magazine overall?
Larry : Thank you for the nice comments about the magazine, we work very hard at it. The magazine really started as a vision of my father. I remember him sitting with me on the balcony of a hotel in Florence, Italy, during one of the trade shows there. He said to me that the world lacks a lifestyle magazine that can talk intelligently to men about lifestyle issues. Everything was either superficial, too fashionista, or didn't really address the issue for men. By comparison, women always had lots of publications. Then after he shared his vision with me I said, “That's a very impressive vision”.
He said, “So go do it.”
S101 : That's a task!
Larry : So the next thing you know, it wasn't just me, it was a team of very, very capable people. We put together a magazine which is over 10 years old now and interestingly enough, it's read extensively and that's the thing that really pleases us. Our research shows us that people really spend a lot of time going through it, studying the fashions, reading the articles. We have an Ask Harry section where we answer some important question about dressing and people find it interesting.
We're proud of it, we sell it on news stands and it sells very well. We also offer it to our good clients and they appreciate it as well. I think the net result is that it reinforces what people know us for — which is being an expert on men and men's issues, fashion issues and lifestyle issues.
S101 : I love the magazine personally. While I was working as a wardrobe consultant, the associates always found it to be very direct source of what I would call bold or trend setting fashion, due to a lot of your involvement with several top designers. So, it was always a source of inspiration on the sales floor.
- Read more from Mr. Rosen on Bespoke Tailoring and Made to Measure
- Click here for more from Mr. Rosen on how to get started and build a career in menswear and fashion, as well as what's coming in designer trends for 2009!
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