A Chat with Steve Singer, president, Hartford York
© Profile of Success, Catalog Success magazine, April 2006
Interview by Matt Griffin
Catalog Success: When was the catalog established?
Steve Singer: It was established in the mid-1990s, but it was a very small venture. I came to it in 2000.
CS: Where are the headquarters located?
Singer: I run the business from my home in Yearington, Nev., but the physical plant is in Stockton, Calif.
CS: And your primary merchandise?
Singer: Men's hats and accessories.
CS: What's your annual circulation?
Singer: This year is 1.6 million.
CS: How did the catalog get started?
Singer: It was started ... by the original owners, Dorfman Pacific, a large hat and cap wholesaler. I bought the company from Dorfman Pacific in 2000.
CS: Had you had any experience in cataloging when you bought the company?
Singer: Yes, I was co-founder/owner of a company called Lilliput Motor Co., which we started in 1990.
CS: Tell me a little bit about that experience, starting that catalog.
Singer: Lilliput was a great, little company. My partner and I started it in 1990, after a failed retail store — a toy store in San Francisco. At the time we were selling a very narrow product mix that was entirely mechanical toy cars. Kid's mechanical, toy cars. The company product palette expanded rapidly during the 1990s, and it was a great little venture. We started the company on credit cards, and we prospered from the very beginning. We sold the company in 1996 to Genesis Direct, and bought it back from them a few years later when they failed. That company is still very much in business. I left it in 1999.
CS: When you came over to Harford York, what was your biggest challenge the first few years?
Singer: My biggest challenge was to figure out how to get a customer the right size hat, minimizing returns and exchanges. We accomplished that by devising a bind-in
insert — basically an order form on 70-lb stock that when unfolded was about 28 inches long and had a head-measuring device — a ruler basically — attached to it. The ruler could be detached via a perforation and used by the customer to measure his head size. It worked, but it was expensive.
CS: Is that something you've continued?
Singer: I actually discontinued it in the fourth quarter of last year.
CS: What was the impact on returns?
Singer: It was difficult to quantify. The data from the company before I owned it was a small sample, so results were sort of inconclusive. But I was satisfied anecdotally that the measuring device was of great benefit as we were starting up with our core clientele and developing our housefile. I discontinued it in the fourth quarter realizing that the 50,000 to 60,000 guys we had done business with had received many of them over the past few years, and it was wasteful to continue to send it. During the fall, I didn't see any appreciable increase in the number of returns due to sizing. I'm fairly confident that the device served us well in the initial stages.
CS: What's been your greatest career challenge over the years, Hartford York and otherwise?
Singer: My biggest career challenge ... Well, I had two bankruptcies, one in 1985 and one in 1990. Two business bankruptcies and one personal bankruptcy. Those were great challenges to overcome. I guess the way I overcame them was just starting over.
CS: Jumping back on the horse, as it were.
Singer: Exactly. I knew that failing in business and failing in life were two entirely different issues. One could succeed. One could start over again and do well, and I have.
CS: What sets Hartford York apart from other companies?
Singer: To put it simply, there's no other company like us in the retail mail-order environment. There's one other company out of Virginia that sells hats through the mail, but they have small circulation. So there's really no one else approaching the men's accessories and apparel business from the perspective of hats. We have far and away the broadest variety and offering of men's headwear. And now we're beginning to expand out into outerwear and apparel and accessories. Literally,
we don't have any competition at this time.
CS: What is your current biggest business challenge and how do you plan to resolve it?
Singer: You know, that was the only question in your e-mail I didn't answer.
maintain profitability.
CS: As I mentioned, the reason I contacted you is because Hartford York made our top 200 list this year. We base that on catalog housefile growth rate from 2004 to 2005. To what do you attribute that growth?
Singer: We definitely experienced a lot of growth last year. That was a deliberate decision that I made. We had our infrastructure and operations in place. We thought we had a good understanding of who our core clientele was and what it was they wanted. And so we increased circulation dramatically. The plan this year is to maintain circulation steadily against last year and increase profitability. In 2007, we're looking forward to substantial circulation increase again.
CS: What do you think are some key points to your success in this business?
Singer: No. 1, having been in the mail order business since 1990/91, I think I have an understanding of circulation processes. I've been a merchant, I've been merchandising and selling products since I was 9 years old. I'm 55, now. I think I have a real good intuition for product selection. I talk to a lot of my customers. I look closely at what kind of multiples they buy, and I let them greatly influence me. I try to give my customers what I think they want, based on what they're buying. I've been pretty successful at that. More than anything, I'd say it's my merchandising intuition that serves me well.
CS: We talked a little bit about this, but what goals do you have for the catalog?
Singer: I'd like to double the circulation of the catalog in the next three years. I'd also like to see a greater percentage of our total revenue come from online marketing. Right now, as I mentioned, about 30 percent of our revenue comes from out Web site. And from that 30 percent, about two-thirds comes from search engine optimization and pay-per-click marketing. I think there's real potential for growth, certainly profitable growth. ... So the three things I look to do in the next three years is increase circulation dramatically, see a proportionate growth in the revenue that comes from the Internet, and I also expect to see the percentage of non-hat products in my catalog increase to the point where about 50 percent of the product is non-hat. Men's accessories, leather accessories, apparel, outwear, knives, canes, etc.
CS: So you hope to expand your merchandise mix to allow you to boost circulation?
Singer: Yes, it should open up new prospect universes for us.
CS: Have you had any mentors over the course of your life?
Singer: Yeah, I've had a number of mentors. I guess the mentor from whom I've learned the most about mail order retailing is Charlie Silver. He was an SVP at Genesis several years ago. He's an industry veteran, been in the industry for 30 years or so. He's at Bloomingdale's now and he's on the speaker's council at the DMA. I learned a lot from Charlie, particularly about circulation strategy. Charlie is a great guy. I think 30 years is not a mis-statement of his time in the industry. I think he was with J. Crew at the very beginning. He was my immediate superior when we sold Lilliput to Genesis, and I learned a lot. It was ultimately a bad business decision, as Genesis went bankrupt, but during the course of the few years we were associated with Genesis I learned a lot from Charlie. We ramped up circulation at Lilliput dramatically. If I have a mentor in this industry, it's Charlie.
CS: What about the cataloging business appeals to you?
Singer: I love to sell stuff. From the time I was 9 years old to the time I was 40, with just a few short breaks, I stood behind the counter of retail establishments. I love not doing that anymore. I love being able to essentially work from home. I love not being tied to brick-and-mortar. And I like the dynamics of mail order.
CS: What's your definition of success, as it relates to cataloging, business, life, however you define it?
Singer: Well, that's a good question. For me, clearly, one needs to make money. Having failed so many times, I understand that making money is a clear measure of success. But I think perhaps more important to me is human relationships. I'm sustained in my life by relationships with other people that I respect and learn from. Loyalty among vendors, suppliers, customers, those are the most important aspects of being successful. I think the greatest measure of success is good, solid, honest human interaction. Liking the people you do business with. Buying from and selling to them.
CS: In what ways do you believe you've succeeded?
Singer: I think I've been able to do that. I've been able to establish long-standing relationships. I have a great relationship with my printer, with the people who do creative for me. I have strong relationships with vendors. I know a lot of my customers, and I always have. Even during the Lilliput years. I make a point of talking to customers on a regular basis. I continue to do that. I think if you maintain positive relationships with the people you deal with, you can't help by succeed. Being straight and honest.
CS: If a new cataloger asked you for the keys to success in this business, what would you say?
Singer: I wrote down the following:
Listen to your customers.
Trust your vendors.
I meet with vendors on a regular basis, and those that I have the best relationships with tell me what I should be selling. I would encourage people to trust their vendors. I would
suggest that people starting out seek counsel of veterans and wise men, and listen to that counsel.
CS: You talked a little bit about your experience selling things from the age of 9. Could you tell me a bit more about your background, how you spent your early career and how you got involved in retailing?
Singer: When I was a child, my father owned an army surplus store in the San Francisco Bay area. And I worked in that business from the time I was 9 until I was 18 and went away to college. When I came back from college and some years abroad, I established a business at the flea market in San Jose, because that's what I knew how to do. That shortly became a retail storefront in Palo Alto, Calif, where I was in business for about 10 to12 years in the outdoor apparel and equipment industry. I was involved in a magnificent, high-end European toy store in San Francisco — an ill-fated venture, but not for lack of trying. It really was probably the most beautiful toy store in the world. After the failure of that venture, as I mentioned, we started Lilliput, which has proved to be a successful venture. It was for me for many years and continues to be for my ex-partner. And now the hat business. I've been selling products, and I've always been selling non-essential products. I've never sold food or shelter. I've been selling luxury goods. And I've been doing that for my lifetime. That's what I like to do, I like to sell stuff to people.
