Tailoring Directly to Their Customers: A Chat With Sue & Robert Prenner

CS: What would you say are the keys to your success?

SP: With us it has to do with the fact that we’re very engaged in every aspect of the business. Very hands-on. We’ve had very long-term employee relationships with staff that have been with us for 15 years. They have the same commitment, and our commitment to them has been very great. Over the years I think that’s made a big difference. I think that one of the big challenges in any business is holding on to the staff as a capital investment and treating them as a great value within the company that can’t really be depreciated and set aside. We’re very focused on quality. It’s not just being hands-on for detail, it’s being hands-on for quality. We really style everything ourselves, we’ve created all our own patterns and our own models. Everything is unique to us. If we won’t wear it, we don’t want to sell it.