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

BP: Certain circumstances have just occurred that have helped us. We’re sort of, not the last man standing, but one of the few in the mail-order side of finer clothing. A lot of people have come and gone over the years. I think a strong survival instinct is always helpful. We have to recognize, as we continually do, that nobody needs anything we sell. I’m always telling the staff that. So if somebody comes in the store and says, “I’m just looking, I don’t need anything,” I like to say that customer ‘Well you’re in the right place because we don’t sell anything anybody needs.’ These are things you want. You can buy a pair of shoes anywhere, but if you want one of the top shoes in the world, which probably in the long run will cost you less because it’ll last longer, then here we are. That’s what we’re doing for you.