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LIKE NO OTHER STORE...

Name: LIKE NO OTHER STORE...
Author: Marvin S. Traub
ISBN: 0-8129-1963-7

THE BLOOMINGDALE'S LEGEND AND THE REVOLUTION IN AMERICAN MARKETING

by Marvin S. Traub with Tom Teicholz ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1993

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An autobiographical account of the rise and fall of one of the nation's most dazzling shopping emporiums, written by its former longtime chairman, a hale-fellow-well-met who, in the late 1980's, was forced out by Canadian Robert Campeau, presaging the end of a hugely profitable and idiosyncratic retailing era. The first two thirds of Traub's story are slow-going— describing his privileged but lonely childhood with his parents (well-know fashion buyers in New York in the 1930's), as well as the gradually changing world of department stores after the end of WW II, when Traub, fresh out of Harvard Business School, joined Bloomingdale's as a trainee in its vast basement bargain floor. Traub rose through the ranks quickly, always advancing the notion of a ``neighborhood store'' for the world's most fashionable women and promoting the concept of in-store boutiques—a Bloomingdale's signature-idea first deployed in the home-furnishings department in the 1950's. Aided by a bevy of buyers, managers, and mentors (here named and fully credited but blandly characterized: ``she had a pleasant personality''), Traub employed the boutique concept to showcase brilliant young American and European designers, vaulting Bloomingdale's to the apex of retailing success in the 60's, 70's and early 80's. But then—as detailed in the most gripping part of the book—the forces of blind greed entered in the person of Robert Campeau, a secretly bankrupt manic-depressive machinist-turned- real-estate tycoon who was determined to own Federated Department Stores, a Bloomingdale's parent. Campeau soon bankrupted the Bloomingdale's stores for tax purposes; fighting back, Traub- -represented and, he says, betrayed by Drexel Burnham (the narrative's arch-villain)—tried and failed to buy the store. He then proceeded, with a number of old Bloomingdale's hands, to reenter the world of home furnishings by buying Conran's Habitat, a decorating chain. Sluggish but worth wading through. (Appendix predicting the future of retailing; 16 pages of b&w photographs—not seen)

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1993

ISBN: 0-8129-1963-7

Page Count: 496

Publisher: Times/Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1993

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.