LITTLE KNOWN FACTS ABOUT MR HONOREES FOR 2025, PART ONE
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
Allan Ellinger, Senior Managing Partner, MMG
• His love for clothing began when his mom would dress him in suits.
• He’s always been a leader and organizer, from Boy Scouts to Designer Collective to Fashion Delivers…
• He’s our industry’s star deal maker, but keeps client names and details very confidential.
• He has a reserved window seat at Arno’s, the Garment Center restaurant where he’s been dining for several decades.
• He never has wine with lunch.
• He loves boating and spends as much time as possible on the water.
Quotable: “Selling a business, especially a family business, can be a very emotional process.”
MERCHANT OF THE YEAR: DEPARTMENT STORE
Jim Von Maur, 4th generation President and CEO, Von Maur
• Proud of his Midwest roots, Jim wishes more NY vendors knew more about his stores.
• He has no plans to take his company public.
• He admits to misjudging a few markets where he’s opened stores.
• He spends much time travelling to all 40+ stores.
• He feels strongly about renovation & is spending $120 million on doing so.
• Among his favorite pastimes: taking his dogs for long walks.
Quotable: “A lesson I learned from my dad: pay your vendors early and they’ll take good care of you.”
BRAND BUILDER OF THE YEAR
Rian Gardiner, Al Israel, and Dennis Sartori, Triluxe
• For more than 35 years, they’ve all worked together at one job or another.
• Rian’s dad and uncle owned stores in Vancouver where Rian restocked shelves at age 12.
• Al started working at age 16 and has built businesses for Harry Rosen, GFT and Tip Top Tailors.
• When Al and Tom ran Armani, they grew the business from $1.8 million to $100 million.
• Dennis believes he was destined to work in menswear since his last name is Sartori.
• The team never fights, they just discuss loudly…
Quotable: “Be careful with distribution or a brand that took 10 years to build could unravel in 10 months!
MERCHANT OF THE YEAR: SPECIALTY STORE
Mitchell Stores
• They work hard at making it look easy, under the guidance of professional family business consultants.
• They make decisions by consensus, not by majority. If there’s no consensus, they don’t make the move.
• They allow acquired stores to retain their culture, their store name, their compensation plans.
• They wish more vendors would appreciate the value of multi-brand stores.
• Thanks to Gen 1 and 2, they are all huggers.
• Thanks to Gen 1 and 2, cash is still king.
• All three generations just took a family vacation to Egypt.
Quotable: “We have 500 employees yet Bob’s still on the selling floor every Saturday…
THE MR AWARDS | JULY 21, 2025 | GOTHAM HALL NYC
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
LIZETTE.CHIN@WAINSCOTMEDIA.COM or
CHARLES.GARONE@WAINSCOTMEDIA.COM