MASTER OF MENSWEAR: RONNY WURTZBURGER

There are many great salesmen in the men’s clothing industry but only one Ronny Wurtzburger, the well-loved, highly respected, funny, smart, generous, gregarious industry godfather with a passion for the tailored clothing business second to none.

Says Alvin Cramer Segal, chairman and CEO of Peerless Clothing Inc., “I met Ronny almost 28 years ago, when Peerless was looking for someone to build our American company to sell men’s tailored suits all over the United States. Before we broke our handshake, he had the confidence to say, ‘It will be the biggest and most successful company in North America’—which is exactly what happened. He had the imagination and the expertise to make that notion a reality. Ronny is a selling machine of ideas and confidence. He has a heart of gold and you can’t but admire his honor and integrity from the moment you meet him. A true gentleman. When God created Ronny, he threw away the mold.”

A third-generation clothing salesman on both sides of his family, Ronny says selling schmattas was his only career option. “No med school or law school for me!” he maintains. “It was pre-ordained that I’d end up in the clothing business. My mother’s father founded Eagle Clothes and became very successful. My father’s father was a retailer who opened a little a store on Stanton Street originally called Wurtzburger’s. He was known as ‘Big Stock Joe’ because he always had too much inventory. My dad eventually ran two stores: one on Broadway and 40th, the other in Valley Stream. It was that amazing era of specialty retailing: in NYC alone there must have been 70 great menswear stores.”

Ronny’s first foray into tailored clothing was at school. “I was 14. For a project, I had to give a report in front of the class. It could be on any topic, but when my grandfather learned about the assignment, he insisted I choose ‘How to Construct a Suit.’ I started to cry: I didn’t want to write about suit construction. But my grandfather said he’d help me write it and he did, creating a major thesis on shoulder pads, interlinings, lapels, buttonholes, etc. I succeeded brilliantly in putting the entire class to sleep!”

When eventually Ronny went to work for his grandfather and uncle at Eagle Clothes, things didn’t start well. “They treated me like I was the dumbest kid in the world. My uncle would say things like ‘Who invited you to this meeting? Get out!’ The hot item at the time was a black mohair suit: we’d sell 5,000 to 10,000 units in a fall season. So one day a retail customer called asking for this popular suit in a 40 regular. Now the one thing I’d learned was that if a retailer called asking for a specific suit in a specific size, it was because he had a customer right there wanting it. I told the retailer on the phone that we were out of 40 regular but I’d see if I could steal one for him from another order. I got right back to him and told him I managed to find one. He was delighted and the next time he came to New York, he wanted to meet the amazing kid who miraculously got him the sold-out suit he needed. I loved the attention and started doing this regularly. Eventually my uncle called me into his office, demanding to know how come so many retailers were asking to meet me. I told him what I’d been doing and finally, he gave me a little credit for being somewhat smart.”

Among the lessons Ronny learned from his dad: the value of proper attire. “My father worked long hours (which is why my mother pushed me toward manufacturing rather than retailing) so when he’d finally get home at 7:30, he’d sit down to dinner in his jacket and tie. We always waited for him, and out of respect, I always wore a shirt and tie. It’s stayed with me through the years and I still insist that my salesmen dress the part: in a nice suit and tie and properly groomed. My father was fastidious: if a salesman showed up at his store inappropriately dressed, he’d ask him to leave and come back in proper clothes!”

As a kid, Ronny worked in his father’s store. “My job was to keep things neat, to make sure all the suits were lined up like soldiers. One very busy day, my father finally let me wait on a customer. As luck would have it, this six-foot-four guy walked into the store wanting a brown striped suit in a size 44 extra long. I knew the inventory well so I told him we didn’t have it. The customer left and my father proceeded to fire me, teaching me an important lesson: if you don’t have exactly what the customer wants, bring him something close. If he doesn’t react positively, say, ‘I don’t like that model on you, this one is better!’ Keep working it until you get something on his back that he likes. Then a few weeks later, follow up with a phone call, make sure he’s happy, let him know what else has arrived in his size. Also important: write a personal note. I treasure many of the handwritten notes I’ve received over the years, be it from Terry Lundgren thanking me for a charity donation (always in brown ink on nice stationery) or from Alex Gushner thanking me for an internship. I read and delete my emails within a few seconds but a handwritten note can stay on my desk for months.”

Industry insiders agree that Ronny can write the book on relationship building (although he admires Jack Mitchell for doing it first). “When a customer comes into your showroom, treat him like a guest in your home. Greet him warmly, stay with him throughout the visit, walk him to the elevator and wait there until he leaves. Then stay in touch! Don’t make him crazy with too many phone calls, but don’t call only when you want an order (he’ll figure it out and eventually stop taking your calls). Maybe call him with a book recommendation (better yet, send him the book!) or an article he might find valuable. Take the initiative, go the extra mile (whatever it takes) and just make it happen.”

Among the myriad examples of making it happen, Ronny remembers all the years he tried in vain to get an order out of Dayton Hudson. “Then at some point, one of their vendors disappointed them and they desperately needed 2,000 suits in two weeks. I called Claire, our COO, and she immediately said, ‘You’ve got it!’ So we made them 2,000 suits in Montreal, shipped them within two weeks and ultimately became their biggest supplier. I’ve always believed that you have to earn your business every day; you can’t ever give anyone a chance to take it away from you. And these are the lessons I’ve tried to teach my salesmen.”

Peerless USA has about 20 star sellers and a total of 50 associates in the New York office. “Our NYC team does the selling, merchandising and advertising (all in-house); everything else is done from Montreal. Claire, Tony, Pat and their team run the whole inside of the business and they are amazing. I get angry when people say Peerless won’t be the same without me. My sellers are the best in the business: most have been with me for 20-plus years; they’re all under 50 and they’re terrific! With youth on their side and all the new technology available to them, this company will keep getting stronger even after I retire: Peerless is the Rock of Gibraltar.”

With more than two dozen top licenses (mostly American designers and celebrities including Calvin, Ralph, Tommy, Michael Kors, John Varvatos, Todd Snyder, Hart Schaffner Marx, Sean John, Ryan Seacrest, IZOD, Michael Strahan) and a strong private label business, there’s no doubt that Peerless already owns a disproportionate share of the U.S. clothing market. The two Peerless-owned brands, Tallia Orange (fashion) and TalioRED (luxury fabrics at great value), are also growing rapidly.

“The hardest part is ensuring that each line has a distinct point of view,” Ronny explains. “Within all the collections, there’s not one repeat swatch. It’s a full-time commitment but I believe that each collection must be 100-percent exclusive.” (Editor’s note: you can’t walk into Ronny’s office without finding piles of swatches on his desk; his associates say he still gets as excited about selecting swatches as he did 25 years ago.)

One of Ronny’s first suit licenses was Kasper, a relatively successful women’s wear designer who was virtually unknown in men’s. “Truthfully, I had no interest in acquiring this label—all I could think of was a friendly ghost. But Glen Schanen and Jim Edelman from Macy’s strolled into my office one day, encouraging me to take the license (and casually mentioning that Kasper was Macy’s CEO Allen Questrom’s best friend). Of course I wanted this fantastic label; I told them yes without hesitation.”

Sometime later, Ronny received a phone call from another good friend, who happened to be dating Ralph Lauren’s secretary, asking if Peerless was going after the Chaps label. “So I called Peter Strom who told me I was too late—the contract was already at the lawyer’s. I asked him how he could give it away without even seeing what we could do. I ran over to his office (it was a Tuesday) and pleaded with him to give me until Friday and I’d show him a garment he couldn’t refuse. I called Alvin Segal, who said he could do it, then ran out and bought yardage (gray flannel and navy pinstripes: we couldn’t go wrong) and rushed to the Polo store to buy suits to copy. Friday came and I went with my daughter Mindy (a Tufts graduate and our first employee) to show our samples to Strom. The first thing he said was ‘These look more like Polo than Chaps,’ to which I quickly responded that I wanted to show him we were also capable of producing luxury clothing. Then Mindy handed him a report she’d put together (entitled Shame on You!), slamming the Chaps company for having the wrong product, the wrong people, the wrong fit, the wrong distribution, etc. Strom listened without reacting, then showed us gifts he’d received from the other suit companies vying for the Chaps license: a burnished leather portfolio, an antique cigar box, etc. All these gorgeous gifts while we offered Shame on You! in a stained manila envelope. But we got the license! Strom told me, ‘Ronny, you’re full of it! But you make a beautiful suit and we trust you.’”

Postscript: Before signing the contract, Ronny and Alvin Segal went to meet with the team at Chaps. “One thing about Mr. Segal,” Ronny notes, “is that he always tells you exactly what’s on his mind, whether or not you want to hear it. He happened to be wearing a modern, Hugo Boss-style suit that day and had no trouble telling the team at Chaps: ‘Who wants Chaps? This is what the young customer wants! We can make you beautiful suits that look like this!’ I was sure we’d lose the deal immediately.”

Recognizing the role Alvin Segal has played in his career, Ronny shares some insight. “He’s an inside guy and loves to challenge people,” Ronny explains. “He likes to stir the pot in that he’s never satisfied, even when things are going well. You can do 100 things perfectly and he’ll find the one thing that’s slightly less than perfect. This ensures that we’re all on our toes: complacency can’t happen here!”

Ronny also expresses tremendous gratitude for Segal’s contributions to numerous charities, a priority they both share. “I can be generous because Alvin Segal is generous. And more than anything else, I believe we’re here on Earth to help people. Years ago, companies used to help other companies that were struggling. If a retailer got in trouble, manufacturers would take goods back or give them extra terms or even send in their controllers to help out.

“Today, no one seems to care, which is a real shame because we’ve lost a lot of great stores,” he adds. “There was a time when Peerless had almost 3,000 accounts; today it’s a few hundred. I do believe, however, that conventional stores will survive. They’ll be different, but they’ll survive.”

Among Ronny’s mentors before Alvin Segal was Paul Wattenberg. “He was very good to me, probably because my family owned Eagle Clothes so he thought I had money. (In fact, I had about $17.85 and a big mortgage!) Paul was the best seller I knew, certainly the most tenacious. When someone said no to him, that’s when he first got started. He could be overpowering, however, which was a good lesson for me. I learned to analyze why the person said no and come up with reasons to change his mind. No is just a word, but to convert it to yes, you’ve got to be skillful. Selling is an art form, and while it’s great to be a natural seller, it’s a skill that can be learned.”

What can’t be learned, however, is intrinsic character, values that come from within. “The essence of Ronny is his compassion and playfulness,” says his wife Poppy, who knows him better than anyone. “Although his work has always been paramount, Ronny will stop everything to help a friend. He gives personal and business advice, medical information and referrals, and even lends office space for anyone out of a job.

“His lightheartedness has been an important contributing factor to our wonderful life together,” she continues. “Ronny always turns the mundane into fun and has a positive attitude toward life, regardless of the stresses we may face. He is the most loving, empathetic, supportive husband, father, grandfather and friend—I’m the luckiest woman in the world to be married to him.”