TMD 402I - Innovation in the Textile and Apparel Complex
"The Shaver Touch:" Dorothy Shaver's Retailing Innovations at Lord & Taylor, 1924-1959
Tiffany Weber-Hanchett
Summary by Jennifer Mello
Tiffany Webber-Hanchett,
a graduate student of this department, gave a presentation on Dorothy Shaver’s
retailing innovations at Lord and Taylor. Ms.
Shaver worked for Lord and Taylor from 1924 until her death in 1959.
At the time of her death, she held the position of President, and has the
distinction of being the highest paid woman of her time (in the US).
The Lord and Taylor flagship 5th Avenue store opened in 1914.
A relative of Shaver’s, Samuel Rayburn, first hired Dorothy after
noticing her strong business sense in dealing producing and selling her and her
sister’s Little Shaver doll company. This
business sense served her well in her career and earned her the unofficial title
of First Lady of Retailing
Shaver began as a Consultant in the
Comparison Shopper Department. She
was asked to restructure this department after she was hired.
She proposed that there be a Bureau of Fashion and Decorating, which
would partner merchants, buyers, advertisers and forecasters together.
This was the first time forecasting was used in fashion retailing.
As someone who uses forecasting on a daily basis, I am eternally grateful
for Dorothy’s business sense! Another
early initiative of hers was to change the aim of the store from being price
conscious to offering a premium selection of fashion merchandise.
It was this initiative and fashion focus that propelled not only her
career, but Lord and Taylor as well.
One way of placing emphasis on
fashion was in decorating the store’s windows with innovative and attractive
displays. One year Dorothy planned
a big window display and store event to celebrate the arrival of spring.
She even went so far as to have real lambs greeting customers at the
door! Her plans came close to failing when a blizzard dumped snow
on New York that day. Creative
Dorothy had fake snow poured over the window display until only the
mannequin’s heads, forearms and hands were showing.
One had a sign that told customers that spring fashions could be seen on
the fourth floor. That kind of
innovative creativity is absent from many of today’s displays and illustrates
her amazing creativity. The picture
of this window showed a display that would work just as well today as it did
when it debuted. Dorothy’s
creativity was timeless.
In addition to window displays and
merchandise selection, Ms. Shaver also created successful advertising campaigns.
Her ads became so well recognized that she stopped mentioning the Lord
and Taylor name in them, she merely had them signed “You Know Who.”
Another lasting advertising icon that she created was the signature Red
Rose logo, which remains a part of the company’s image today.
Shaver was also credited with
the creation of smaller “shops” on the sales floor.
During her tenor at Lord and Taylor she added petite, bridal, budget,
maternity and college shops to her stores.
She was also the first to focus on the teenage consumer and may have
actually coined the phrase! Her
leadership also saw the decentralization of fashion from New York City to the
suburbs. She led Lord and Taylor on
an aggressive expansion plan that saw her company’s revenues increase from
$35mm to $80mm, a feat which would be commendable with today’s dollar, never
mind the dollar value of her time.
Her most lasting legacy may be the
introduction of American Couture. Prior
to her influence, American designers worked anonymously through their employers.
In 1932 Lord and Taylor began their campaign to promote American
designers. The first three women
chosen to showcase their work were Elizabeth Hawes, Edith Marie Reuse and
Annette Simpson. Shaver continued
showcasing Americans for the remainder of her career.
This showcasing included advertisements, window displays and shops on the
sales floor. However, she continued
offering French designs and copied them as well.
Although Lord and Taylor has lost
some of their fashionability and has lost market share with the teenage shopper
due to a lack of Jr. department, they are still using Dorothy’s tagline,
“The Signature of American Style.” Once again being led by a woman, they are still expanding and
have recently come to Rhode Island. Ms.
Webber-Hanchett gave a fascinating presentation on a fascinating woman, a woman
who was not only a trailblazer and a trend setter in her time, but one whose
legacy continues today.