Small Business Archive
- Top 10 Recruiting Myths - Busted
Millions of interviews take place every year and with that comes a number of myths about the recruiting process. For one reason or another, these myths have become commonplace and dispelling them becomes a prominent issue. This list summarizes the ten most common recruiting myths. - Identifying and Leveraging Your Star Players
When looking to overhaul your small business, you need to rely on the strongest members of your organization. Every company has a few people who provide substantially greater value. Leveraging these people's ideas and insights will help you build a stronger small business. - 5 Things You Need To Do To Conduct A Better Interview
Your business depends on your ability to make a good hire. But making a good hire is not exactly an easy task. After sorting through resumes and selecting the few choice candidates considered worth your time is only half the battle.
Interview with Melissa Payner-Gregor, President and CEO of Bluefly, Inc.
By Lee Simmons, Industry Editor, International Team
About Bluefly, Inc.
Bargain broker Bluefly is flying anywhere but into the red. The company offers excess and closeout apparel and home accessories for men, women, and teens via its Web site at prices it claims are 30%-75% cheaper than retail. The site carries more than 80,000 items from more than 350 labels, including Prada and Calvin Klein. Former chairman Ken Seiff founded the company in 1991 as Pivot Rules to sell golf apparel to young golfers. It discounted its golf sportswear line and sold its Pivot Rules trademarks to make the transition to an off-price e-tailer, forming alliances with Time Warner, Excite, and Yahoo!, among others. Financier George Soros owns more than 80% of Bluefly.
Bluefly, Inc. Stats
- Company Type: Public
- Year Founded: 1991
- 2004 Revenue: $43.8 Million
- 2004 Employees: 77
About Melissa Payner-Gregor
Melissa Payner-Gregor has served as Bluefly's president since September 2003 and was named CEO in August 2004. Prior to that, Payner-Gregor served as president and CEO of Spiegel Catalog, as well as a director of The Spiegel Group, Inc. From 1995 to 1997, she was president and director at Chico FAS, Inc. Payner-Gregor has also held senior executive positions with Guess?, Inc., Pastille, and Henri Bendel.
Source: March 25, 2005 proxy filing
How have your past experiences with apparel retailers benefited your current role as Bluefly's CEO?
I'm able to leverage my significant experience in building profitable merchandising strategies. While I was President and CEO of Spiegel Catalog, we successfully reduced the company's costs, expanded its margins, and accelerated growth, while simultaneously increasing Spiegel's online share of the business. I've also had extensive experience in building designer relationships, which has been instrumental in upgrading our merchandising strategy at Bluefly.
How does Bluefly operate differently from other companies you've worked with?
As an online retailer, we are always thinking of new ways to create a unique shopping environment -- whether it's technology advancements like our zoom feature or an upgraded merchandise selection like we implemented last spring. We add new merchandise to the site every day and have remodeled the company to be just as in style as high-end boutiques throughout the year.
Consumers are continuing to tighten their belts and manufacturers are moving their production overseas. How will Bluefly position itself to remain competitive in light of an uncertain apparel market?
We offer our customers significant value with our selection of designer merchandise at up to 80% off retail prices. And by offering designers a complementary shopping environment that protects brand equity, we've established (and continue to build) strong relationships with leading designers and are able to offer the highest quality designer merchandise that is also in-season. Additionally, we offer special promotions like our recent "Win a closet full of Jimmy Choo's," which are an excellent way to continuously drive customers to the site.
Trends often inspire spending in the apparel world. What is your recipe for staying on top of changing customer patterns without losing sales?
We've brought in new talent from Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue to capture and interpret the latest runway fashion trends in order to select the right assortment of designer merchandise in women's and men's apparel and accessories. Because designers produce the next season's line well in advance, we're able to sell clothing based on the current trends. For example, we had an incredible selection of cashmere when it became popular this fall. Also, we continuously identify and offer new and exciting designers typically found on the racks of retailers like Barneys for our savvy, trend-setting customers.
Bluefly was founded at the height of the dot-com boom. One bust and seven years later, what would you say has changed most about being an e-commerce enterprise, and how important a role will the Internet play in Bluefly's future?
Since Bluefly's inception, our mantra has been to build a unique shopping environment comprised of designer brands, fashion trends, and superior value. A fundamental element of our business model is operating online, and that is not going to change. We are, however, constantly testing to see what makes sense as part of our strategy. For example, through our temporary holiday store, we realized it was an effective tool for introducing new designer fashions, such as new cashmere labels, that customers may want to see and feel in a physical location.
What has been your greatest challenge as CEO?
The biggest challenge, and one of the reasons for opening a temporary holiday store, is to change the public's perception of the company and demonstrate that we sell first quality designer merchandise that is in-season. We do not sell factory seconds or irregular items, and our site is not comprised of last year's merchandise. In fact, customers see a fresh selection of designer merchandise each time they visit Bluefly, where new merchandise was carefully selected by our fashion experts and introduced and posted to the site daily. We are in closer, more regular contact with designers than other discount retailers are, and we are now focused on getting a complete range of sizes and entire collections, such as both the jacket and the matching skirt.