Tales of Two
The Tale of 2 Pauls
Old line, New York retailer, Paul Stuart, has an outstanding website at www.paulstuart.com. It conveys the luxury of the store and the quality of the merchandise they sell. Value priced catalog retailer, Paul Frederick also has a website, www.paulfrederick.com. I found the site to be busy, but I really enjoy the expansive variety of products they show, particularly their creative shirtings. I also like that their sales reps strongly believe in the quality of the Paul Frederick product.
The Tale of 2 Godivas
To me, Godiva Chocolate has always been a symbol of excess, particularly among the Yuppie set. Personally, I enjoy the taste of the chocolate and its presentation. When I kept offices in Philadelphia, I would often have the downtown Godiva store send gifts to customers I was courting.
Each year, at holiday time, we send Godiva chocolate to dear relatives and friends across the country. My wife anxiously awaits the catalog that beautifully presents our choices and makes us want to buy more! This year, placing our Miami order was a challenge. The Godiva 800 phone line ran out of the selections we wanted. Godiva, like all retailers in this strained economy, is probably trying to limit risk and made sure not to overstock. But if you’re selling EXCESS, LUXURY, and GLAMOUR, can you afford to have too little inventory? And, should your telephone operators sound like they work for a call center that sells chocolates on line 1, balloons on line 2, and discount close-outs on line 3? So Judy called the local Godiva store. The fellow didn’t know the charge to deliver our gift, but did call back with the information as promised. He was gentle in tone and the store did have adequate choices available. And, most importantly, it was so clear that the store clerk wanted to help and make our experience pleasant and comfortable, the way a luxury goods purveyor should.
