Seymour Daiches - Travel Goods Association

The Industry Awards
The 2012 TGA Award
Seymour Daiches
By Garrett Lai
Seymour Daiches isn’t a
retailer. He’s not a product
designer. He isn’t a
manufacturer. But as the
long-time luggage buyer for
Macy’s, he might be one of
the most influential personalities in the
travel goods industry.
When TGA Board Chairman Jack
Holodnicki introduced Daiches at the
TGA Awards Ceremony in Las Vegas, he
explained, “The reason why Macy’s is
the best luggage purveyor in the world
is Seymour Daiches.”
As of March this year, Macy’s represented
842 stores commanding 151.9
million square feet of retail space.
That’s one gigantic retail operation,
with eight people responsible for merchandising,
planning and buying luggage
alone. Clearly, when it comes to
luggage, Daiches is a man of influence.
Getting to Macy’s
Daiches joined the luggage industry
in 1989, when he became the luggage
buyer for Marshall Field’s in Chicago.
“When I was at Marshall Field’s, at one
point I managed the luggage department.
I was buying in some other
areas, and in 1989 an opening occurred
and that’s how I slipped in there,” he
recounts. “When that position opened I
jumped at the opportunity.”
The appeal for Daiches was the
potential he saw in the luggage market.
“It was quite different than it is now,
but it was appealing because I thought
it was an area that always had a lot of
potential, a lot of newness. I was always
the self-driver, trying to find new ways
to grow the business.”
From Marshall Field’s, Daiches
moved to Boston and became a buyer
for Jordan Marsh, which merged with
A&S in New York. And eventually, A&S
merged with Macy’s, carrying Daiches
along with the merger.
Although he’d been the luggage buyer
since 1989, Daiches was also responsible
for other departments. “Prior to the
Macy’s merger, I bought other categories
in addition to luggage, like stationery
and greeting cards,” he remembers. But
Seymour Daiches of Macy’s accepts the 2012 TGA Award, the industry’s ultimate recognition of
personal and professional achievement, at The Travel Goods Show’s annual Awards Ceremony in
Las Vegas.
it was during his time at Macy’s that luggage
became his sole responsibility.
Big Ideas
Daiches is very matter-of-fact when
you speak with him, with very little
pretense. He modestly credits the fact
that he works for a terrific organization
like Macy’s as the driver of his success.
You have to press Seymour before he’ll
recount individual accomplishments;
however, it’s easy to get him to open
up about Macy’s and their formula for
success.
“Macy’s is always looking for the
next big idea,” he explains. “We’re
always looking to be a leader, to be at
the forefront of the business.”
Daiches acknowledges that Macy’s
is a very large retailer, but explains that
they “always try to focus on the big
ideas nationally. We look more globally,
on a national level.” But, there’s flexibility,
too. “We do customize regionally,”
he says, explaining how Macy’s is able
to be up front in the retail picture.
And how does Macy’s stay up front?
“We have strong relationships with our
vendors, for one thing. But we also just
drive the business, really growing it in
all aspects.”
One of the ways Macy’s drives its
luggage growth is training staff in product
knowledge. “A big piece of it, what
drives our success, is something I’m
doing this week. We’re running 17 luggage
seminars across the nation, just
on luggage — we definitely believe in
product knowledge.” In fact, we caught
up with Daiches by phone as he was on
his way to the airport in Detroit, having
just conducted a seminar for retail
associates from Detroit, Minneapolis
and Chicago.
When Daiches says Macy’s believes
in training, he really means it. He
estimates Macy’s will train more than
2,000 associates in the finer points of
luggage, a process that starts at the end
of March, and continues through mid-
July. “It’s an all-day seminar for associates,
from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. We cover all
the travel lines.” Prior to the merger
with Macy’s, the company hadn’t held
any luggage seminars in 15 years, but
Daiches brought seminars back, and
they have undoubtedly contributed to
Macy’s success in the luggage business.
Commitment = Success
Daiches is grateful for the professional
opportunities he’s received from
working in the travel goods industry.
Continued on next page
Travel Goods SHOWCASE Summer 2012
53

The Industry Awards
Continued from previous page
“Going from a start of buying for 20
stores to 650 stores, I would say I’ve
grown professionally from that. It’s a
wonderful industry, that’s the thing I
would stress. It’s a very friendly industry
— all the vendors get along with
each other. I don’t think there’s another
industry where people get along so well
and collaborate.”
As we talked about how Macy’s does
business, once of the things Daiches
keeps coming back to are the big ideas.
And by “big ideas,” he’s referring to
product ideas as well as commitment
and execution. “When we sniff something
good, we go after it. We believe
in it, and we really try to be leaders in
that category.”
As an example, Daiches recounts
Macy’s experience with 4-wheel spinners.
“I would say we really jumped on
the curve when spinners were just coming
out. We made it bigger and better
than anybody else.”
“Spinners really came to the forefront
about six years ago,” he recounts.
“Samsonite was the leader in getting that
out, and when we took it on we took a lot
of risk. At that time, spinners were a new
thing, and when vendors first brought
them out they tended to make the same
product in two-wheel and spinners, with
the expectation that retailers would carry
both.” But Daiches says that approach
would mean fewer unique items on the
shop floor. And they could see the obvious
benefits of the four-wheel configuration.
“We took the approach that
spinners were a big idea. And the way
to make it a big idea was to carry only
spinners in that collection.” It was a bold
move — spinners were a very new thing,
and quite different from the standard
two-wheel case. “We made a decision to
commit to spinners, and it paid off.”
Of course, betting big doesn’t always
pay off. When asked about whether
they’d ever had any duds, Daiches
isn’t shy about saying yes. He recounts
an example where Macy’s made a big
commitment to a luggage locator, an
all-new item that was actually awardwinning.
“We went after it big time,
and it was a horrible-selling product.”
So why didn’t it succeed? “I would say,
part of it was because of security issues
— people were afraid of it, they weren’t
comfortable with the idea of attaching
something like this to their luggage. It
made beeping noises. It was innovative,
we believed in it, but it didn’t pan out.”
So what did Macy’s learn from that
experience? “We learned what we’re
good at. We’re great at luggage, but
maybe we’re not so great with items
that wind up sitting on a table and what
have you. Things that come out of the
box we don’t do as well with.”
Career-Spanning Changes
So what’s changed about the travel
goods industry in his nearly 25 years
of involvement? “When I started it was
all horizontal. It’s changed drastically,
obviously, with lots of innovation
going to uprights. At first, the systems
were not very good — they had center
wheels, not corner wheels, and the
handles were completely external. The
innovative interior handles and spinners
have added a lot to the business by
adding functionality.”
Daiches notes that shades have
changed, too. “When I started, color
was almost entirely black. Now color
is very important; a lot has changed
in that time, much more than I probably
expected when I first got into the
industry.”
Daiches remarks that hardside
pieces are well-represented at The Show.
“Everybody is into it. It’s something
that’s fresh, something that shows color
well. And that’s changing it up, making
the industry look fresh, new and different.
And again, it’s a market that’s had
a lot of newness already. I’m not sure
how far hardsides will go, but it creates
a stir for us, it’s something new within
the department.”
Daiches feels the biggest challenge
for luggage retailers today remains the
same: “The customer becomes a challenge.
But we believe in the category.
It takes lots of product knowledge, a
requirement in selling luggage product.
For instance, the whole lightweight
issue. Basically, lightweight doesn’t necessarily
mean it’s better. But how do you
keep growing your business with the
whole lightweight conversation? We do
it with product knowledge, seminars,
reps servicing stores, advertising. Again,
education is key.”
Daiches also enjoyed The 2012
Travel Goods Show. “It was a fun show.
I would like to say to everyone that we
really believe in the entire industry —
we’re always well-represented at The
Show, and would never think for a
second about not attending. We feel it’s
very important to convey that message
to our vendors as well; that’s why certain
vendors have come back over time
with us holding conversations about
how important it is.”
And with that, Daiches said he’d just
arrived at the airport, and had to signoff.
He was on-the-go, with another two
days of seminars to present. More hard
work keeping Macy’s where they want
to be — up front and thinking big.
Product
Innovation
Awards
First place in this year’s Product
Innovation Awards went to
collapsible Road Warrior
M Series from TRUNK &
TROLLEY. Its innovative
design saves space at home
and on the road. The series includes two
bags, a wheeled upright and wheeled
duffel. And while they load and carry
in conventional fashion, they’re rather
unconventional once the journey’s over
— pulling the ripcords inside activate
the Micro Pop mechanism, which collapses
the sides and allows the bag to
fold down to an impressively small size,
reducing volume by 60% to save on storage
space for consumers, and potentially
reduces freight costs for retailers. The
bags’ MSRP range from $200 to $600,
depending on the specific model.
Edward L. Gerch of Kingport Trading presents
the first place Product Innovation Award to
Sammy Sitt of Trunk & Trolley for the Road
Warrior M Series’ Micro Pop mechanism, which
allows the bag to reduce in volume by 60%.
Second place was a dead heat —
two different interpretations of a similar
concept from Briggs & Riley and
Samsonite.
Continued on page 56
54 Summer 2012 Travel Goods SHOWCASE

The Industry Awards
Frank Fine of Lieber’s Luggage presents the
second place Product Innovation Award to
Richard Krulik of Briggs & Riley for the Domestic
Carry-On Expandable Upright. The bag’s ratchet
system adjusts to keep contents compressed and
the bag neatly packed into overhead bins.
Robert Dodson of Ricardo Beverly Hills presents
the second place Product Innovation Award
to Lloyd Rabinowitz of Samsonite for their
Compressor. Their compressible collection expands
for packing, and contracts to fit contents
with the push of a button to reduce volume.
Peter Cobb of eBags presents the third place
Product Innovation Award to Rob Rankin of
Travelpro International for the Crew 9
21” Expandable Spinner with the PowerScope
Extension Handle.
Continued from page 54
BRIGGS & RILEY’s Domestic
Carry-On Expandable Upright functions
like a standard expandable upright,
only in reverse. The upright expands
24% for packing, and once the contents
are loaded and the bag is zipped,
users press down on the front panel
to compress the contents. A ratchet
mechanism automatically adjusts to
keep the bag in its compressed state,
which helps it fit neatly into overhead
bins or underneath airline seats. It’s a
slick way to avoid checking your bag,
and retails for $449.
SAMSONITE’s Compressor is
another take on the same concept —
you expand the case, pack it, then push
the front panel in to compress it and
reduce the bag’s volume. Compressing
the contents also helps prevent shifting,
so they’re more likely to stay in place
(a fact that’s also true for the Briggs &
Riley design). The Compressor’s MSRP
is $299.
The third place Product Innovation
Award went to TRAVELPRO’s Crew
9 21” Expandable Spinner, which was
notable for two different patent-pending
innovations. The first and most
noticeable is the PowerScope Extension
Handle. The handle cleverly reduces the
amount of play and wobble when the
handle is fully extended — it’s a small
thing, but makes a big difference when
wheeling the case. The second innovative
feature is the Contour Grip, a handle
designed specifically for the way people
maneuver 4-wheelers. Typically pushed,
4-wheelers are meant to be pulled. The
Contour Grip is designed to be a lot
kinder to travelers when pushed, and is
still very comfortable when being towed.
It’s a lot of clever design for $199 MSRP.
Community
Service Award
The Community Service
Award is an acknowledgement
of top-tier corporate
citizenship within the
travel goods industry. This
year’s winner was MOBILE
EDGE, which has partnered with the
Susan G. Komen Foundation in the
fight against breast cancer since 2004
and raised more than $300,000 for
breast cancer awareness and research.
Mobile Edge created the pinkthemed
Caring Case Collection, which
features the signature pink ribbon symbolizing
the fight against breast cancer.
Ten percent of all retail proceeds from
the collection are donated to the Susan
David Bieber of Delsey Luggage presents the
Community Service Award to Chuck Gangi of
Mobile Edge, a major supporter of the Susan
G. Komen Foundation.
G. Komen Foundation.
Anaheim, CA-based Mobile Edge
also donates 2,000 bags to cancer survivors
each year at the local Susan
G. Komen Race for the Cure event in
Newport Beach, California.
The Buzz Award
The Buzz Award is The Show’s
popularity contest — the
winning product is voted on
by retailers and media from
the items displayed in the
New Products Pavilion. This
year’s winning product was Psi Bands
(pronounced sigh-bands), wrist bands
that use acupressure to suppress nausea
caused by a variety of sources including
morning sickness, chemotherapy and
motion sickness. The bands offer a
reusable, drug-free solution for nausea,
and they’re fashionably-designed, comfortable,
and affordable — the MSRP of
each band is only $15.
b
Michele Marini Pittenger, president of the
Travel Goods Association, presents the Buzz
Award to Romy Taormina and Amy Herzog of
Psi Bands. The award-winning Psi Bands relieve
nausea with acupressure around the wrist.
56 Summer 2012 Travel Goods SHOWCASE