Seymour Daiches - Travel Goods Association

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