- 5 -
worked as a team, Anna and Cyril's mother, Charlotte, were the
key persons in setting the merchandising pace of the store, and
Cyril was more or less the key idea man.
JM did not do well financially during the Great Depression.
Joseph started a factoring business, Donner Factors, which
advanced money to companies against their accounts receivable.
Donner Factors was a successful company and, for a long time,
made more money than JM.
Joseph, the president of JM, was very conservative. He and
Cyril had differing philosophies as to JM's approach to retailing
women's apparel. Joseph insisted on continuing to compete with
I. Magnin for upscale, older customers, whereas Cyril wanted to
tap the market of younger women. Cyril perceived in the late
1930's that the country was beginning to mobilize as a result of
the war and that military personnel were moving West along with
their spouses. The younger women moving West were increasingly
entering the business world, and they had money to spend and no
preconceived ideas of where to buy. These different philosophies
led to arguments between Joseph and Cyril. Finally, in 1937,
Joseph turned the operation of JM over to Cyril, predicting that
he would fail with his "crazy ideas". Joseph remained president
of JM but concentrated his efforts on Donner Factors.
In January 1940, Jean Blum, Joseph, and Cyril formed a
Nevada corporation by the name of "Specialty Shops, Inc."
(Specialty), for the purpose of operating a branch store under
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011