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LeConte survives change, stays on course |
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“Listen to your wife,” advises Michael Browe.
He listened to his wife, Suzanne, when she suggested that they try a menswear
shop in Rochester Hills, and now the two of them enjoy running LeConte
Ltd., a store that Michael describes as “the kind of place where
I want to shop.”
Michael especially enjoys visual merchandising, and around
the store can be found his childhood sled, his wife’s old skis, wine
glasses, offbeat hot sauce and other items that evoke the comfortable
lifestyle of his clientele. LeConte began as Suzanne’s project. After early careers
at Crowley’s, a Detroit-area department store chain, the Browes opened
a women’s shoe store called Pears, based on Michael’s experience
as a buyer in women’s shoes for Crowley’s. “I noticed a lack of good menswear stores in the
area, and menswear had been my area of specialty at Crowley’s, so
I told Michael I’d love to open a menswear store,” said Suzanne. In 1986 they opened LeConte Ltd.—named for a variety
of pear, but mostly just because Suzanne liked the sound of the word for
a store name. Suzanne had the ideas and the final say in all the startup
decisions, from the overall look of the store to the merchandise, moderate
to better menswear. “When I realized it was much more fun selling menswear
than women’s shoes, we sold Pears and focused on LeConte together,”
said Michael. The store did so well that in September 1999, they opened
a second location in Grand Blanc, and that location has also done quite
well. In fact, it was this second location that helped maintain a steady
income when a series of misfortunes struck their original location in
1999. The same month they opened the second location, the Rochester
Hills store suffered its first robbery. “It was over in a matter of minutes. They threw a
piece of concrete through the window, went in and grabbed several thousand
dollars in merchandise, and got out long before any response was possible,”
said Michael. Police warned the Browes that in about five weeks the
thieves might return, once the store has been restocked with new merchandise.
That’s exactly what happened. The losses from the second break-in
were almost as much.
The incident forced them to close for four months. Then,
not long after they reopened in March, the auto industry suffered massive
layoffs in the area. The combination of being closed and losing some great
customers from retirement and through attrition took a noticeable toll
on business. But instead of trying to “reinvent” the store as
a result of these setbacks, the Browes stayed true to the original concept.
“Of course you have to constantly renew and keep
the store fresh, but we liked the overall atmosphere of the store, so
we felt we needed to just stay the course,” said Suzanne. “In creating the store we had been true to who we
are, so we saw no need to change anything dramatically,” added Michael.
The boom years of the late 1990s gave way to the slower
years of 2000-2003. But 2004 was an excellent year, with sales back to
the levels of the late 1990s, according to Michael. One reason may be
the successful core concept, which involves a comfortable atmosphere and
putting customers at ease. The Browes’ style of customer service focuses on
an unflagging attention to the needs and wishes of his customers. “I want to anticipate my customers’ comfort
and provide for it before it even occurs to them that they want something,”
Michael explained. “It’s a level of service that you won’t
see at a discount menswear store.” One example is offering a beverage or bottled water to
customers, many of whom the Browes know by name. Another is laundered
shirts. “A customer who buys shirts along with a suit usually
picks them up when the suit is ready,” Michael explains. “While
the suit is being tailored, we have the new shirts laundered, so they’re
ready to wear upon bringing them home.” One challenge that a high-standards, full-service type
like Michael faces is finding and keeping sales staff that meet his standards.
He admits to burning out a trainee or two, those who can’t handle
the full-service training he provides. “I train my staff to provide the most responsive,
most sensitive customer service, just like I try to give,” said Michael.
“Not everyone is cut out for this level of service. LeConte has wonderful
customers, and our associates have to be worthy of our customers.” This kind of service makes for loyal customers and good
word of mouth, everyone’s favorite form of advertising. The Browes’ advertising style is targeted rather
than the “shotgun” approach of radio or print ads. They use
direct-mail marketing and e-mail, and have had success with software called
E-Mail Logic, which helps them create, manage and track their e-mail marketing
efforts. Local radio isn’t local enough for this store—most
of the listeners are just not close enough. Cable TV, however, can be
zoned, which in metro Detroit is useful. The Browes can specify which
northern suburbs will see the store’s ads—at affordable rates.
“The point of my TV ads is not to announce a sale
or even talk about my merchandise,” explained Michael. “It’s
just to make our presence known and to give a visual sense of who we are
and what our store is like.” Michael and Suzanne love what they do. “I was advising
a friend who was interested in getting into retail, and we discussed the
long hours. I mean, I’m here from 9 to 9 most days,” said Michael. “Now that sounded pretty harsh to him, and it would
be if I didn’t love what I do, or if I felt like I was not comfortable.
But because my store is comfortable to me, it’s not like work. I’m
at home here.” This article was written by Amy Buttery, Michigan Retailer staff writer. |
The store’s comfortably masculine atmosphere has
an overall air of laid-back class—cigar boxes, images of sailing,
golf and hunting, inviting leather chairs and warm wood fixtures, like
a husband’s favorite room in a well-appointed home.
In November, just weeks after the second robbery, a fire
that started several stores down in their strip mall sent enough smoke
through the ductwork that LeConte was ruined. They lost all the merchandise
and had to have all the fixtures replaced or cleaned.