Dresser of Rich Matrons Hopes to Entice Younger Clientele : Miss Martha Says Time to Expand

At her Park Avenue salon, which includes such touches as matching tulips and a uniformed doorman, customers spend an average $1,500 per visit.

Martha Phillips--or Miss Martha, as she is known--would like to expand her already $25 million-a-year business of dressing rich matrons.

She is trying to attract a younger clientele, she toys with the idea of going into couture, she thinks of opening her plush, chandeliered shops in more of the nation’s major cities.

Many things seem possible to the 77-year-old woman, who started her company during the Depression, and managed to sell nothing under $100, even then.

“I was very determined, period,” says the chairman of Martha Inc.

Although times were hard, she said, she was confident that “if it was beautiful, I could sell it.”

And sell she did. Her clients include the likes of socialites Brooke Astor and Mrs. Walter Annenberg.

Miss Martha has been described as a wearer of “serious” jewelry.

During a recent interview, held in a peach-colored dressing room at her intimidating Park Avenue salon, she wore a humongous emerald ring, crystal and diamond earrings, with a matching large bangle.

Also serious was her designer outfit, her hairdo--champagne blond--her make-up, her manicure.

Her talent has been encouraging and befriending designers. She claims among her discoveries: Valentino, Mary McFadden, and David and Elizabeth Emanuel, designers of Princess Diana’s wedding dress.

A Brooklyn native, Miss Martha went to work in the business at the age of 8, selling lace blouses at her father’s store. She had to stand on a crate behind the counter in the shop, which sold tailored suits and riding clothes.

Miss Martha was 18 when she married Phillip R. Phillips, a ready-to-wear maker, and traveled with him on business trips to Europe. She bore a son and a daughter.

But the traditional route ended there.

“I grew up knowing I couldn’t sit around and be entertained for lunch and go to parties in the afternoon. I thought, I have to do something,” she said.

“All my friends said, ‘Martha, you have to go into (the fashion) business. You always look so perfect, so beautiful,”’ she said.

In 1934, she went out and rented space on the 12th floor of a building on Madison Avenue.

“My husband was very furious with me,” she said. “He said, ‘If you want to, go into business with me.’ I said, ‘No, I want to do it myself.’ I was really possessed with the idea.”

She said she ran a red runner from the elevator to the door of her shop and opened for business.

“We grew and grew,” she said. “My husband finally conceded that I was doing so well.”

She sold expensive clothes and attracted prominent women from the start.

In 1945, she opened a store in Palm Beach, Fla. She takes credit for creating the Palm Beach look of white, pinks and greens.

Her daughter, Lynn Manulis, joined the business in 1957, after a divorce and a career in the theatre. She currently serves as president.

Miss Martha added a shop in Bal Harbor, Fla., in 1965, and moved to her Park Avenue salon in 1966.

Two years ago, she opened another New York shop in Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue to cater to younger women and tourists.

Martha Inc.’s annual sales total about $25 million, Miss Martha says. She refuses to discuss profits, but she does confirm that she marks up American goods 100% and imported ones 150%.

Ten percent of her merchandise carries the Martha label and she holds sales--she says she hates that word--twice a year.

Miss Martha’s road has had its bumps.

She still hasn’t forgotten being snubbed by the manager of a ritzy New York hotel, where she dreamed of having a shop, and eventually did for a while.

“He said, ‘It (Martha Phillips) doesn’t sound like Bergdorf Goodman, does it?’ I said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘We need somebody with a name and you don’t have the name,”’ she recalled. “I said, ‘You will know and will hear of that name.’ ”

The Trump Tower shop wasn’t an instant success, either.

“In the beginning, it was very difficult. We opened with the thought of getting a younger clientele. I really wanted to do something fantastic with the ‘80s,” she said. “Of course, I felt Martha has a great name and I was probably expecting it too soon. It takes a couple of years.”

Back at her Park Avenue salon, which includes such touches as matching tulips and a uniformed guard-doorman, customers spend an average $1,500 per visit, she says.

“The clients who come to us really expect to come in and spend that kind of money,” Miss Martha says.

“We sell very interesting things starting at $200,” she says.

Behind the mirrored scene, fitters, pressers and maids, keep the goods in tip-top shape.

Some clients come from far away. The sales staff, which includes longtime employees, specializes in personal attention.

“We know what our clients want. I know where they go, what they do. I like to make them look good,” Miss Martha said.

One customer is financier Saul Steinberg’s wife. She isn’t a super-big spender, Miss Martha says, “But he says, ‘Buy everything.’ He wants her to look beautiful.”

Contemplating the future, Miss Martha said, “Maybe we should go into couture. We really have the clients for that kind of merchandise.”

“We’d like to have many more stores with the name of Martha in major cities,” she added.

Miss Martha reportedly has been approached several times about selling the business. But she would like it to remain in the family.

Her daughter’s son, Andrew Burnstine, serves as vice president.

Miss Martha’s son, Herbert Phillips, is an engineer. Her husband died in 1981.

Miss Martha spends about half her time in New York, half in Florida. She also travels to Europe to attend major fashion shows.

In her leisure time, she goes to spas to relax, and be pampered.

But Martha Inc. stays on her mind.

“The wheels keep turning in my head. At home, I have a pad on my night table. I can get up in the middle of the night to sketch something,” Miss Martha says.