New Chairman of Robinson’s : Tom Roach Stresses High Quality Over Low Prices

As an avid athlete who financed his college education with a track scholarship and still jogs as many as five miles in the morning, Tom L. Roach is familiar with fast competition.

However, it’s safe to say that the race he begins next week, when he takes the baton as chairman and chief executive of the J. W. Robinson department stores, will be one of the most challenging of his 42 years. He will have to be fleet of foot to succeed against the fiercely competitive retailing pack in Southern California.

It’s also safe to say, however, that the hard-driving executive, who since 1979 has served as chairman of Denver Dry Goods--Robinson’s upscale counterpart in Denver--relishes the fast track. “We see ourselves as taking a fashion leadership role,” Roach said this week in a hurried interview at Robinson’s headquarters.

The tan, fit-looking executive had only minutes to spare before returning to Denver in the middle of a rat race of a week that already had taken him to New York and Los Angeles. The activity was spurred by the announcement Monday by Associated Dry Goods, parent of Robinson’s, that Roach would replace Michael Gould, 43, as chairman of the 23-store division.

The shift was “not a long-designed thing,” said Joseph H. Johnson, chairman and chief executive of Associated, who accompanied Roach to Los Angeles from the company’s New York headquarters.

In the interview, Johnson criticized Gould’s tactic of using heavy promotions, which eroded profit margins, to boost sales and market share. “We were guilty along with the pack,” Johnson said.

Gould, who was highly regarded in the industry as a merchandiser, resigned “to pursue other interests,” according to a statement by Associated. The company acknowledged that Robinson’s enjoyed good growth and sales under Gould’s leadership but said it “had a disappointing year as far as profitability.”

Industry estimates of $560 million for annual sales at Robinson’s are “in the ballpark,” Johnson said. In terms of market share in Southern California, Robinson’s ranks third behind the Broadway and May Co. but slightly ahead of Bullock’s, according to recent industry estimates.

For Roach, the goal will be to bring expenses back into line while focusing on the 103-year-old merchant’s image as a quality fashion store, an image that “was deviated from in the past” in the effort to win more market share, he said.

“I’ve come from four other ADG divisions, and in every marketplace they’re the quality store,” Roach said. “That doesn’t mean we won’t be promotional. (But) we will try to promote more value rather than price, price, price.”

(Although Robinson’s will be looking at many ways to trim expenses, Johnson vowed that any cutbacks in the 9,500-member work force will be by attrition and won’t have a “noticeable effect.”)

Roach contended that the pendulum is starting to swing away from such heavy promotions in Southern California. However, that sounds to some observers like wishful thinking. The Broadway and May Co., for example, continue to rely heavily on one- or two-day sales. And, although Nordstrom is perhaps best known for its customer service, the Seattle-based company also frequently puts merchandise on sale.

The shift to Los Angeles will be a homecoming for Roach, who was senior executive vice president of Robinson’s in 1977 and 1978. He also has been vice chairman of Lord & Taylor and president and chief executive of Robinson’s of Florida. Roach, who grew up in Cody, Wyo., has been in retailing since receiving his master’s in business administration from the University of Wyoming in 1966. In his years at Denver Dry Goods, the 12-store chain had several consecutive years of record sales and profits, although net income dipped slightly with the downturn in Denver’s oil-patch economy last year.

Clearly, much of the success can be attributed to Roach’s high energy, the kind of energy that had him up and jogging on the streets of downtown Los Angeles before 6 a.m. Wednesday.

For Roach, who wants to see Robinson’s return to “more classical” fashions, the 45-minute run provided a reassuring look at Los Angeles fashion. “There were businessmen walking around with briefcases, wearing button-down shirts and ties,” he said.

As Los Angeles becomes more of an alluring financial center, he said, “those people who come here from the East Coast who are accustomed to shopping at Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue will be looking for that kind of store.”

And Roach intends to be out there in front to welcome them.