SUE GRAHAM : A Wholesale Success at Retail : Bullock’s Top Store Manager Spills Her Secrets

The Saks Fifth Avenue and I. Magnin stores at South Coast Plaza have one loyal, and unlikely, customer--Bullock’s.

The upscale Costa Mesa department store regularly spends thousands of dollars paying retail prices to the competition. That’s because Sue Graham, the store’s vice president and general manager for more than 6 years, will do anything to satisfy a customer.

“Anything,” says Graham emphatically. “When a customer comes here, she never has to leave the store. If we’re out of a size, we’ll buy it somewhere else while the customer waits.”

And when it comes to beating arch-rival Nordstrom (Graham calls it “the N word”) nobody can be tougher. Posing as a customer, she has shamelessly called Nordstrom to ask about store hours--so Bullock’s can open an hour earlier on major sale days. The industrial espionage is typical--and it has paid off well.

Since Graham arrived at the South Coast Bullock’s 6 1/2 years ago, it has become far and away the chain’s top grossing store. She was named mall Merchant of the Year in 1987 and her store won South Coast’s Customer Service Award in 1988--an honor, she says gleefully, that “really put Nordstrom’s knickers in a knot.”

With her trademark rallying-cry over the loudspeaker every day of “This is your GM in the a.m. Let’s rock and roll!,” Graham’s enthusiasm, upbeat attitude and hard work is widely credited with making her store the chain’s flagship.

Graham joined Bullock’s 17 years ago and worked her way up through the ranks. Today she starts a new job as group vice president of Bullock’s, working from the Santa Ana store. In a recent interview with Times staff writer Mary Ann Galante, Graham, 35, talked about the retail industry, Bullock’s and South Coast Plaza.

Q. What will you do in your new job?

A. There’s a brand new structure with three group vice presidents--one for each of the three regions. I’m the Orange County--San Diego region. There’s the L.A. County region and the remote region. I have the general managers of seven stores reporting to me, as well as 18 buyers. And these buyers buy just for my region.

Our new setup will give us an edge because now I’ll have 18 buyers who will buy just for seven stores in the Orange County-San Diego region. So you will see things in these seven stores that you won’t see in the L.A. region or in the remote region.

Q. How did the previous system work?

A. A buying group bought for (all of) Bullock’s 22 stores. Now, with 18 buyers buying just for seven stores, we’ll be able to move faster. The focus is narrower. The buyers actually are on the selling floor, working with the customer. So if the trend is chain necklaces or shorter sleeves, for example, then I can hop on the trend quickly. Our stores will look like the regions.

Q. How is the merchandise in the Orange County-San Diego region likely to differ?

A. For the Orange County-San Diego region, we want things that are trendy. Our customers always want quality and they like a name. Orange County-San Diego customers are more active in their life style. In Orange County, there is very big growth in children’s apparel--much more than in L.A. County. So in the Orange County-San Diego stores, you’re going to see more emphasis on kids.

L.A. County is very career, very ‘L.A. Law.’ Here, customers not only work but they play. We sell a lot of active-wear. Liz Claiborne is a uniform. Carole Little (designer of contemporary sportswear) is very easy to wear. We have a very casual life style here. On the Westside, it’s more black leather and silk shirts. You’d see more Ralph Lauren, more Polo merchandise here. Our customer likes more of conservative quality, a yuppie look. St. John Knits will sell here in droves where in L.A. they’d be looking for Massoni.

Q. In the 6 1/2 years you’ve been in Orange County, what changes have there been at South Coast Plaza, at Bullock’s, and in the retail industry?

A. There have been a lot of changes.

South Coast Plaza has really come into its own. It is the Rodeo Drive of the South. The customer today--versus the South Coast customer 6 years ago--is a real quality customer. When I got here, Bullock’s was a 139,000-square-foot store. Our store ranked third in volume with Bullock’s. Now we substantially rank No. 1. We will do about 20% more than the next closest store this year, which is Sherman Oaks. We’re definitely the flagship store.

We underwent a $32-million remodel (in 1985-1987). Our merchandise mix changed. We got out of the furniture business. We got out of moderate sportswear and really catered to the customer.

Q. Much of the success of the South Coast Store hinges on customer service. How do you motivate your sales associates to cater to the customer?

A. We have a sign up in the office that says, “We Hire Only The Best.” And we stick to it. We are really selective about the people that we hire. If you care about your associates, they’ll care about your customers. And that’s critical. I do training once a week. If anything happens to any of my employees, I go to the hospital to visit them. We’ve had a couple of employees who died. We call their families and say, “Please can we say something” (at the services). When you’re cared about, you want to work and give a little extra for the company.

We also pay our sales associates well. There are two places to work if you’re going to work in retail--here and Nordstrom. That’s where you can make money. The paycheck is the silent motivator.

Q. What’s the range of salaries for sales associates here and at Nordstrom?

A. It starts at about $20,000 on the average. It can go anywhere up to $40,000 or $50,000, depending on the sales associate and where they work and the PT that they have.

Q. PT?

A. PT is personal trade. That’s a clientele book. Our associates have them (to keep track of preferred customers). You’ll see them at all of our registers.

We have one sales associate in our Polo department. It doesn’t matter where he works. He does such a good job of servicing his black book that I could lock the doors to this store and he’d still produce. All he needs is a telephone. Last month, he sold our $50,000 Lalique table to one of his Polo customers. He just got on the phone and called the customer and said: “Remember you told me you wanted something special for your foyer? Guess what? I’ve got something special for your foyer.”

And the customer bought the $50,000 Lalique table because (the salesman) knows how to work his book.

Q. Are men or women better salespeople?

A. The brain isn’t male or female. If we put it in a jar and looked at it, we wouldn’t know whether it’s a boy or a girl. An individual who is friendly, who listens and really cares about people is a good salesperson. It’s the individual and how he or she approaches the job.

Q. Do men and women have equal opportunity in retail?

A. Yes. More now than in the past. When I first was a store manager, we had 20 stores. I was one of only two female general managers. But now, two-thirds of them are women. Our three new group vice presidents are all women.

In retail, if you’re good with people, if you’re hard-working, if you really care about getting the job done and you’re aggressive, you can do anything.

Q. What are the most common mistakes of sales associates?

A. Prejudging customers by the way they look. We tell employees in training, “Every customer is the same.” During the holiday season 3 years ago, a woman came in from valet parking wearing those sweats we all have that had shrunk with stains on them. She had no makeup and no jewelry. She walks in, goes over to handbag department and right up to the Gucci counter and everybody clears the area. She doesn’t look like she’s going to buy anything.

So I’m watching everybody clear the area. This was 3 years ago--I can tell you this doesn’t happen in my store anymore. I start talking to the lady and say, “How are you doing?” I ended up selling her $2,500 worth of Gucci on her platinum card. I carried the merchandise out to the valet door and to her Mercedes. I went back to the department and said, “Guys, you missed a good one. You can’t judge a book by the cover.”

Q. Tell me some other tricks of the retail trade.

A. A lot of times when customers have gained weight, they have a tendency not to buy. I learned early on what to say when a customer is trying on, say, size 10s, but is really a 12 or 14. It’s an awkward situation because the customer is not going to fit into these and she’s going to be upset. The associate should say, “I’m going to get you some 12s and 14s because this designer is cutting too small this season. I’ve had problems with them ever since this delivery came in.”

What she doesn’t say is, “Hey, lady, you need a bigger size.” Put it on the designer.

We never leave a customer alone in the fitting room because once they’re undressed you can always show them merchandise. But once they dress again they don’t want to undress. So we really need to stay with them in the fitting rooms.

We use tissue on all of our sales. Even if it’s just a tube of lipstick, we wrap it and put a little Bullock’s seal on it. The reason is when customers get home and take the goods out of the bag, the merchandise is in tissue and the customers unwrap it like a present. “Look what I bought me.” It’s subliminal.

Q. Have there been any changes at Bullock’s since Macy’s came in? (Editor’s note: In May, 1988, R. H. Macy & Co. entered the Southern California department store industry by paying $1.1 billion for Bullock’s, Bullocks Wilshire and I. Magnin.)

A. Macy’s loves to buy merchandise. I have 30% more inventory in this building than I had before. And it’s still coming in. Macy’s loves to advertise--they’re aggressive.

They’re more customer-service minded. (Before the takeover), the supplies were held really tight where you could only get so many shopping bags. Now we get yelled at when we don’t use enough shopping bags. They say, “Your shopping bag usage is down. Are you giving enough of them out?” It’s a different direction.

Q. Does Macy’s intend to change the Bullock’s name?

A. I honestly don’t see that happening for a couple reasons. When we were first bought out, a lot of customers said, “Don’t take our Bullock’s away. It’s been here for 80 years. We like it.” The customer was bolting. . . . And the owner listens to the customer.

I think that Mr. (Edward S.) Finkelstein, (chairman of Macy’s) looked at us and realized this was an opportunity to change Macy’s. We are a green machine. We make a lot of profit. Our inventory shortage is low. Our profits are high. He didn’t want to do too much changing because we need to get the money out of Bullock’s to continue to make the company strong.

I think (Finkelstein) realized that the name Bullock’s gets you a lot. Baccarat sells Bullock’s. Waterford sells Bullock’s. St. John sells Bullock’s. Do they sell Macy’s? Not all the time. And these are vendors he’s always wanted. So he has the opportunity to enjoy quality merchandise and name brands which he couldn’t get at Macy’s.

Q. Is Macy’s coming to Southern California?

A. I don’t think so. We’re already here.

Q. Have longtime customers had any complaints since the acquisition?

A. The only complaint we’ve had is from Macy’s customers who can’t use their charge card here. And we’re trying to change that.

Q. Where is the retail industry headed?

A. I have found that there’s a market for someone who enjoys couture but who thinks it’s kind of tough to spend 1,000 bucks on one outfit. But that customer enjoys quality merchandise and a name brand like Anne Klein or Donna Karan. It’s the customer who would wear DKNY (Donna Karan New York, a new line of sportswear), Anne Klein II, Bridge Sportswear, Dana Buchman. (Editor’s note: All are women’s apparel lines priced lower than designer apparel but higher than moderate sportswear.)

There’s a need for a great image and a great look, a career look. And a designer name.

Q. What’s been the most difficult part of your job here?

A. Leaving. It’s tough. Constantly finding new ways to motivate people. Keeping people motivated when you’ve been in the building for 6 1/2 years. When you have the same conductor all the time, is the music really that spectacular?

How can you continually motivate the selling associates to do a better job? I do that through example--actually waiting on the customers. I pat them on the back when they do something right.

Q. Are we over-malled in Orange County.

A. Not yet. A lot of us have seen Orange County and seen the malls come in--MainPlace, Crystal Court, South Coast keeps getting bigger. We may feel we’ve over-malled, but we aren’t there yet.

Q. Do you see anchors going into South Coast Village?

A. Yes. I don’t know anything, but yes. (It will) make South Coast Plaza even bigger and better than it was. The (best) thing about South Coast Plaza is the vision--to never stop the growth--to always be what it can be and not what it is. And I think that Henry (Segerstrom) is superior at that.

Q. Why has Crystal Court had a problem attracting customers?

A. It wasn’t connected with a monorail or a bridge (to the original mall). If you throw some majors at the Village and then connect it all with one hell of a monorail people would just go nuts because it would be the Disneyland of retail.

I know nothing. But if Henry (Segerstrom) said, “Here, Graham. You’ve got the keys. You’re running the place,” I’d throw a Bloomingdale’s in there and find a few other specialty stores. I’d put a monorail in and connect it all. And then sit home and count my money.