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Does Kleinfeld have any in-house services, such as dress storage?
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When we send a dress home we send it home within a covering which will
allow the bride to store the dress comfortably before and after the wedding. However, we are not in the storage business.
We also do some small amount of manufacturing. We make some handbags and money pouches. We also make some of our own
headpieces.
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In light of the recent change in management at Kleinfeld, you stated in an article within the December
1, 1997 issue of Forbes Magazine that you are going to, "make sure that the basics are repeated over
and over." What exactly does that mean for the future of Kleinfeld and its customers?
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As organizations get bigger and more complex, and in some instances move away from the segment that
the founders bring to a company, sometimes people forget the good things that they should be doing in
order to make sure everybody is in great shape. So part of the job of a CEO is quality control. It's
making sure that the quality of the communications and relationships between our customers and our vendors
are well built.
The bridal business is unique in the sense that we really only see a customer
that one time for that dress. So it's not like a department store where you come back for a new dress each
season. Therefore, we really have to do a superior job the first time so that when that bride talks to the
other people in the wedding party and other people who she knows are going to get married, Kleinfeld gets
mentioned as the place to buy the dress.
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Can a bride simply walk into Kleinfeld and expect service or do you suggest they make an appointment?
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Appointments are very helpful. If you walk in on a Saturday or a Sunday or one of the evenings that we are
open, we would probably have to turn you away. Because of the varying working schedules and the different
appointment levels we have and because we have only a certain amount of rooms and a certain amount of sales
consultants, we have to make some concessions.
Some brides are able to do the whole thing from beginning to end in an hour.
But most everybody else takes between two to two-and-a-half hours. And yet other customers take more than that.
We have to accommodate the various interest levels and the time it takes the bride to see what she wants to
see, fall in love with a dress and to make a decision. And that creates some waits, even among appointments
during peak periods of time.
So if you are just going to come see us, which we would love to have happen, do
it on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. It's much easier for us to accommodate a walk-in during the week. But
on weekends, appointments are virtually required.
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And you mentioned earlier that you have evening hours?
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We are open on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. And I think the last appointment we have on Saturdays,
for instance, is 5:30 P.M. or 6:00 P.M., which means we are really here with the brides sometimes until 9:00 P.M.. But we don't
take new appointments after those hours or we would have to turn into a 24 hour bridal shop. Maybe they
can do that in Vegas, but we can't do it here.
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And the peak seasons would be?
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Most people think that weddings only take place in June, but they take place all year round. The peak buying season appears
to be in January, February, March, and April which seems to be around the same time people get engagement rings. Apparently,
many people get engaged during the holidays and during New Year's and Valentine's.
People seem to follow an order
which is 1) I got engaged, 2) I found a place, 3) I made a reservation for a time, 4) now I go get my wedding dress.
If you take a look at some of the printed bridal magazines, you'll notice that they are pretty thick at the beginning of the year and they get smaller
as the year progresses.
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