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[ Fashion Index ]
Originally published in Bliss!™ New York
on December 17, 1997.
People have been known to travel from as far away as Japan to this Bay Ridge,
Brooklyn bridal house, and with
good reason. Find out why as our editor-in-chief, Cheryl Galvez, conducts an in-depth interview with Eugene Cohn, the CEO of
Kleinfeld. Even if you're not from the NY area, this interview
has many insights on how to select a bridal shop and what information you need
before you step inside.
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For those of us who are not familiar with Kleinfeld, tell us a little bit about it.
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Kleinfeld has been in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn for over 50 years. It was started by the
Kleinfeld family and then continued by Heda Kleinfeld, the daughter of the founder,
and her husband Jack Schacter. It started as a fur store, then added other categories
of merchandise and then moved about 25 years ago into bridal. And we have been doing
the bridal business on a continually expanding basis since that time.
The store occupies
almost a whole half a block on Fifth Avenue in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
and has got about 9,000
square feet of space devoted to bringing new brides and mother of the brides and bridesmaids
in contact with dresses and bridal accessories. It has another floor of about 9,000
square feet which is devoted to fitting areas where the brides come to have their first
and second fittings to make sure they have a beautiful wedding day fit.
We have as many
as 250 people who work here. That includes about 150 seamstresses and beaders and sewers who
are dedicated to making sure that the dresses that come from the manufacturers are perfect for the brides.
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What should individuals, who walk through the front doors of Kleinfeld, expect in terms of customer service?
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Well I think that we are dedicated to a couple of things. First, we want to make it easy for you to find your way here and find a way to park and find a way to get into the store. To that extent, we're open on Saturdays, we're open on Sundays, we're open a couple of nights a week so that brides can get here when they aren't working which is always a problem. I think probably 85% or 95% of the people who are getting married are probably in the work force. So we look to accommodate that at the purchase side and also at the fitting side.
Secondly, they should expect to see about one thousand wedding gowns. They go from $1,200 to $10,000 to choose from. So one of the great elements of customer service when they come is that they have quite a selection of merchandise to choose from. We have a group of consultants that have been doing this for a long time and so they are really good at understanding what the bride wants, and figuring out really how to do the "top to toe." How does the headpiece fit? What's the right headpiece? What are the shoes? What are the jewelry pieces? What are the other elements that are necessary? And so the sales process and the selection process would be the same. We think that our prices are value-priced. We think they are as good as anybody's around.
I think the third part really has to do with what happens to the dress after it comes in,
when it gets ready to go to the wedding. A custom dress is ordered from the manufacturer and it comes in a
size that is closest to the bride's measurements, but that is not enough for a wedding day fit so it has to
be tailored and cut and, in some cases, re-beaded in order to meet the bride's particular specifications.
Sometimes a bride's measurements change between the time she buys the dress and her wedding date. Often
times it's because the bride has lost weight and wants to look particularly beautifully for her wedding
day and so we need to accommodate that and that's one of the things that we are able to do.
We also have
the ability to adhere to some of a bride's special needs. We have some customers for whom it is important
to have the "totally covered look." So sleeves have to be sewed on and bodices have to be pulled up toward
the neckline to be able to take care of certain brides. And we have another process at the end of all of
this which we call the "finishing touch." The dress is cleaned and pressed and stuffed in a way that it
can almost walk out there on its own. But if you don't do that, if you don't take that special finishing
touch with care, then there is a great possibility that the dress, when it gets to the wedding date, will need
to be pressed and done again. We want to make sure that when the dress leaves here the bride can get right
into it and walk down the aisle.
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| |
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What should individuals, who walk through the front doors of Kleinfeld, expect in terms of customer service?
|
|
Well I think that we are dedicated to a couple of things. First, we want to make it easy for you to find your way here and find a way to park and find a way to get into the store. To that extent, we're open on Saturdays, we're open on Sundays, we're open a couple of nights a week so that brides can get here when they aren't working which is always a problem. I think probably 85% or 95% of the people who are getting married are probably in the work force. So we look to accommodate that at the purchase side and also at the fitting side.
Secondly, they should expect to see about one thousand wedding gowns. They go from $1,200 to $10,000 to choose from. So one of the great elements of customer service when they come is that they have quite a selection of merchandise to choose from. We have a group of consultants that have been doing this for a long time and so they are really good at understanding what the bride wants, and figuring out really how to do the "top to toe." How does the headpiece fit? What's the right headpiece? What are the shoes? What are the jewelry pieces? What are the other elements that are necessary? And so the sales process and the selection process would be the same. We think that our prices are value-priced. We think they are as good as anybody's around.
when it gets ready to go to the wedding. A custom dress is ordered from the manufacturer and it comes in a
size that is closest to the bride's measurements, but that is not enough for a wedding day fit so it has to
be tailored and cut and, in some cases, re-beaded in order to meet the bride's particular specifications.
Sometimes a bride's measurements change between the time she buys the dress and her wedding date. Often
times it's because the bride has lost weight and wants to look particularly beautifully for her wedding
day and so we need to accommodate that and that's one of the things that we are able to do. We also have
the ability to adhere to some of a bride's special needs. We have some customers for whom it is important
to have the "totally covered look." So sleeves have to be sewed on and bodices have to be pulled up toward
the neckline to be able to take care of certain brides. And we have another process at the end of all of
this which we call the "finishing touch." The dress is cleaned and pressed and stuffed in a way that it
can almost walk out there on its own. But if you don't do that, if you don't take that special finishing
touch with care, then there is a great possibility that the dress, when it gets to the wedding date, will need
to be pressed and done again. We want to make sure that when the dress leaves here the bride can get right
into it and walk down the aisle.
How we get you here, how we take care of you, the selection we provide you, the prices
we give you and the "finishing touches" - those are our customer service issues.
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