LIKE NO OTHER STORE IN THE WORLD-BLOOMINGDALE'S-STORES

LIKE NO OTHER STORE IN THE WORLD - THE INSIDE STORY OF BLOOMINGDALE'S by Mark Stevens. Hardcover & DJ in GOOD CONDITION. Top edge of DJ is slightly curled. Priced-clipped. 224 pages with black & white photos. More than just a department store, Bloomingdale's-or "Bloomie's" as it is known to its devoted patrons-is an experience, an event, a social and financial phenomenon. Bloomingdale's merchandise runs from the elegant to the faddish, but its most profitable commodity is the mystique it markets: a potent blend of spontaneous and manufactured excitement that responds to and stimulates American cravings. "Above all, we sell image," says president Marvin Traub, and the 300,000 customers who shop the Manhattan flagship store in a single week, the 67,000 Washingtonians who applied for Bloomie's charge accounts before the first local branch even opened its doors, the tourists who make Bloomingdale's a "must" stop on their itineraries are passionate seekers of and participants in that intoxication. In this unauthorized biography, the first book to tell the story of Bloomingdale's, investigative business reporter Mark Stevens reveals how a store once known for its bargain-basement wares reversed its merchandising strategy to become the darling of celebrities such as Jacqueline Onassis and Diana Ross, a Time magazine cover personality, a subject for TV's "60 Minutes," and an East Coast institution whose influence is so pervasive that it is by now a part of our national culture. In the lucrative fashion field, for instance, Bloomingdale's is credited with ushering in the designer craze through its cultivation of such talents as Ralph Lauren and Diane Von Furstenberg and its introduction of the first American instore boutiques for designers such as Yves Saint Laurent. Underlying Bloomie's strategy is the effective combination of merchandising and show business that has now been taken up by every major retailer in the country. In a tactic known as the "Bloomingdale's Blitz," management identifies a fast-breaking trend or event and then develops a commercial theme to exploit it. Stock throughout the store is coordinated to support the theme-as in 1971 for Bloomingdale's introduction of products from mainland China to the U.S. and in 1979 with the "Israel: the Dream" promotion-and the venture is supported with extensive advertising and public-relations schemes. Then, at the first signs of serious competition, Bloomingdale's abandons the market for a new, exclusive one. Utilizing his extensive research and interviews with many of Bloomingdale's decision-makers, past and present, and the designers and manufacturers who supply them with the goods, Mark Stevens examines the machinations that yield $400 worth of sales per square foot, the advertising and promotional genius that sells Bloomie's to the world, the development of the branch stores, the future of Bloomingdale's as other department stores harken to its methods and begin to challenge the industry leader in its own markets, and the special relationships among the designers, vendors, buyers, decorators, and executives whose decisions affect the taste and trends of a nation. Successful bidder pays $3.50 s/h USA only.