VMSD - May 2017 - 60
CHECKING OUT
Interview by Steve Kaufman
Danny Boddy
Where did your retail career start?
I got a part-time job at The Gap while in college
at Texas Christian University. And I just fell in love
with retail.
What did you love?
Being in the public; learning the business piece of
retail, the visual piece and the people piece of it. It
didn't feel like work. It was my a-ha moment: This is
what I want to do!
Your parents, of course, were thrilled.
I remember when I came home and told my father.
He said, "You want to fold sweaters for a living? Is
there a future in that?"
C O UR T E SY OF SOFT SUR R OUNDINGS, ST. LOUIS
Soft Surroundings' retail svp loves serving and interacting with people. He
can't understand why every retail employee doesn't feel the same way.
How did your role as regional vp for
Warner Bros. come about?
It was the time of their big Studio Stores. They
really captured my attention - from the visual,
people and business aspects of those biggerthan-life stores. And I'd always been a Saturday
morning cartoon fan.
And so off you went, into the world of
Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig.
Barry Gilbert, who was [Warner Bros.' ] svp
of retail, laid out a map in front of me and
said, "Here's where we're opening stores, where
would you like to go?" It turned out to be New
Orleans. Ten years later, I was a regional vp in
the Midwest. In 2001, when they folded the concept, I was one of last people to turn my keys in.
It was, by far, the best experience of my life.
How did that prepare you for your role at
Soft Surroundings?
It taught me so much, not just about retail but also
about people, how to leverage their talents, how to
empower them, how to grasp a feeling of belonging,
which I feel so many retailers lack. A lot of retailers
have great product and a great story to tell, but they
don't know how to grab the buy-in of the people
who work for them.
Culture
Club
What is the Soft
Surroundings culture?
Our tagline is: "My time, my place,
myself." Today's woman balances
kids, work, housework, church,
social obligations. By the time she's
finished with all that, she needs a
place to take time off for herself.
Is that hiring? Or training?
Both, but it starts with hiring. We gravitate toward
people who want to serve people. This is a service
industry. Yes, we have a product, but we have to
connect people to that product. So we need people
who take great interest in helping others, who like
to engage others - people who just like to have
conversations.
60
MAY 2017
|
VMSD.COM
We give women a place to go, an
opportunity to step into a world
created just for them.
http://www.VMSD.COM
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of VMSD - May 2017
Vmsd - May 2017
Contents
From the Editor
Vmsd Editorial Advisory Board
The Goods
Design Detail
Running Toward Success
Euroshop 2017 Review: Retail Road Trip
2017 Retail Design Firm Resource Guide
Open House
Showroom
Showroom
Ad Index
Checking Out
VMSD - May 2017 - Intro
VMSD - May 2017 - Vmsd - May 2017
VMSD - May 2017 - Cover2
VMSD - May 2017 - 1
VMSD - May 2017 - Contents
VMSD - May 2017 - 3
VMSD - May 2017 - From the Editor
VMSD - May 2017 - 5
VMSD - May 2017 - Vmsd Editorial Advisory Board
VMSD - May 2017 - 7
VMSD - May 2017 - The Goods
VMSD - May 2017 - 9
VMSD - May 2017 - 10
VMSD - May 2017 - 11
VMSD - May 2017 - 12
VMSD - May 2017 - 13
VMSD - May 2017 - 14
VMSD - May 2017 - 15
VMSD - May 2017 - Design Detail
VMSD - May 2017 - 17
VMSD - May 2017 - 18
VMSD - May 2017 - 19
VMSD - May 2017 - Running Toward Success
VMSD - May 2017 - 21
VMSD - May 2017 - 22
VMSD - May 2017 - 23
VMSD - May 2017 - 24
VMSD - May 2017 - 25
VMSD - May 2017 - Euroshop 2017 Review: Retail Road Trip
VMSD - May 2017 - 27
VMSD - May 2017 - 28
VMSD - May 2017 - 29
VMSD - May 2017 - 30
VMSD - May 2017 - 31
VMSD - May 2017 - 2017 Retail Design Firm Resource Guide
VMSD - May 2017 - 33
VMSD - May 2017 - 34
VMSD - May 2017 - 35
VMSD - May 2017 - 36
VMSD - May 2017 - 37
VMSD - May 2017 - 38
VMSD - May 2017 - 39
VMSD - May 2017 - 40
VMSD - May 2017 - 41
VMSD - May 2017 - 42
VMSD - May 2017 - 43
VMSD - May 2017 - Open House
VMSD - May 2017 - 45
VMSD - May 2017 - 46
VMSD - May 2017 - 47
VMSD - May 2017 - 48
VMSD - May 2017 - Showroom
VMSD - May 2017 - 50
VMSD - May 2017 - 51
VMSD - May 2017 - Showroom
VMSD - May 2017 - 53
VMSD - May 2017 - 54
VMSD - May 2017 - 55
VMSD - May 2017 - 56
VMSD - May 2017 - 57
VMSD - May 2017 - Ad Index
VMSD - May 2017 - 59
VMSD - May 2017 - Checking Out
VMSD - May 2017 - Cover3
VMSD - May 2017 - Cover4
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