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Lillian Vernon history
Lillian Vernon company history timeline
She took $495 of her meager savings and bought an ad in the September 1951 issue of Seventeen magazine.
Lillian Vernon's monogramming machine, about 1951
In 1951, a young woman and mom-to-be sat down at her kitchen table equipped only with a dream and 24-karat gold monogram lettering, handbags, and belts purchased from her father's leather goods company.
1951: Lilly Hochberg starts a home-based mail order business.
1956: First catalog mailed.
In 1965, the company changed its name to Lillian Vernon Corporation.
Sales were given an added boost in 1968, when Lillian Vernon introduced personalized Christmas ornaments in its catalogs.
She found him lacking “the entrepreneurial spirit.” In 1969, she flew to Mexico to get a divorce.
Lillian Vernon, by Enid Cutler, about 1970
In 1970 the company's annual sales hit $1 million.
In 1978, as a response to the growing number of catalog customers interested in retailing Lillian Vernon products in their own stores, the company established its Provender wholesale division.
In 1982, sales jumped again when the company introduced its first sale catalog offering overstocked merchandise at prices up to 75 percent off the original retail prices.
Due largely to the success of its sale catalogs, Lillian Vernon posted record revenues of $75 million in 1983.
Lillian Vernon at her desk, 1985
In 1985, the company streamlined its operations by incorporating its Provender division into the main wholesale division.
When it went public in 1987, it was the first company traded on the American Stock Exchange founded by a woman.
The company went public in 1987 and five years later reported $260 million in sales, an all-time high.
Expansion continued with the 1989 addition of a computer center at the company's National Distribution Center.
1989: First outlet store opened.
Sales hit $162 million in 1991 with profits of $9.5 million.
Another son, Fred Hochberg, was president and COO until 1992 when he left, reportedly unwilling to wait for his mother to let loose the reins.
By 1992, Lillian Vernon was adding over 1,000 new products a year to its four catalogs and had three more outlet stores in Virginia and New York state.
In 1993, Lillian Vernon launched its Welcome catalog, offering home organization products and decorative accessories for people who had recently moved to new homes.
By 1994 the business she started in her kitchen had sales approaching $200 million.
1995: Offer to buy most of the company falls through; Lillian Vernon goes online.
In the fiscal year February 1996, Lillian Vernon mailed 179 million catalogs to 18 million people.
In 2003, H. Strauss Zelnick’s New York-based ZelnickMedia, backed by private-equity firm Ripplewood Holdings, bought the business for $60.5 million.
The firm went through further ownership changes and a bankruptcy filing in 2008.
Vernon passed away December 14, 2015 in Manhattan, NY.
© 2020 Lillian Vernon All Rights Reserved.
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Lillian Vernon competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harriet Carter Gifts | 1958 | $47.3M | 350 | - |
| BLAIR | 1910 | $262.8M | 1,200 | 4 |
| Sutter's Mill Specialties | 1986 | $28.1M | 50 | - |
| Schwarzschild Jewelers | 1897 | $1.6M | 45 | - |
| Eastbay | 1980 | $8.0B | 10,001 | 2 |
| L.L.Bean | 1912 | $1.6B | 5,100 | 129 |
| Filson | 1897 | - | 240 | 18 |
| HSN | 1977 | $3.6B | 6,500 | 86 |
| Berry Man | 1989 | $46.0M | 110 | - |
| Gem Shopping Network | 1997 | $11.9M | 100 | 3 |
Lillian Vernon history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Lillian Vernon, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Lillian Vernon. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Lillian Vernon. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Lillian Vernon. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Lillian Vernon and its employees or that of Zippia.
Lillian Vernon may also be known as or be related to Current Media Group LLC, Lillian Vernon and Lillian Vernon Corporation.