NEW YORK -- When Kenneth L. Mink & Sons, Inc. (KLM),  takes over operations of over 200  Macy's rug departments coast-to-coast on Oct. 4 , it will be a seamless change that the outside world will probably not even notice, according to David Mink, Sr., chief executive officer of KLM.

Until now, 75 area rug departments within Macy's have been operated by Mink and another 139 have been operated directly by the company.

"KLM will continue to work with the current Macy's vendors, many of which have previously worked with both Macy's and KLM,"  Mink told Rugnews.com in an exclusive interview..

Moving forward, Mink stressed that the plan is to continue to work with all Macy's Home vendors. "Between the Mink Departments and the Macy's departments, there  is approximately 60% duplication of the vendor list," he noted.

Major vendors for both  Mink and Macy's Home include Karastan, Nourison, Momeni,  Oriental weavers,  Couristan, Safavieh, Loloi and others.

"Some vendors are unique to each operation. For example, Mink does a lot of business with  Bashian, while the Macy's Home departments use some regional suppliers such as Gertmenian and Pak-Oriental," said Mink.

"KLM will take a demographic and regional approach to both its merchandising and vendor structure. This will be part of the 'My Macy's' approach to tapping the needs of the local clientele," Mink said.

(Earlier this year,  Macy's said it would continue to operate as a national brand but with stores and merchandise assortments focused on local customer needs and preferences in each location.)

"We will be establishing a team of regional sales managers and operations managers to create a hands-on approach to running this business on a national scale," Mink said.

The team is headed  by David Mink, Jr., chief merchant, Patty Huang, senior vice president  of marketing and Richard Kennedy, senior vice president  of stores.

At the store level, Macy's sales associates in the newly acquired rug departments will remain as Macy's employees and will continue to report to their store management team. They will receive additional support from the KLM regional team.

"It's premature to tell what changes will be made in the assortment, based on demographics. We will be spending a great deal of time in the field over the next six months assessing the needs of each store in terms of price points and assortment."

As part of the changeover, KLM will take over the owned inventory of all Macy's stores as well as control over the consigned merchandise, Mink said.

Warehousing and distribution is another important factor in the change. KLM currently operates a 20,000 sq. ft. warehouse in Bridgeport, NJ, near Philadelphia. The facility also served as the company's executive offices and customer service headquarters.

Looking further ahead, Mink said that a West Coast distribution center may be added.

Considering the current tough economic conditions, Rugnews.com asked Mink how he plans to woo consumers back to buying rugs.

"Our goal is to give VIP service to consumers within the framework of the world's biggest department store," he said.

 Mink spoke about a commitment to service that is usually associated with the best of independently owned stores, backed by the power of a national department store brand.

"We plan to run each rug department with a hands-on management structure. We will initiate strong training programs and a commitment to customer service in every store,"  he said.

" We fully realize the tremendous impact of this new arrangement with Macy's," said Mink.

"KLM is gratified that Macy's has given us this opportunity, and we will concentrate all of our efforts in bringing the Macy's rug business to a high level of performance," he said.

"As an old department store hand, I recognize that Macy's is the successor of most of America's most famous stores, including Marshall Field's, Burdine's, Rich's, The Broadway, Emporium Capwell, Woodward & Lothrop, Wanamaker's, Strawbridge's...and the list goes on," Mink observed.

The new arrangement with Mink is a culmination of a long process of Macy's consolidation, which now brings the entire Macy's rug business under one operation.

 "The company wishes to  operate the rug leases in line with the corporate strategy of consistency throughout the system," Mink noted.

Since 1997, Mink has operated the rug lease departments at Macy's East, based in New York. In early 2008,  Macy's corporate management merged Macy's North stores into Macy's East and later that year, KLM took over the rug lease departments in the15 former Macy's North stores in metropolitan Chicago, Detroit and Minneapolis. .

In 2009, Macy's consolidated it remaining four divisions into One Macy's.  However, the rug business remained in a "divided" operational situation, with Macy's East rug departments operated by Mink and the others run by Macy's Home.

In the past three years, Macy's has brought all of its stores -- except Bloomingdale's -- under a single corporate name.The Bloomingdale's rug department is also autonomous. 

About Kenneth L. Mink & Sons

 KLM was founded in 1973 by Kenneth L. Mink, Sr. who had spent the previous three decades as a department store rug buyer in Philadelphia, New York and Washington DC. In 1973, his new company began operating the rug business in Washington's Woodward & Lothrop (Woodies) stores In1976 the Mink organization took over the rug leases at Philadelphia's John Wanamaker chain. 

Kenneth L. Mink died in 1995 just prior to the bankruptcy and closing of both Woodie's and Wanamaker's. In 1997, the company, now run by his three sons, began operating at Macy's East.

Further Reading on Macy's and Mink

Macy's Names Mink to Take Over
Rug Departments Nationally,
click here.

Macy's Names Mink to Take Over
Midwest Rug Departments,
click here

Macy's 2009 re-structuring,
 click here

09.18.09