Connecticut Jewish Ledger

Catalog pioneer honored by Shaare Zedek Medical Center

On June 6, Lillian Vernon, catalog pioneer, philanthropist and Greenwich resident, received the Woman of Achievement Award at the 18th annual luncheon for the Women’s Division of Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.

Lillian Vernon is the founder of Lillian Vernon Corporation, a leading national catalog and online retailer of gifts, housewares, gardening, children’s and Christmas products. Lillian Vernon, headquartered in White Plains, New York, publishes six catalog titles and has 11 outlet stores across the country.

Also honored at the luncheon was Cynthia Ozick, author of such books as “The Puttermesser Papers” and her most recent novel, “Heir to the Glimmering World,” and Debbie Gibbber, a board member of Women’s Division of Shaare Zedek. At the luncheon, the Women’s Division unveiled its latest Naava Chuppah (wedding canopy) to commemorate terrorist victim Naava Appelbaum who was killed in a Jerusalem terrorist attack the night before her wedding.

Her father, Dr. David Appelbaum, Director of Emergency Medicine at Shaare Zedek, was also killed in the attack. (The chuppah is available for rental).
Vernon said she was delighted to be honored by Shaare Zedek, as her mother had volunteered for this organization many years ago.

Vernon, who is animated, sharp and friendly, spoke with the Ledger after the Shaare Zedek luncheon.

Q: Can you tell us about your mother’s history of involvement volunteering for Shaare Zedek?

A: The Shaare Zedek Woman’s Division luncheon at Christie’s was the most glamorous event. It was a wonderful day, hosted by a tremendous group of do-gooders, and it was an honor to receive the Woman of Achievement Award.

I think my mother, Erna Menasche, would have been very proud. She was a long-time supporter of Shaare Zedek, and I accept this award in her memory.

She was a Shaare Zedek volunteer in the 1950s. She would trudge through the snow to volunteer her time at Shaare Zedek’s offices in New York.

Q: Where are you from originally and where do you live now? Can you tell us a little about your family?

A: I was born in Germany. My parents and I fled to the Netherlands and then to the United States - before the onset of World War II. We settled in New York. I have lived in Greenwich, Connecticut for 27 years.

I have two wonderful boys - Fred and David Hochberg. Fred worked as president and chief operation officer for the Lillian Vernon Corporation, and he worked in government (Deputy, then Acting Administrator of the Small Business Administration, an agency elevated to Cabinet rank by President Clinton - he also served on Clinton’s Management Council), and he is now dean of the Milano Graduate School of New School University. David worked as vice president of public affairs for the company and is in the process of making a career change. I am currently married to my third husband.

Q: Tell us the story of how and when you started the Lillian Vernon Corporation. How did it grow and evolve over time?

A: In 1951, I decided I wanted to go to work in addition to having a family.

Women were not supposed to work in those days - they were supposed to stay home and cook and clean and take care of their husbands and children. I wanted something extra. I started a company on my kitchen table in 1951 - with $2,000 of wedding gift money. We sold handbags, belts, sundry goods - it was mail order. I placed a $495 advertisement for a personalized handbag and belt in Seventeen Magazine and received $32,000 in orders. The business was launched!

In 1954, my company took over a storefront for a warehouse. Two years later, the Lillian Vernon catalog was born — 16 pages in black and white and mailed to 125,000 customers who responded to ads. In 1965, the Lillian Vernon Corporation was formed and five years later, annual sales soared past $1 million for the first time as women began flooding the workplace and had less time to shop.

I actually sold the business in 2003. We have more than 28 million households in our database, we employ more than 3,500 people at Christmas time, and we put out six catalogue titles: Lillian Vernon, Lilly’s Kids, Personalized Gifts, Favorites, Personal Style and a sale catalog. I guess I’m a good business woman! I was really good at picking and choosing merchandise. I just know what people wanted, and what they were willing to pay for it, and I know how to run a business. And it did it all without a computer! I personally never used a computer. It allowed my thought process to keep going. These days, we are too computerized, with computers, cell phones, etc.

Q: How do you spend your time these days?

A: I go to work! I have a contract with Lillian Vernon for another two years.

I like to read, go to theater and movies. Last night, I went to a jazz concert at the Apollo Theater. It was wonderful - the best I have ever seen.

Q: You have quite a reputation for your many philanthropic efforts and your dedication to the Jewish community. What are some of the organizations you are involved with?

A: I’m on the board of New York University, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center Committee for the Performing Arts, and I’m on various educational and musical boards.

Q: Is there anything I didn’t ask you that I shouldn’t have asked you?

A: Don’t ask me my age. But you should ask me what I plan to do in the future!

In the future, I plan to find something to engage me as much as the mail order business engaged me. When I sold the business, people said that now, all of my problems would be over (people said that the mail order business would be tough after 9/11, and with the anthrax scares). I would like to find something since being involved is critical and important. Maybe something with young people - they have the ability to do it but they need mentoring. It’s been a wonderful life!