CURRENTLY SOLD OUT

We Were Merchants: The Sternberg Family and the Story of Goudchaux's and Maison Blanche Department Stores (Hardcover, 2009)

About this product

Product Information

The words Goudchaux's/Maison Blanche conjure up a wealth of fond memories for local shoppers. At this landmark Louisiana department store, clerks greeted you by name; children received a nickel to buy a Coke and for every report-card A; families anticipated the holiday arrival of the beloved puppet Mr. Bingle almost as much as Santa; teenagers applied for their first job; and customers enjoyed interest-free charge accounts and personal assistance selecting attire and gifts for the most significant occasions in life -- baptisms, funerals, and everything in between. While most former patrons have a favorite story to tell about Goudchaux's/Maison Blanche, not many know the personal tale behind this beloved institution. In We Were Merchants, Hans Sternberg provides a captivating account of how his parents, Erich and Lea, fled from Nazi Germany to the United States, embraced their new home, and together with their children built Goudchaux's into a Baton Rouge legend that eventually became Goudchaux's/Maison Blanche -- an independent retail force during the golden era of the department store and, by 1989, the largest family-owned department store in America. With a mercantile line extending back five generations to a small shop in eighteenth-century Germany, the Sternbergs were born to be shopkeepers. In 1936, as Nazi harassment of Jews intensified, Erich smuggled $24,000 out of Germany and settled in Baton Rouge. His wife and three children joined him a year later, and in 1939, Erich bought Goudchaux's and set about transforming it from a nondescript apparel shop into a true department store. He made buying trips to New York for quality fashions and furs, introduced imaginative sales promotions, and coached his staff in impeccable customer service, while also training his children to follow in his footsteps. Hans details the manifold challenges of operating the store -- from planning financial strategies and creating marketing campaigns to implementing desegregation and accommodating the repeal of blue laws. Through many transforming events -- Erich's death in 1965, expansion into suburban shopping malls, the purchase in the 1980s of New Orleans retail icon Maison Blanche -- the Sternbergs successfully maintained the company's core values: quality merchandise, employee loyalty, and superior customer service. At its height, Goudchaux's/Maison Blanche operated twenty-four stores in Louisiana and Florida and employed more than 8,000 people. With the economic downturn of the early 1990s, Hans made the difficult decision to sell the business, thus bringing to an end the Sternbergs' centuries-long mercantile tradition. Supplementing the fascinating narrative are the recollections of former customers and employees, a wealth of pertinent photos, and even Hans's tried-and-true guidelines for negotiating a business transaction. At once a family, business, and community story, We Were Merchants richly recalls a bygone era when department stores were near-magical wonderlands and family businesses commanded the retail landscape.

Product Identifiers

Publisher
Louisiana State University Press
ISBN-13
9780807134498
eBay Product ID (ePID)
184061646

Product Key Features

Publication Name
We Were Merchants: The Sternberg Family and the Story of Goudchaux's and Maison Blanche Department Stores
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Subject
History, Business
Publication Year
2009
Type
Textbook
Number of Pages
160 Pages

Additional Product Features

Topic
Local History
Genre
Biographies & True Stories
Country/Region of Manufacture
United States

Best Selling in Adult Learning & University

Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Best Selling in Adult Learning & University

Time Management by Peter Quarry (Paperback, 1986)
No ratings or reviews yet.
AU $16.99 New
---- Used
Thunder of Hooves: A History of 12 Light Horse Regiment 1915-1919 by Kenneth Hollis (Hardcover, 2008)
No ratings or reviews yet.
AU $38.50 New
---- Used
Polyvagal Exercises for Safety and Connection: 50 Client-Centered Practices by Deb Dana (Paperback, 2020)
No ratings or reviews yet.
AU $53.37 New
AU $45.00 Used

Save on Adult Learning & University

Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Save on Adult Learning & University

Bill Perkins Die With Zero (Paperback)
AU $29.92
Trending at AU $34.24
Ford Falcon EF EL / Fairlane NF NL 1994 - 1998 Workshop Manual
AU $49.00
Trending at AU $60.94
Sapiens By Yuval Noah Harari
AU $19.00
Trending at AU $19.95
Netter Atlas of Human Anatomy: Classic Regional Approach
AU $113.94
Trending at AU $125.31
BORN IN 1971?... 1951?BIRTHDAY...Australian Social History....Chrisi, Birthdays
AU $19.00
Trending at AU $22.37
Anatomy Trains: Myofascial Meridians for Manual Therapists and Movement
AU $100.00
Trending at AU $116.14

Shop by category

We Were Merchants: The Sternberg Family and the Story of Goudchaux's and Maison Blanche Department Stores (Hardcover, 2009)

About this product

Product Information

Product Identifiers

Product Key Features

Additional Product Features

Best Selling in Adult Learning & University

Time Management by Peter Quarry (Paperback, 1986)

Thunder of Hooves: A History of 12 Light Horse Regiment 1915-1919 by Kenneth Hollis (Hardcover, 2008)

Polyvagal Exercises for Safety and Connection: 50 Client-Centered Practices by Deb Dana (Paperback, 2020)

Save on Adult Learning & University

Bill Perkins Die With Zero (Paperback)

Ford Falcon EF EL / Fairlane NF NL 1994 - 1998 Workshop Manual

Sapiens By Yuval Noah Harari

Netter Atlas of Human Anatomy: Classic Regional Approach

BORN IN 1971?... 1951?BIRTHDAY...Australian Social History....Chrisi, Birthdays

Anatomy Trains: Myofascial Meridians for Manual Therapists and Movement

You may also like

Short Stories Fiction Hardcover Books

True Stories Non-Fiction Hardcover Books

Short Stories Hardcover Fiction Books in English

Bedtime Stories & Nursery Rhymes Fiction Hardcover Books

Biographies & True Stories Non-Fiction Hardcover Books

Biographies & True Stories Non-Fiction Hardcover Signed Books