Sep. 25, 2005. 08:51 AM
STUART NIMMO/TORONTO STAR
BUSINESS REPORTER
The laces between the Brownsteins and some Italian shoemakers have been intertwined for almost half a century. Families such as the Ferragamos have supplied the Brownsteins' Montreal-based shoe retail chain with upscale, fashionable footwear for generations.
A few months ago, Michael Brownstein proudly presented his son, David — the fourth generation to join his family's Browns Shoe Shops — to one of the company's long-time Italian suppliers. The man seemed downright distraught, prompting Michael to ask why.
"Your father I worked with, and he was nice. You were a lot tougher," the supplier explained. "I don't want to meet your son."
Of course, suppliers know the Brownsteins may be tough, but they're true.
Browns Shoe Shops was started by Michael's grandfather, Benjamin Brownstein, in 1940. Morton Brownstein, Michael's father, took over the business, and in 1959 became (as far as the company knows) the first Canadian retailer to import shoes from Italy and carry designer labels such as Salvatore Ferragamo and Bruno Magli.
Parallel generations in Italy and Canada — from Morton's to Michael's to David's — have worked together since, even as Browns grew from a single store in Montreal to more than 40 locations across the country.
"We'll never let them down and they know that, because of our relationship," Michael explains, noting he buys from those suppliers every year, even if a season's line is weaker than usual. "Even if you're buying less than you bought (in previous years), you have to buy something because they're counting on us. ... We've been in business with them for so many years."
That kind of familial give and take is one of the things that made Browns a shoe-in for the Micam award, a prestigious industry accolade that had never before been given to a retailer outside Italy.
"The whole ambiance, the atmosphere of our company is very family-oriented," Michael explains. "Our staff is very important to us and are very close and we treat them like family."
If a relative of a staff member has health problems, for example, the Brownsteins, who are involved with Montreal hospitals, may help them get appointments with doctors, he says.
The focus on relationships spills over into the family's interaction with customers.
"Even our buyers and our executives try to spend as much time in the stores as they can, meeting customers and meeting our staff," Michael explains.
In fact, David's job right now is spending some time at each of the stores in Toronto, where the company now does the bulk of its business, and getting to know the staff and customers.
"Each of our stores has different merchandise, different customers that we're targeting," explains David, 25, who joined the company in recent months. For example, the downtown stores are faster-paced than the more service-oriented Yorkville flagship, he says.
The stores that David is getting to know in intimate detail are a big step up from the single family shoe store started by his great-grandfather, Benjamin, 65 years ago.
"In those days," Michael explained, "shoe stores were boxes on the floor and a few chairs."
After the original store burned down in 1954, Morton had a grander vision for the next version, so he hired a store interior designer. The designer asked what kind of store he was designing, and Morton's decision took Browns upscale, catering to customers most conscious of the latest fashions. With a vision to give those clients something special, he began importing Italian shoes in 1959.
"He figured that the latest fashion was coming from Europe and so he went to Europe to bring the fashion to North America," said Michael. It's been a family tradition ever since.
"We go to Europe six times a year."
Almost right off the bat, Morton, who still chairs the company at age 77, began persuading big names to design exclusive lines for his company.
Morton soon realized that expanding Browns would strengthen relationships with suppliers. As shopping centres sprouted all over Montreal and Toronto in the 1960s and 1970s, Browns followed.
"Every time a major centre would open, we'd open a store there," explains Michael, 56, who joined the company full-time in 1973 and is now its president. His sister, Janet, also works for the family business, handling public relations.
In the next few decades, both the Bay and Holt Renfrew approached Browns and invited them to open boutiques within their department stores. Browns took that as an opportunity to branch out into new cities such as Vancouver.
The company's expansion has served it well in its negotiations with suppliers for exclusive lines, including many from designer brands such as Giancarlo Paoli and Manolo Blahnik.
"Don't forget — we have 40 stores," Michael points out. "We have a lot of power in Canada."
Many of the company's suppliers manufacture shoes exclusively for Browns's six private labels, which develop many of their own products.
In the 1990s, Michael realized that some of those shoes would benefit from a wider audience. "We had this product that was very young, very cool," he explained. "In order to attract a younger customer, we needed a younger atmosphere also."
And so Browns opened its first B2 store on a hip strip of Queen St., to better showcase trendy sneakers, backpacks and other street fashion. There are now five stores under the B2 banner, including one in the Eaton Centre whose coloured glass and curved metal décor contrasts sharply with the hardwood and brick of the flagship Browns store in Yorkville. Despite their cosmetic differences, both Browns and B2 stores share a similar philosophy.
"Our buyers are always on the lookout for whatever's new and whatever's hot," says Michael. The buyers include his 23-year-old daughter, Julia, who has just joined the company as an assistant buyer after graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.
Actually, the entire family is involved in the business now — Michael's wife, Thérèse, accompanies him on his trips to Europe and also acts as his consultant, particularly when it comes to women's fashions.
Stylishly dressed in autumn orange on a warm, late summer day, she's always looking to the next season. In Europe, she pays keen attention to what there is for sale in the stores, what fashion-conscious women are wearing and what kind of shoes would go well.
"Even on vacation, I was in Italy and I (saw) all these jeans, jeans, jeans," she says, her excitement and passion for fashion bubbling through her French-accented voice. "I said, `Michael, cowboy boots (are) just going to be right on.' "
And so, this season, the Yorkville Browns store has an extensive lineup of cowboy boots on display atop its curved glass shelves.
A collective family effort keeps Browns on the leading edge of fashion, and keeping that edge is crucial to their success, Thérèse explains.
"We go in trendy places," she says. "We don't go to four-star restaurants where the (average) age is 75. We go where everything's happening. That's the way it has to be."
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I know in Calgary, it's a bit of a drive to get to one from downtown (Bankview is the closest that I know of). I think they'll do decent downtown -- perhaps something other than a coffee shop to go into the retail bays in the west end!
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