Maxine Clark - president of Payless Shoe Source is a tough competitor and retail visionary - The Apparel Players

Discount Store News, Dec 4, 1995

Maxine Clark understands apparel.

As one of a handful of merchants who early on saw that the future of regional discounting lay in soft goods, Clark was instrumental in teaching the industry how fashion, with its indigenous high margins, could become a destination department for discount store shoppers.

Even though Clark left as executive vice president of Venture in 1992 to become president of May Co.'s Payless ShoeSource, her influence is still being felt at the O'Fallon, Mo.-based chain. Apparel is essential to Venture's three-tiered reconstruction plan, which also includes home and leisure.

To those who know Clark, the idea that she would rise to the top of the retail ladder - a trip that is a 23-year work in progress - was a no-brainer. "Maxine is like Roadrunner - so full of energy and so quick to react," says George Needleman, former senior vice president and general merchandise manager at Venture Stores. Needleman's comparison of Clark to Roadrunner - a Looney Tunes favorite - is nothing short of the highest compliment. "She is highly creative, open to new ideas and very aggressive," adds Needleman, who worked with Clark at Venture for the better part of nine years.

"Maxine is a miniature locomotive, a small powerhouse," says Chic/H.I.S. president Bob Luehrs of the petite Clark. "The woman is highly motivated and very bright. When you put those two traits together, the results have got to be good."

Haim Dabah, who for years ran Gitano, which for many retailers once served as the foundation for their fashion businesses, describes Clark as an innovator who knows how to maximize sales by satisfying customers.

"Maxine was a visionary when it came to apparel. She was one of the first merchants to deal with the discount floor from a lifestyle point of view. She broke away from strict classifications merchandising. She made sure that coordinated groups were merchandised together so it was easy to shop," says Dabah, who currently serves as president/ceo of Regatta.

Clark understands consumers and the quick-turning nature of fashion.

"With all of her energy, one thing that she distinctly lacked was patience," recalls Luehrs. "When she saw a fashion item that she liked, she wanted it right then and there. She always had open-to-buy for fashion. She wanted quick replenishment long before EDI. She was way ahead of her time."

A native of Coral Gables, Fla., Clark earned a degree from the University of Georgia in 1971. One year later, she embarked on her retail journey with the first of many stops in the May Co. universe - as an executive trainee at Hecht's in Washington, D.C. In 1980, Clark shifted gears and headed into the discount sector with the post of vice president of marketing at Venture. Four years later, she was named the chain's executive vice president of marketing and merchandising.

In 1985, Clark joined Famous-Barr as executive vice president of merchandising for women's R-T-W. shoes, jewelry and cosmetics.

In 1986, she became president and general merchandise manager of Limited Inc.'s Lerner division, but in 1988 she rejoined Venture as executive vice president of soft lines.

During Clark's time at Venture, she was instrumental in pushing the chain's apparel business forward. "She works very well with the manufacturers and suppliers and has the unique ability to et them excited about the business," says Needleman. Clark's leadership still affects Venture today as the full-line discounter attempts to remake itself as a "lifestyle" - retailer with an emphasis on value-priced family clothing.

Clark was one of the first merchants to filter department store merchandising, techniques into the discount forum. Working closely with branded apparel manufacturers, Clark installed theme shops that appealingly displayed fashion goods throughout Venture stores.

"Maxine is a dynamite merchant," contends Luehrs. "When she was with Venture, she would research every possible idea to see what would be profitable for Venture and what would work for its customers. She really made apparel matter there."

"We are big believers in trend merchandising," Clark told AM in a 1991 interview. "Trend merchandising, to us, is keeping abreast of what's going on in the world. We tell our staff to go to baseball games, go to hockey games and look at what people are wearing. We keep reminding them that what they want is also what our customers want."

As might be expected, Clark remains customer-driven at Payless.

"Oftentimes, she is way ahead of manufacturers. With shoes, she knows the right heel heights and the right materials to use. She's a tough lady to keep up with and makes the resources she works with better because of it," says Charles Becker, executive vice president of LJO, Inc., who has worked with Clark since '79.

Today, Clark is president of a $2.1 billion budget footwear chain that's made up of 4,435 Payless units and 630 Payless Kids stores. The seeds for her current position at the Topeka, Kan.-based operation were planted back in 1979 while she was part of the May Co's. corporate staff, playing a key role in the acquisition team that recommended the purchase of Volume Shoe Corp., which was later renamed Payless.