SHARE

Lillian Vernon, Whose Catalog Business Was Based In Westchester, 88

Lillian Vernon, founder of the first woman-owned company ever listed on the American Stock Exchange, died Monday in Manhattan. She was 88.

Lillian Vernon died Monday in Manhattan. She was 88.

Lillian Vernon died Monday in Manhattan. She was 88.

Photo Credit: Pinterest

As a child, she came to the United States with her family to escape the rise of the Nazi party in Germany during the 1930s, according to the report. By 1951, Vernon had used $2,000 of her wedding money to start a catalog business from her Mount Vernon kitchen.

The Lillian Vernon Corporation, as her company would eventually be known, would grow to include nine catalogs, 15 outlet stores, two websites and an annual revenue approaching $300 million, according to the The New York Times.

Despite the extensive worldly travel Vernon endured to find the products featured in her catalogs, her company's corporate offices stayed in Westchester County for decades. In 1998, after several years anchored in New Rochelle, the company moved its offices to Rye, according to the report.

Vernon, whose success as a woman in the business world was nearly unheard of in her company's early years, did not classify herself as a feminist, according to report. Still, she took steps to promote women whenever possible and was an early adopter of flexible work hours that could accommodate women with children.

Among her many achievements, the report ranks several of note, including her company's 1987 listing on the Stock Exchange.

In 1995, she was appointed to the position of chairwoman of the National Women's Business Council by President Bill Clinton, the report said. A year later, she published her autobiography, "An Eye for Winners: How I Built One of America's Greatest Direct-Mail Businesses."

Widely read by celebrities and the middle class, alike, Vernon's catalogs were the first to create seasonal catalogs for the holidays of Easter and Halloween, the report said. She also was an early adopter of the "gift-with-purchase," concept.

In 1996, Vernon's company put 200 of its best-selling items into its first online catalog. According to the report, the company purchased the décor catalog Rue de France in 2000.

Vernon, a Manhattan resident, died in an area hospital. She is survived by her sons David C. Hochberg and Fred Hochberg, her third husband, Paolo Martino, according to the report.

Read more about Vernon's life in The New York Times.

to follow Daily Voice North Salem and receive free news updates.

SCROLL TO NEXT ARTICLE