Wild Company
The Untold Story of Banana Republic
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4.3 • 16 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
In the tradition of Pour Your Heart Into It and How Starbucks Saved My Life, a surprising and inspiring memoir from the founders of Banana Republic.
With $1,500 and no business experience, Mel and Patricia Ziegler turned a wild idea into a company that would become the international retail colossus Banana Republic. Re-imagining military surplus as safari and expedition wear, the former journalist and artist created a world that captured the zeitgeist for a generation and spoke to the creativity, adventure, and independence in everyone.
In a book that’s honest, funny, and charming, Mel and Patricia tell in alternating voices how they upended business conventions and survived on their wits and imagination. Many retail and fashion merchants still consider Banana Republic’s early heyday to be one of the most remarkable stories in fashion and business history. The couple detail how, as “professional amateurs,” they developed the wildly original merchandise and marketing innovations that broke all retail records and produced what has been acclaimed by industry professionals to be “the best catalogue of all time.”
A love story wrapped in a business adventure, Wild Company is a soulful, inspiring tale for readers determined to create their own destiny with a passion for life and work and fun.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
With no business or retail experience and $1,500, the Zieglers tell their remarkable tale of creating one of the most cutting-edge fashion businesses in the world, Banana Republic, with determination, grit, and boldness. Mel Ziegler, a journalist at the San Francisco Chronicle, and Patricia, an illustrator and courtroom artist at the same paper, were inspired after a visit to Australia's "disposal stores" to form a company which would use as its theme the "transformative power of clothing," buying surplus U.S. military goods from auctions to stock their California store. The Zieglers overcame several obstacles, including a warehouse flood, unfilled orders, manufacturing woes, and unreliable workers. Calling their venture a "seat-of-the-pants" business, they concoct a wholly original catalogue that brings in a flood of orders and the rest is history, with a host of profitable stores worldwide. With a new store in Paris and billions of dollars in capital today, the impressive business adventure of the Zieglers' Banana Republic is a pleasure to read.
Customer Reviews
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Wish they didn’t sell out. The game is about winning not just playing.