Lillian Vernon

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Lillian Vernon (born Lilli Menasche, 1927 – December 14, 2015) was an American businesswoman and philanthropist.

She founded Lillian Vernon Corporation in 1951 and served as both its chairwoman and CEO until July 1989, though she continued to act as executive chairwoman until Zelnick Media acquired the organization in 2003.

Lillian Vernon Corporation was the first business on the American Stock Exchange established by a woman when it first opened in 1987.

Lillian Vernon Writers House of New York University was named after her and the University's prestigious creative writing program.

Early life

Lillian Vernon was born Lilli Menasche in Leipzig, Germany, 1927 to Erna Feiner Menasche and Herman Menasche, a successful dry goods merchant (she later changed her name to Vernon, borrowing it from Mount Vernon, New York, where she settled with her first husband Samuel Hochberg). Vernon's brother was assaulted by an anti-Jewish mob in 1933, and the family fled Nazi Germany to Amsterdam. In 1937, the family immigrated to the United States.

Herman Menasche, her father, began selling lingerie and later established a leather goods business, many of which were designed by Vernon, and later established a leather goods business in New York City. Vernon became a citizen of the United States in 1942. Fred Menasche, her brother, was later enlisted in the Medical Corps of the United States Army, and she joined a Women's Auxiliary Canteen to promote the war effort. Fred Menasche, a Normandy soldier, was killed in a grenade attack.

Vernon lived at New York University from 1947 to 1949. Vernon married Samuel Hochberg, who worked in his parents' women's clothing store, in 1949. Vernon began a mail order service from her Mount Vernon kitchen to supplement their family's income. She referred to Vernon Specialties Company as a "Service Department."

Personal life

Vernon and her third husband, Paolo Martino, lived in New York City for many years. They married on June 24, 1998. David and Fred Hochberg, she had two sons by her first marriage. Fred Hochberg, the president and chairman of Export-Import Bank of the United States, from 2009 to 2017.

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Business career

Vernon invested $2,000 in the company and placed her first advertisement in Seventeen magazine for personalized purses and belts at the age of twenty-four, using her combined wedding gifts. She received a massive response and her company was established. The company's growth was limited to Vernon and her kitchen table, where she sort and filled orders in the first years. The Vernon Specialties Company concentrated on young women, with advertisements in magazines focusing on the emerging market. Vernon and Hochberg began making their own jewelry in the late 1950s and early 1960s, which they sold through the catalog. In 1962, Revlon's most popular product, a magnetized bobby pin cup, piqued the company's attention. Revlon began selling them a distribution contract shortly thereafter. Elizabeth Arden, Max Factor, and Maybelline were among the other cosmetics firms that followed suit.

Hochberg and Vernon divorced and split the firm in 1969, with Hochberg taking over the wholesale division and Vernon keeping the catalog. The company began to rethink its approach in the 1970s to attract from, and sell to, a global market. In an attempt to broaden the catalog's coverage to include European products, Lillian Vernon began to travel to European trade fairs in an attempt to broaden the catalog's reach to European countries. After President Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China, Vernon was one of the first American merchants to fly to China. Vernon began The New Company, a brass manufacturer, and Provender, the Lillian Vernon Company's wholesale division, which sold Lillian Vernon brand toiletries and kitchenware, in order to grow her brand.

The Lillian Vernon Corporation, which was founded in 1965, went public in 1987, making her the first woman to find a company publicly traded on the American Stock Exchange. The Lillian Vernon Catalog, which the company introduced in 1956, became an iconic shopping resource for American women, much like its Sears catalog. The catalog, which was printed monthly, was usually 120 pages and rarely contained 750 items. The company created a number of specialty catalogs in the United States in the 1980s to extend its reach, including ones targeted at children and homemakers.

Her two sons were already employed in the company. Fred Hochberg, her older brother, joined Columbia University for his MBA in 1975. He oversaw a 40-fold rise in orders from 1975 to 1993 as president and COO, as well as the relocation of the company's distribution and telemarketing center to Virginia Beach, VA. Fred Harris, her son, left the organization to advocate for LGBTQ civil rights and enter public service in the Clinton administration in 1993.

The Lillian Vernon Corporation, responding to the increasingly popular online space in the early 1990s, opened a storefront on AOL in 1995 and later a website and catalog. However, by the 1990s, the firm began to fail to satisfy Internet demands, especially after the dot-com bubble's demise. Vernon sold it to Zelnick Media in 2003, but retained the symbolic title of non-executive chairman. David, her son, and Vernon, remained with the firm until the company's sale. The firm has since changed hands a number of times. The Taylor Corporation is the owner of the Taylor Corporation as of 2008.

Later career

Vernon was named in 1997 to chair President Bill Clinton's White House National Business Women's Council, which she served as the chairwoman for many years. She was the first representative of the American Business Conference. For many years, she has been a vocal promoter of the Democratic Party, including President Clinton, President Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton. Emily's List of the Democratic National Committee and the Women's Campaign Fund have also endorsed the Women's Campaign Fund.

Vernon donated the West Village building, which houses the university's prestigious creative writing program after being on the board of NYU for many years. The Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House is "a vibrant New York literary landmark known for its lively readings and salons" in addition to hosting the program's headquarters. In addition to lectures and book launches, the House holds classes, seminars, master classes by visiting writers, as well as author demonstrations and book launches. The Lillian Vernon Writers House has hosted the release readings of NYU's literary journal Washington Square, including CAConrad, Mary Ruefle, Colm Tóib, and Charles Simic, since 2007. Vernon's sons, David and Fred Hochberg and Fred Hochberg's life partner, Tom Healy, continue to promote the creative writing program.

Lillian Vernon served on the board of several groups, including Lincoln Center and the American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Citymeals-on-Wheels, New York University. Both the company and Ms Vernon were well-known for their charitable acts to charitable and non-profit groups. The United States Marine Toys Foundation, Literacy Volunteers of America, and a variety of other charities were among the recipients of these donations. Lillian Vernon Foundation, a non-profit that helps businesses in New York City and around the country, including Citymeals-on-Wheels. Vernon was honoured with the Sunshine Award for Philanthropic Leadership in 2011. Vernon was a pioneer of women's rights in the workplace from the beginning. The Lillian Vernon Award, which is given to young women who have served their families in honor of Vernon's promotion of women's rights, was created by the Women's Enterprise Center.

Vernon, a long-time resident of Connecticut, was inducted into the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame in 1998. She was inducted into the Direct Marketing Association's Hall of Fame. The Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the Walter Nichols Award for Direct Marketing, Ed Diskin Award for Direct Marketing, the Big Brother/Big Sisters National Hero Award, and the Gannett Newspapers Business Leadership Award were among her honorary degrees from NYU, Bryant College, and the College of New Rochelle.

Vernon was one of eight people on "The Only One in the Room" exhibition at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in 2020. The kitchen table from her Mount Vernon home is now in the Smithsonian Museum's permanent collection, and her portrait hangs in the National Portrait Gallery.

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