The Duke, Godfather of Social Media

 I worked for the Duke early on in my career. No not John Wayne but a great man known as the Godfather of the Apparel Industry in the Midwest. Duke Vunovich was a self made man and a natural salesman and... a Social Media Junkie before its time. I learned a lot about the apparel industry, fashion and piece goods from Duke. I learned how to up-sell and increase business within your customer base and merchandising tools that earned the trust of my customers. All of this was essential for my survival but more importantly The Duke taught me the value of creating a story and a  history with the customer.                        

Duke loved the Fashion Industry and the Fashion Industry loved him. By the time I went to work for him he was well into his 70's and had a following that would make any Twitter Hound proud. There were generations of them that would stop in our showroom and relate memories of their childhood in their parents clothing store and Duke's sales calls and various exploits. Duke would often be invited to their homes for dinner and often times he was offered a warm bed. People were just drawn to Duke and when he had the floor you had to listen and hated it when you missed something.  He was a man larger than life and  how he lived life! His memory for the sales numbers, budget and forecast only were exceeded by the stories from 50 plus  years in an industry that he single handedly changed by bringing new value to the manufacturer, retailer and the traveling salesman.

Enter Duke's Vision and persuasion of local investors and banks that built the Kansas City Apparel Mart on the banks of the Missouri River. The hard working road men now had a place to call home and the retailers had a place to come to see everything at the same time each and every season.  Old  Cowtown Kansas City became important again in  the industry. Duke ran the show at the Mart from day one and had no tolerance for those who would not keep their showrooms in good neat condition and were not open and ready for business during all appointed hours. He knew people had a choice and he never took their business for granted. The Dallas Market was soon to become the 3rd largest market in the country. and Duke's presence in the market south of the Red River was just as strong. He had  three showrooms and a southern following from Gulfport to El Paso.

His rolodex, the computer of the day was huge and he would rifle through it to connect and check the pulse  of customers and vendors like we are learning to do again with Social Media. "Make sure I see you in Dallas" he would say " "we have the best mix of lines in the market that are reordering and shipping so you can make your season".  And they would always show up and often we were their first stop each season, even when the retail climate was soft because there was the certainty that we cared and we would support them with inventory and re-orders and  they and Duke had been through the good and the bad before....they had a history! The Duke would welcome every one of them with a hug and kiss and a "where have you been?" He would get them a drink and a sandwich as he sat them down at the "round-table" to visit. There was always a camera handy and Duke would take the customer's picture in a moment of engagement which invariably led to request for somebody else to snap a photo of them with the Duke! The pictures were huge as he always had photo albums on the round table that all had to see. The connection didn't stop there though as those new photos and new stories were always sent out following the shows with a personal note of thanks. Duke handled the Major Department Stores in our territory for years but he valued more those Mom and Pop Stores where a history also meant loyalty.

When it was time to leave  the Duke's arm was around them again and most likely there were more kisses accompanied by laughter and obvious affection that is often lacking in our own business relationships today.   There were promises to see him at so and so and the open invitation to see Duke at the piano bar singing the oldies, kissing everyone and sipping his Dewars and water. His smile, his laugh, his history and knowledge of the business were as engaging as you get and I was fortunate to understand that and  fortunate he was my mentor when I was so young.

Duke Vunovich. built his business in the mid-west but was known and loved in the industry from LA to NYC. He has been gone now for over a decade but a lot of what he taught me remains. The skill set he shared with me is evident in so many things I do and now more than ever in my passion as a student of Social Media. Duke worked the story and was making a history up until a few days before he died in 1998. I miss him and have yet to meet his equal in the ability to engage a targeted audience. These days we focus on the conversations and hope that we  influence and have significant reach...... I know this much.......The Duke's passion, wisdom and stories are "retweeted" still by many and often.