Retail Store Success: Butch Blum

The finest quality suits, careful attention the basics of retailing, and an real long-term plan have keep the Butch Blum stores in Seattle alive and well for 30 years. Co-owners Butch Blum and wife Kay Smith-Blum are beginning the transition to take less-hands-on roles. In addition, many of the company's longtime staffers have been shifted to new positions after Blum asked each a radical question: What would they enjoy doing most? Apparel retail marketing is a difficult business ... but you notice that it's the high-end stores that survive and prosper over the long run. The mass market is no place for a small retail business.