Richards marks half-century with NCA
Richards joined NCA as a receptionist in 1957, based on the promise of
advancement opportunity and a starting bonus.
“Back in 1957, the minimum pay was only a dollar an hour, so I was earning forty
dollars a week,
” Richards said. “I was offered a $15-a-week raise to start here, an offer I could not refuse.”
Richards was quickly promoted to claims examiner for the New York State
Disability and Workmen
’s Compensation Group. She was later put in charge of layout and design for the
customer sales tickets for NCA members, which was the organization
’s second largest source of income at the time.
Other titles held on her way up the NCA ladder include bookkeeper, office
manager and her current title of executive assistant. In fact, the duties of
her current title have expanded over the years to also include the
responsibilities of director of communications and collections manager.
“Barbara is the institutional memory of the NCA,” the association’s executive director, Nora Nealis said. “As my executive assistant she answers all of my calls, opens my mail, makes my
appointments, arranges my travel and sets up all of my meetings and conference
calls. In short, she keeps me honest.
“On top of that, she is also responsible for designing all informational
postcards and e-mails that are sent to members and handles all our account
collections. And she does it all with a helpful attitude and a positive spirit.
She
’s in here at the crack of dawn every day. We’re really lucky to have her as a part of our organization for all of these
years.
”
Richards sites two main factors in her decision to stay with the NCA for all
these years: she enjoys her job, as well as the people she works with, and NCA
kept its promise for career advancement. Richards admits that she has had one
other job in her lifetime
— she was s a hand biller at Schultz, an antique bookstore where she was paid $40
dollars a week to bill the accounts by hand (no typewriter involved).
Richards graduated Theodore Roosevelt High School in Yonkers, NY, with an
academic diploma. She spent one year at Morgan State College, which is now a
University, in Baltimore, MD, and one year at City College of New York, which
is now part of City University of New York (CUNY).
In her spare time, Richards enjoys ethnic and Latin dance and arts and crafts.
Golomb Group Masters meet in NYC
A month after the greatest golfers in the world competed in the Masters Golf
Tournament.in Augusta, GA,
Golomb Group members representing many of the top drycleaners in North America participated
in a Masters of Marketing meeting in New York City.
Gathering over the first week of May, they heard guest speaker John Claude
Hallak and enjoyed two nights of entertainment that included a cruise on the
harbor and a Broadway show.
The Golomb Group members come from all parts of North America to discuss trends,
opinions, and new marketing ideas in the drycleaning industry. While there are
many
“cost” groups for drycleaners, there are few “marketing” groups. Dennis McCrory, president of the Golomb Group, is the group’s moderator.
The members meet every six months, which gives them a chance to implement new
ideas and report back to the group on how well these ideas have helped their
business. The group took a short trip to visit Ed Roth
’s U.N. Cleaners in Flushing to see his popcorn machine in action and the many
plaques and awards that are part of his marketing.
Bob and Carol Clarke, owners of The Clothes Doctor in Foothill Ranch, CA,
introduced a new program that they developed to sell new customers a
“$20 Free” tag for only $5. The plastic tag goes on a VIP customer’s new express bag, and entices the customer to return four more times with a “$5 Free” offer each time, so they can see the great service, get in the habit of coming
and remain a client.
Another way of customizing the tag is to give it away to new customers instead
of selling it. It gets imprinted with the cleaner
’s logo and message and costs only $1.45 each.
John Claude Hallak said that all the studies he has read state the key to a
person becoming your client is their returning to your store between three and
four times.
The highlight of the meeting was the Powerpoint presentation by Hallak, who with
his brother, Joe, runs one of the most prestigious cleaners in the New York
area. They have developed a niche in Manhattan where they charge high prices to
a very exclusive clientele. Their client list includes dignitaries like Dr.
Henry Kissinger, people in the news like Don Imus, and performers like Barbara
Streisand. The Hallak
’s recently redecorated their store on Second Avenue to be a beautiful boutique
style store with all the trimmings.
On Wednesday May 2, the group visited Hallak’s store and went on a dinner cruise on New York Harbor to get a close-up look at
the Statue of Liberty.
The highlight of the entertainment was dinner and a show on Thursday night. The
group saw the Tony-award winning show,
“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”
Everyone was surprised when David Whitehurst, owner of Champion Cleaners in
Birmingham, AL, was picked to participate in the show. At each show, four
audience members are interviewed and actually become part of the show.
Whitehurst was introduced as his school’s runner up in the Phil Donahue look alike contest. He was asked to spell “Mexicans.” After asking for its definition, and its use in a sentence, David, using his
southern drawl accent, spelled it correctly and stayed in the show.
Unfortunately, he missed the next word and had to take his place in the
audience, with the other members of the group, to enjoy the rest of the show, a
dramatic ending to the two-day meeting.
Anyone interested in the Masters of Marketing can contact the Golomb Group,
(800) 833-0560.
