Alan Dumain, who rose from a “white flower” Xmas helper at Bloomingdale’s to a senior executive at the keep as well as at Saks Fifth Avenue and other suppliers, died Thursday surrounded by his household at his house in Richmond Hill, Queens, soon after a extensive bout with many myeloma. He was 73.
His retail profession started off in 1972 when he joined Bloomingdale’s for the vacation time but he shortly rose up the merchandising ladder, turning into an associate buyer for men’s hosiery, which he remodeled from a mundane operation into a manner business.
A lot more from WWD
He turned a costume shirt customer, a divisional items supervisor for men’s don, then supervisor of the King of Prussia, Pa., store, prior to shifting to Saks as a senior vice president more than women’s.
He was also the to start with president of the Dana Buchman, returned to Saks as an govt vice president, and later on held senior executive positions at Victoria’s Secret, the previous Stern’s division retail store, and Northern Reflections in Canada, amid other posts.
Eventually, Dumain resolved to go into company for himself and with his wife by purchasing two 7-Eleven franchises in Queens. As a franchisee, he settled general public security fears of the college and church throughout the avenue from one of his 7-Eleven suppliers, which operate 24/7, with regards to truck deliveries and individuals lingering in the parking great deal at all hours. He took a number of measures. He installed cameras so he could check action, shifted shipping hrs of the 18-wheeler trucks to the center of the night time, met with neighborhood leaders and local police, and donated leftover foods to charities. Since of his retail practical experience and skills controlling suppliers, he became a near adviser to the 7-Eleven company.
“My father was often shifting forward, contemplating about the following action,” mentioned his son, Ian. When bold, “He had an uncanny means to convert what for other men and women would have been purely transactional associations into true friendships. My father beloved persons.”
Dumain was also an impeccable dresser. “This was real all the time, from his times as an govt at Bloomingdale’s and Saks Fifth Avenue where he wore suits through the business enterprise casual era. You could rely on my father to be the most-sharply dressed man in the space. His shoes had been by no means scuffed,” his son recalled.
“Alan Dumain was remarkably regarded in the retail world as a talented and prosperous service provider and supervisor. He was a quite unique close friend to those people who understood him and will be sorely skipped by all,” reported Mark Cohen, the director of retail research, adjunct professor, at the Columbia College Graduate Faculty of Organization.
“We first met as budding men’s dress shirt purchasers, he at Bloomingdale’s, me at Abraham & Straus, then reconnected decades afterwards as fellow American executives operating in Canada. Finally, as a repeated guest speaker at my retailing lessons at the Columbia Business College, Alan magically connected the dots between his experiences in high-finish apparel in his early profession and his function as a purveyor of groceries and sundries as a 7-Eleven multistore franchise operator later in existence.”
For many decades, Dumain elevated cash for the Leukemia Society of The us and was named the Person of the 12 months for the Leukemia Society of America’s New Jersey Chapter. He was a chairman of the Manner Business, Youthful Close friends of the UJA-Federation. He was also an avid bicycle owner, and experienced season tickets for New York Giants football online games for 60 yrs. In 2011, he obtained a certificate from the Giants inducting him into the season ticket holder corridor of fame.
In addition to his son Ian, Dumain is survived by his spouse, Phyllis two daughters, Brooke Cramer and Ashley and their husbands his brother, Sanford, and 5 grandchildren. The funeral support was held Friday at Temple Israel Heart in White Plains, N.Y,
FOR A lot more, SEE:
‘Queen of Lace’ and Exclusive Event Pioneer Ursula Rickenbacher Dies
COVID-19 Promises Existence of Journalist Pamela Altman Brown
