Hail Mary

Mourning the passing of Mary’s on Main.

By Carol Tisch

Mary’s on Main marysonmain.com will cease to exist on January 26, but customers are already in mourning. They come not so much for the bargains, but to pay their respects to Mary Fehily, the woman whose exquisite taste brought us the finest table fashions in the world for the past eight years.

Vanishing treasure: Mary Fehily with her fast-diminishing
inventory at the soon-to-close Mary's on Main.

Mary graciously explains to each loyal fan (I know they all ask, because I eavesdropped the other day for 30 minutes) that she’s quitting retailing because she wants her life back. She says she decided on Christmas Day to close the store and hadn’t really seriously thought about it before. "I don't know what I'm going to be doing, but whatever it is, it's going to be fun," she says.

I suspect she’s feeling the bittersweet twinges everyone experiences with such a change.

That’s why it amazes me how many customers linger in the store offering bits of wisdom like: “You’re going to feel so empty.” Or…“Get involved with charity work to fill up your days.” I could have strangled the woman who told her to take up cards and in the next breath invited her to a macramé group. Imagine such negative reinforcement continuing eight hours a day for the next two weeks. Mary just smiles and thanks them for their loyalty and friendship.

Farewell, my lovelies: Faberge china from Mary's on Main;
every item left in the store is at least 50% off.

I’ve been a tabletop junkie for years, and I have my own issues with the closing of Mary’s on Main. It’s indicative of a larger trend in retailing. The companies that manufacture china, crystal and giftware are now competing with their retail customers on the Web and with their own brand stores. Some of the most coveted high-end brands will sell directly to consumers (ostensibly through designers) in their New York showrooms – small retailers can’t compete. There’s even a gray market on European brands that some of the warehouse clubs are accused of supporting.

My ad agency in New York represented manufacturers like Sasaki, Christian Dior and Haviland-Limoges, as well as retailers like Michael C. Fina. But my favorite tableware client was Cardel, a sliver of a store on posh upper Madison Avenue that catered to Manhattan’s social elite. If I had to compare them, I’d say Mary’s on Main was better. Cardel closed when Baccarat opened a store two doors down.

But the owners told me that wasn’t the reason. The truth is the market for really good china is limited: People over 50 don’t buy it for themselves. Manufacturers ignore this demographic because year after year studies prove this sad fact is true. This statistic irks me to no end: (I might have another 30 to 40 years on this earth, and you’re ignoring me?) With Sarasota’s population, Mary astutely shored up her store with giftware and home accessories. It was just the right mix.

Enough to let me fantasize for an instant about buying the store and running it myself. But then I realized I’d have to give up the freedom Mary wants for herself now. I don’t want a retail store running my life.

Do take advantage of the amazing prices on items like Faberge bottle stoppers, bejeweled napkin rings, linens and of course the china and crystal. Everything is at least 50% off. But my advice: Keep the grieving to yourself, wish Mary well and leave it at that.

Posted: 1/11/2007 2:37:52 PM | 0 comments

Retail Therapy

Hail Mary

Post archive