Inc. staff

Mail: May 2002

 

Bud Boughton
Greenwood, Ind.


Next Stop, Management
This reader is a believer in giving employees a detailed long-term plan for career advancement, which was the subject of Kate O'Sullivan's February article " Why You're Hiring All Wrong."


I am the director of training for the fourth-largest automobile-dealership group in the nation, and your article speaks very much to our industry. As our people climb the management ladder, they can become owners of a significant portion of their dealership and can even own and run multiple dealerships. That's an important ingredient to our rapid growth and profitability. I believe that's the only way to keep and attract the best people.

David Nassief
Director of Training
Automotive Investment Group
Phoenix


Whither Raskin?
Has Andrew Raskin's column, " Letter From Silicon Valley," outlived its usefulness?


I think it's time to reinvent Andrew Raskin's column. The first one was cute. But now I feel every month it's a waste of space in your magazine. I find your magazine very informative, but you need to hold every page to high standards. I'm tired of hearing the same dot-com story over and over and over. The readers of your magazine need to focus on the future, not the past.

Scott Segal
Royal Oak, Mich.

CONTACT US: E-mail your comments to editors@inc.com. Or address your snail mail to Inc Letters Editor, 38 Commercial Wharf, Boston, MA 02110, and include your name, address, and phone number for verification. Letters may be edited for space and style. For help with your subscription, call 800-234-0999.

Update: Urban Flight

If inner cities are supposed to be so cool, why did one company abandon its big-city digs?

One man's dump is another man's potential palace. And when it comes to office space, the CEOs from companies on our annual Inner City 100 list have often displayed a knack for spotting dilapidated architectural gems and creating corporate quarters that are not only functional but also downright chic.

Among the chic elite was May 1999 cover boy Steve Rosenstein, cofounder of Fitigues Inc., a high-end casual-clothing manufacturer and retailer. Rosenstein had turned a vacant scrap-steel warehouse in the River North neighborhood of Chicago into a stylish HQ for his growing business. The "polished rawness" of the space reinforced Fitigues' design aesthetic, Rosenstein told Inc back in 1999. "It lends itself to people's feeling they can dress the same way, with simplicity but with style," he said. "That's what our collection and our stores are all about."

Times change, people change, hemlines change. Today Fitigues is based in the land of faceless office towers and metastasizing industrial parks, a.k.a. Scottsdale, Ariz. "It really wasn't a business decision; it was more of a lifestyle decision," Rosenstein explains. "I hit 40 and came to the realization that I'm living nine months of the year waiting for the three months I really love."

Replicating the charming, open character of the company's Chicago digs in Arizona was not easy. Rosenstein found an unfinished building and was able to tailor the rest of the construction to his specifications. "I said, 'Don't do anything to it,' " he says. "'Don't touch the floor, just put sealer on the cement, leave the bricks on the wall exposed." The entrepreneur also shipped spare bricks and glass blocks from the basement of the Chicago building and used the materials to build the reception desk.

Fitigues moved into the new space late last summer. Twelve of 22 staff members relocated to the new home base, with Rosenstein picking up the tab. The warehouse-and-distribution part of the business remains in Chicago, along with one IT guy, a human-resources person, and a few members of the marketing department. Fitigues still leases space in the building it grew up in, though Rosenstein sold the property -- which he bought for $1 million -- for nearly $5 million. "I wish I got those margins in clothing," he jokes.

One benefit of the new location is new inspiration. Rosenstein recently unveiled a tennis-and-golf line. "That probably wouldn't have been part of our mind-set if we were still sitting in Chicago," he says. "In Arizona you look out the window and see the big blue sky and the mountains. A lot of days I'm out of here at 2 and going to the driving range." --Christopher Caggiano

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