They Were Merchants

Hans Sternberg recently published We Were Merchants, based on a journal he kept for 30 years while working in his family’s department store business.

Though he cut his teeth in the modern retail industry, Sternberg’s merchant roots go deep. His mother’s ancestors first opened for business in Aurich, Germany, in 1739. In the old country, the Knurr and Sternberg families owned stores until the 1930s, when the rise of Nazism forced the family to seek a new start in the United States.

Speaking no English, Hans’ father Erich Sternberg led the family to Louisiana, where they re-entered the retail business by leasing the men’s department at Bernie Goudchaux’s eponymous clothing store in Baton Rouge. Goudchaux eventually sold his business to Erich, and the Sternbergs were once again leading a retail entity that the family would subsequently expand into a department store.

They acquired New Orleans-based Maison Blanche in 1982, renaming the company Goudchaux/Maison Blanche. At one time, the Sternbergs headed the largest family-owned department store company in the country, running 24 stores in Louisiana and Florida while establishing a national reputation for fashion, innovation and service.

Hans Sternberg’s own retailing career actually began in 1959 at Foley’s in Houston. He transitioned to the family business the following year and remained there until 1992, when as chairman and CEO he oversaw the sale of Goudchaux/Maison Blanche to the former Mercantile Stores Corp.

While no longer heading the family retail empire, Sternberg nevertheless remains in a family business as founder, chairman and CEO of Starmount Life Insurance and subsidiary AlwaysCare Benefits, which he leads along with his wife Donna and two of their four children.

Your book recounts your family’s retail history. Tell me about the “Goudchaux Moments” section.
Smiley Anders, a local newspaper columnist, was a fan of the stores and he solicited readers to submit memorable vignettes. We selected several to include.

Our former assistant credit manager, Ms. Olive Campbell, submitted this one: “We once had a young woman customer who was also the girlfriend of a married state senator. He bought her a fur coat from Goudchaux’s, carrying [it] out to her car to give it to her. She also had an account that was in the Collections department. She became a contestant in the Miss America Pageant. She came into the store to have a fur belt made for her coat. I would not let her charge, explaining that her account was in collections.

She went downstairs and found your brother Josef. He came up to the office and asked me what the problem was. After I told him, he said, ‘Olive, let her have the belt. She knows how to make enough money to pay for it.’ I laughed and said, ‘Mr. Josef, I don’t believe you said that.’ He left the office chuckling to himself.”

You’ve run a large retail chain, and today you’re running a growing insurance company. Any similarities?
The lessons of department stores are great feeding grounds for insurance. One still inspires one’s teams with incentives, especially the sales representatives. Different from most insurance companies, Starmount Life’s and AlwaysCare’s hours are similar to retailers, geared to the convenience of our clients. Customer service here gets a lot of kudos, with awards for exemplary customer treatment presented at our weekly meetings to the entire staff.

As long as we deal only with the fundamentals, the businesses are more similar than different. I’d be thrilled to have the opportunity to work with more retailers in developing the service levels and professionalism so woefully missing today. We still have to give the customer what she wants.

One thing you’d like to accomplish?
My professional hope is to profitably double the size of my company. My son Erich and his sister Deborah, along with Donna and I, are going to make that wish come true over the next five years.

Guilty pleasure?
Occasionally, taking off in the middle of the day for a workout.

Favorite article of clothing?
Long sleeve, crew-neck tops, which I wear to work during the winter. The big plus is no tie.

Favorite book?
My recent favorite was “The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America.”

You could never have too many …?
Grandchildren.