Harry Stanton Shendow

Harry, the Senior VP-Merchandising & GMM at S&K Menswear, hired me from Foley's (now Macy's) in 1993 to fill a position at S&K as his buyer for Furnishings and Accessories. I think it helped that I was a fellow alumni of Washington & Lee (aka W&L)-as part of the interview at a nice quiet restaurant in Houston, he was clearly testing my W&L credentials-Harry actually had me stand up (along with himself thank God) in the middle of dinner and sing the Washington & Lee Fight song, AKA, the W&L Swing-imagine the two of us standing there and belting out the song while people are trying to have a nice quiet dinner-by the way, I sang just awful and heavily relied on Harry to carry the tune and more importantly remember the lyrics that I basically faked. I'm still not sure which was more miraculous-that I still managed to get the job or that we didn't clear out the restaurant-or get thrown out. One more story on the job interview-meeting with Harry at the restaurant was only the first step. Once I got the nod from him, I had to get through HR, Don, the President, and ultimately Stuart, the Chairman. As was his style, Harry coached me through each stage-what to say and what not to say to each person-the only bad advice he ever gave me was: "Jon, Don & Stuart want to see a strong negotiator- whatever you do, don't accept the first offer-you will be leaving a lot of money on the table and they may regret ever making the offer!!!" Of course I obediently rejected Stuart's offer and he basically thanked me and told me to have a nice life-they weren't going to pay me a dime more than the previous buyer whom they loved and promoted (Thom McMahon). Jan & I were devastated-we didn't want to spend another minute in sweltering, uninhabitable Houston. Harry again took me under his wings and told me how to finesse an apology and get back into Stuart's good graces-not an easy task but it worked and the rest is history. Though I had previously bought Men's Accessories at Foley's, Harry mentored me and taught me the Dress Shirts & Neckwear categories where I had no prior experience. Above and beyond the product mentoring, Harry was my friend and taught me the S&K culture and the importance of our Store Sales Team-the Sellers, the Store and District Managers, and Regional VP's. What I loved most about working for Harry was his class and style. I had just finished working for a long line of department store screamers and you-know-what-busters. Harry was reserved and quiet, calm and cool but very strategic and a great listener-he didn't need to raise his voice and never did-he also never micro-managed and treated all of us with the utmost respect-pretty much the way he wanted to be treated himself. And he's the only boss I ever had with enough poise and self-confidence (and yes, CHUTZPAH) to brazenly take a newspaper 🗞️ into the Men's Room-and make it look like nothing out of the ordinary-SERIOUSLY!!! For this tribute, I really wanted to include a photo of myself with Harry but sadly, there aren't any-I think I avoided taking photos with Harry because he was tall, incredibly handsome, and of course had that perfect HAIR-thing going-simply put, there was just no way to ever look good standing next to him in a photo (I can confess to that now)-he was also impeccably dressed ALWAYS even by our tough industry standards. I used to tell Harry, when I'm YOUR age, MY goal is to look as good as YOU-the problem is I don't look nearly that good now, so I don't think it's going to happen!!! In lieu of my own photo with Harry, I am posting a photo of someone who actually does look good next to him-his own daughter Sam-and that kind of makes sense, right??? Please check out the photo above-there he is as we all remember him-the forward lean, the pensive look, and YES, the perfect hair, engaged in thoughtful conversation with Sam at the Jefferson Hotel circa 2013. Despite all of his own success, what he spoke about most to me in later years was 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨-he clearly believed she inherited his business acumen-from the looks of the photo, she got his fashion-sense as well... Harry, thank you for believing in me and giving me the opportunity of a lifetime at S&K-I made lifelong friendships at our Company and partnerships in the vendor community that have stayed with me forever... Rest in Peace, Boss...see you on the other side and I promise to be wearing the white-grounded striped shirts and fine neat ties (especially yellow) that you never let me forget...oh & one more thing...I never asked you for anything and I'm not looking for anything now- well except maybe just one thing...don't leave me any money but can you 𝑷𝑳𝑬𝑨𝑺𝑬 𝑳𝑬𝑨𝑽𝑬 𝑴𝑬 𝒀𝑶𝑼𝑹 𝑯𝑨𝑰𝑹???!!! Love, Jon💔