Hortense Odlum
Encyclopedia
Hortense McQuarrie Odlum (July 1881 - January 12, 1970) was the first woman president of Bonwit Teller
Department Store in New York City
and the wife of financier
Floyd Odlum
.
Born in St. George
, Utah
, Hortense McQuarrie married Floyd Odlum when he was a law clerk. They moved to New York City when he accepted a position with a New York law firm in 1916. Mr. Odlum became president of Atlas Corporation
, which took over Bonwit Teller in 1934. Mr. Odlum appointed his wife as president. She always maintained:
The store was confronted with enormous financial problems bordering on bankruptcy
. However, within her first two years, the volume of business doubled, and during the third it trebled. She made major rearrangements of boutique
s and salons
, introduced a bright, cheerful decor and focused on customer relations. She once said:
Divorced from Odlum in 1935, she next married Dr. Porfirio Dominici, but that marriage was annulled in 1938.
After six years as Bonwit's president she retired in 1940, but served as chairman from 1940-1944. She said "dollars and cents will never mean much to me except as evidence of customer approval." She also stressed in her words: "high class, but not high hat." When asked about her business experience: "I got mine in the hardest of schools. For nearly 12 years, I ...was just a customer." After retirement she proclaimed, "I want to go back and be what I really am - just the typical customer who has found a store she loves to shop in."
Her sister's son was the actor Robert Hudson Walker
. She offered to finance his studies at the prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts
in New York City. He stayed in her home during his first year there.
Bonwit Teller
Bonwit Teller was a department store in New York City founded by Paul Bonwit in 1895 at Sixth Avenue and 18th Street. In 1897 Edmund D. Teller was admitted to the partnership and the store moved to 23rd Street, East of Sixth Avenue...
Department Store in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and the wife of financier
Financier
Financier is a term for a person who handles typically large sums of money, usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale money management. The term is French, and derives from finance or payment...
Floyd Odlum
Floyd Odlum
Floyd Bostwick Odlum was a wealthy lawyer and industrialist. He has been described as "possibly the only man in the United States who made a great fortune out of the Depression"...
.
Born in St. George
St. George, Utah
St. George is a city located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Utah, and the county seat of Washington County, Utah. It is the principal city of and is included in the St. George, Utah, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is 119 miles northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, and 303 miles ...
, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, Hortense McQuarrie married Floyd Odlum when he was a law clerk. They moved to New York City when he accepted a position with a New York law firm in 1916. Mr. Odlum became president of Atlas Corporation
Atlas Corporation
The Atlas Corporation, was formed in 1928, from a merger of the United Corporation, an investment firm started in 1923 with $40,000, with Atlas Utilities and Investors Ltd. The corporation specialized in capital formation and management. In 1929, Atlas was a $12,000,000 investment trust...
, which took over Bonwit Teller in 1934. Mr. Odlum appointed his wife as president. She always maintained:
- "I was forced to take the job."
The store was confronted with enormous financial problems bordering on bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
. However, within her first two years, the volume of business doubled, and during the third it trebled. She made major rearrangements of boutique
Boutique
A boutique is a small shopping outlet, especially one that specializes in elite and fashionable items such as clothing and jewelry. The word is French for "shop", via Latin from Greek ἀποθήκη , "storehouse"....
s and salons
Salon (gathering)
A salon is a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine taste and increase their knowledge of the participants through conversation. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to...
, introduced a bright, cheerful decor and focused on customer relations. She once said:
- "I worked like a TrojanTroyTroy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
. But I never intended to stay. I'm out now and the whole thing leaves me cold."
Divorced from Odlum in 1935, she next married Dr. Porfirio Dominici, but that marriage was annulled in 1938.
After six years as Bonwit's president she retired in 1940, but served as chairman from 1940-1944. She said "dollars and cents will never mean much to me except as evidence of customer approval." She also stressed in her words: "high class, but not high hat." When asked about her business experience: "I got mine in the hardest of schools. For nearly 12 years, I ...was just a customer." After retirement she proclaimed, "I want to go back and be what I really am - just the typical customer who has found a store she loves to shop in."
Her sister's son was the actor Robert Hudson Walker
Robert Hudson Walker
Robert Hudson Walker was an American actor. He is probably best known for his role as Bruno Anthony in Alfred Hitchcock's 1951 thriller Strangers on a Train.-Early life:...
. She offered to finance his studies at the prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts
American Academy of Dramatic Arts
The American Academy of Dramatic Arts is a fully accredited two-year conservatory with facilities located in Manhattan, New York City – at 120 Madison Avenue, in a landmark building designed by noted architect Stanford White as the original Colony Club – and in Hollywood, California...
in New York City. He stayed in her home during his first year there.