Trip decided not to wait that long, so he married her…
Together we have five daughters, a dog and a cat. Thank goodness the cat is male to keep Trip from estrogen overload.
Facing the mirror of truth, we realized neither of us was a prime candidate for jobs working for someone else. So we started our own business. A great store in the Berkshires (Great Barrington, Massachusetts) was first, in May 2005. Then we thought a store in the town we live in would be fun too, so we opened in New Milford, Connecticut in April 2006. Then, a fabulous custom designed store in Blue Back Square, West Hartford, CT. By summer 2009 we couldn’t resist the charms of Madison, CT. Who knows where we’ll dance to next?
~ our paths ~
Kathy was fashion coordinator for Bloomingdale’s when it was the hottest store in NY. Remember that? She was buying for Bendel’s when Geraldine Stutz owned it. Remember that?
She was the founding buyer of the women’s department at Barney’s when it was the penthouse floor of the Chelsea store at Seventh Avenue and 17th Street. Remember that?
Kathy stopped buying for stores that started with ‘B’, and started a pioneering gift basket business while raising her daughters. Heading back to retail after they grew older, she expanded her focus – and her alphabet – by becoming a senior buyer at ABC Carpet and Home (the trendsetting New York home furnishings store).
Kathy holds a degree in Fashion Merchandising from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.
Poor Trip. He just couldn’t overcome the retail in his blood. His great-great-grandfather was the “Abraham” of Abraham & Straus in Brooklyn, and his great-grandfather, grandfather and father all worked there, too. A&S and several other stores combined in 1929 to form Federated Department Stores. Before giving in to his destiny, Trip owned Housatonic Valley Publishing Company in New Milford. He also served as Chairman of New Milford’s Economic Development Commission and is a Board member of New Milford Hospital.
Trip did his undergraduate work at Harvard and N.Y.U. and earned an MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
They live in an 1810 house in New Milford, occasionally with their daughters and always with the dog and cat.
