Background & Experience

Management Executive and Senior Retail Consultant: Milton Waldoff founded his own consulting company, The Waldoff Group, specializing in consulting to independent retail stores, after working with Walter Pye Management Group (WPMG) a Houston, Texas based retail consulting company. As Senior Retail Consultant and Executive Vice-President, Waldoff was directly responsible for all aspects of WPMG’s involvement with retail stores, including a comprehensive analysis of the retail store or organization, focusing on merchandising, buying, advertising, marketing, expense reduction, sales training, customer service, etc., everything affecting the bottom line.

Marketing and Advertising Leader: At WPMG, Mr. Waldoff oversaw the planning and creation of all advertising, interior and exterior signing and the day-to-day operation of all stores. Stores who contracted for on going support to improve sales and gross margin, finding a focus - a niche - reduce expenses, improve merchandise focus and mix, advertising and presentation of merchandise, when desired and/or necessary store closings and going out of business sales.

Merchandising and Buying Professional: Mr. Waldoff is frequently in the New York market, often with a client, the clients merchandise manager or buyer, to assist in the location, selection and purchase of deep discount off price (40% to 50% off) current season merchandise, very often from the stores regular vendors.

Strategic Planning: The Waldoff Group also works with stores who are seeking guidance and assistance for the opening of a new store(s) or taking to market a new concept, a grand opening, or to better position existing store(s) in its local and regional market place, creative advertising and promotions to reduce inventory and/or raise cash, retirement sales, store closing sales and going out of business sales.

Turnaround / Crisis Management: As a retail consultant Milton Waldoff contributes his expertise and years of experience as a very successful merchant and businessman, in assisting store management in recognizing problems and the successful implementation of solutions. Turnaround and crisis management has become a specialty of Mr. Waldoff, through his personal experience, guidance and leadership he continues to assist troubled companies in returning to profitability.

Entrepreneur, President, CEO and Merchant: For many years, Mr. Waldoff was Owner-President/CEO of Waldoff’s, and up-scale better specialty store company based in Hattiesburg, MS., which was founded by his father in 1924. Waldoff joined the family business after college and a tour of duty with the Army. By the time his father died less than six years later, sales had increased by more than fourteen times, profits growing even greater. Mr. Waldoff continued to transform and grow the family business into one of the Gulf South’s finest ladies and men’s specialty stores, producing sales per square foot dramatically in excess of industry standards.

Award Winning Creative Advertising: Mr. Waldoff developed and maintained a marketing approach that made Waldoff’s the place to shop in South Mississippi. Waldoff’s community involvement along with its award winning creative advertising, was consistently recognized by
the stores customers, along with major national and international industry organizations and publications, giving the company a strong regional reputation and an enviable national presence.

Proven Record In Establishing Outstanding Service: Waldoff’s established a strong reputation for outstanding customer service by implementing comprehensive training, motivational and monitoring programs to track customer satisfaction.

Outstanding Merchant Businessman With Proven Bottom Line Results: Waldoff’s focused merchandising, coupled with their creative merchandise presentations, marketing, community involvement, advertising and superior customer service produced sales per square foot and profits four to five times industry standards.

Orchestrated Dynamic Growth: During his career of owning and operating Waldoff’s, Milton was intimately involved, and the creative force and drive behind the expansion and dramatic growth of the company. In the first five years he enlarged the downtown stores selling area from 3000sf to 14,500sf over three major projects. The year following his father’s death Milton bought an old home in a suburban area and converted it into Mississippi’s first traditional shop.

Three years later doubling the space, then building a new 12,500sf store in Biloxi, Mississippi’s famous Edgewater Mall, the largest mall in South Mississippi. The following year opening a 16,000sf store at the new Cloverleaf Mall in Hattiesburg, within three years this store enlarged to 20,000sf producing very profitable sales of $550sf. Finally in the late 1980’s opening a state of the art 50,000sf anchor store at Cloverleaf Mall, a regional enclosed mall anchored by three major national retailers, McRae’s, Penny’s and Sears. This store produced sales in excess of $14,500,000 during its second 12 months.

Proven Skills: Milton Waldoff is a hands on merchant - business man. He continues to demonstrate a unique understanding of the problems and opportunities store owners must deal with, including the challenges from the current competitive pressures that the independent merchant must overcome to survive, especially during these very depressing economic times.

Recognized As An Outstanding Merchant Businessman: The Waldoff Group and Milton Waldoff are regularly recommended for their professional services by current and previous clients. Often stores need a seasoned professional merchant businessman to take a look at their business, to unemotionally make recommendations that will allow the business to get back on track, re-position their company and to return to profitability, pay their debts and survive. When desired or necessary close the business profitably.

National organizations that recommend Milton Waldoff and The Waldoff Group include:

- The Doneger Group, the largest and most successful Resident Buying Office in the United States, catering to major specialty and departments stores both nationally and internationally.

- The LBA Group, the largest specialty store Resident Buying Office catering to small and medium size women’s specialty stores in the United States.

- RMSA, a retail management inventory control company that specializes in catering to specialty, department and discount stores nationally and internationally.

Advertising Background & Experience

Milton Waldoff developed and maintained a marketing approach that made Waldoff’s the place to shop in south Mississippi. Waldoff’s award winning creative advertising was consistently recognized by the stores customers along with major national and international industry organizations and publications. Giving the company a strong regional presence and an enviable national reputation for over 35 years.

Additionally, Mr. Waldoff has shared his ability as a creative merchant and his intimate knowledge of retail, retail advertising and marketing by serving as a featured speaker for a number of local, regional, national and international organizations, including the Mississippi Retail Merchants Association, Illinois Retail Merchants Association, National Retail Merchants Association (now the National Retail Federation), Retail Association of Canada, and The Retail Advertising and Marketing Association International. Additionally, he has been a guest lecturer at a number of colleges and universities, including The University of Alabama, University of Southern Mississippi, Tulane University and the University of South Alabama.

He has served on the Board of Directors and/or Executive Committee of the following industry groups: Mississippi Retail Merchants Association, National Retail Merchants Association, NRMA Independent Stores Association, Brand Names Foundation, The Fashion Association Group and The Retail Advertising & Marketing Association International.

Milton Waldoff has been recognized and given awards by a number of international, national, regional and area organizations. These include:

Retail Advertising & Marketing Association International - (Now a Division of National Retail Federation) Executive Committee; Board of Directors; Recipient of numerous advertising awards; speaker at a number of RAMAI International Conventions. Speaker and Instructor at numerous RAMAI Work Shops. RAMAI produces the Retail Advertising Conference (RAC) held each year in Chicago.

National Retail Merchant’s Association - (Now the National Retail Federation.) Board of Directors; Recipient of numerous advertising awards and speaker at a number of National and Regional Conventions.

Retail Ad Week - Featured many, many Waldoff’s ads over a period of more than thirty years. Advertising selected by Retail Ad Week for creativity, message, timeliness, substance and often for its institutional value, including ads featured on the cover of the publication.

Newspaper Advertising Bureau – NAB awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards to over 50 Waldoff's ads, additional ads were selected for Honorable Mention. Many of these ads were also recognized with awards at the RAC and NRMA.

Television Bureau of Advertising - TVB featured Waldoff’s television advertising in a book on television advertising in 1962, well before most stores were using television to promote the store as an institution or brand. Later TVB used some of the stores television advertising in its promotional messages to retailers nationally. Over the years TVB recognized Waldoff’s advertising with a number of awards, as did the RAC and NRMA.

Radio Advertising Bureau - Radio was an important medium for Waldoff’s and Milton’s, Ltd. for over 35 years, and during these years RAB featured many of the commercials and gave Mr. Waldoff numerous awards. A number of these radio commercials were recognized by the RAC and the NRMA.

Direct Mail Advertising Association - DMAA featured and recognized a number of Waldoff’s direct mail pieces with national awards over many years, often including these pieces in their own direct mail advertising to retailers and printers nationally. Many of these pieces were also recognized by the RAC and the NRMA.

M. Seklemain National Merit Award - A most prestigious award, given for exceptional retail advertising. Milton Waldoff and Waldoff’s were honored with five of Mr. Seklemain’s National Merit Awards over a period of 20 years.

Since Mr. Waldoff became a consultant following the closing of Waldoff’s in 1994, he has worked with a number of medium to large stores focusing on the stores advertising and communication, including direct mail, email broadcast, telephone broadcast, out door (billboard), television, radio and newspaper.