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JJ Ramberg

JJ Ramberg is the anchor of “Your Business,” MSNBC’s weekly show on small business. In addition to her extensive television reporting experience, Ramberg has a background as an entrepreneur and co-founded GoodSearch.com. She has an MBA from Stanford Business School.



Guest List -- Sunday, Jan. 25

Posted: Tuesday, January 20, 2009 8:30 AM by Andrew Littell

John Peterman has gone bankrupt and come all the way back. The J. Peterman Company, a mail order catalogue that was made famous in the hit show "Seinfeld," went bankrupt in large part due to the enormous attention it received from the show. J. Peterman went from being a small brand to a mass market retailer. Demand for the product shot up, prestige plummeted, and John Peterman was left with enormous demands and no resources meet them. He lost the business, his money and even his brand name. Starting in 2000, he's been working quietly to rebuild. Peterman bought back his name, partnered with John O'Hurley, the actor who portrayed him on "Seinfeld," and is rebuilding his client base. 

Panelists

--David Vinjamuri, founder and President of ThirdWay Brand Trainers, a brand marketing training company, and author of "Accidental Branding: How Ordinary People Build Extraordinary Brands"

--Jeffrey A. Carr, Executive Director of the NYU Stern Berkley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies

--Bob Phibbs, retail consultant and author of "You Can Compete: Double Sales Without Discounting"

Profit Margin: Employee Perks

Alexander Watts, associate professor and chairman of the banking, finance and entrepreneurship departments at Northwood University discusses some benefits a business owner can provide to his or her staff.

Elevator Pitch

Laurie Suzuki, founder of Yumi & Laurie, Inc. pitches the blanQuette, a blanket made from organic materials in the style of Japanese futon covers.

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Comments

In reality, the Seinfeld show had very little,
if any, impact on the company. The vast majority
of Seinfeld viewers thought the character "J.
Peterman" was simply something created by the
Seinfeld writers. The Peterman bankruptcy, was
basically due to the attempt to roll out retail
stores--an effort that proved to be a huge
disaster. Construction delays, generic merchandise,
and other factors contributed to the company's
failure. Had Peterman stuck with what had worked--mail-order, he would have been much better off.

Robert Bolson (Sent Tuesday, January 20, 2009 9:21 AM)

Robert has it correct.  Had J Peterman taken the time to develop a thoughtful strategy rather than running with the hype created by Seinfeld.

Mark Stephen Ware
CEO & Principal
Perception Lab, Inc.
www.perceptionlab.biz/brochure

Mark Stephen Ware, Fort Lauderdale, Florida (Sent Saturday, January 24, 2009 12:54 PM)



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