One success story is JMJ/Ingenuity, celebrating over 75
years and multiple generations of family ownership. 34 year old Morris Shenkarow heads this firm
that fills over a city block of manufacturing space, and is capable of running
24 hour per day alternating shifts when necessary. He succeeds his father, Marvin, who created a
joint venture between Morris’ maternal and paternal grandfathers, each of whom
had their own distinct companies.
Founded by Morris Neaman in 1933, the Sterling Cloak Co.
Ltd. was originally a producer of ladies’ overcoats and sportswear, until it was
merged with
S. Stall & Sons in 1978, and became the Sterling Stall
group. This partnership produced a wide
range of ladies’ clothing, adding leather, down coats, and suits to the already
successful lines of the original Sterling Cloak.’ From there, the company became JMJ Fashions,
as it continued to expand and create private-label programs for Canadian
retailers.
In 1995, always capable of changing with the times, JMJ introduced
the Ingenuity line of washable, crease resistant women’s tailored sportswear. It was an enormous success and today,
Ingenuity is sold all over Canada ,
the United States , and in Mexico City .
Multi-faceted Sue Paymer has been involved with the group for
the last 15 years. About seven years
ago, between dress-down Friday’s, and a general trend toward casual wear in the
workplace, Sue began to seek additional venues in which to introduce the more
stylish presentation of Ingenuity: She
came up with the idea of using the company’s made-for-street-wear garments as
uniforms. It was the perfect niche.
Without changing the basic nature of the firm, what had been
selling as women’s fashions, Sue and her fellow sales reps also began to sell direct
to various industries where hospitality was key—anywhere they could think of
where classy corporate identity garments were wanting in terms of the ideal
busy woman’s dream outfit.
Ingenuity came up with two incredible basic fabrics: Stretch twill, and Tricotine. The colors were in the classics, meant to go
with everything: Black, navy, stone, taupe,
ivory, and red. All of the pieces went
with one another; all of the pieces were wrinkle free and could travel anywhere. Everything was fused and sewn to perfection
so that nothing would crumple or come loose from itself. The Ingenuity shoulder pad, alone, was sewn
down in 13 places, rather than the typical three. Just try to ruin one.
The garments have chip resistant buttons, the fabrics never
fade, and dye lots are re-produced over and over again, so that a garment from
15 years ago will still match a new garment today; tops still match the
bottoms.
The Ingenuity garments are completely machine washable, drip
dry, have permanent creases in the pants, and are fully lined. Every garment comes on a hanger and
bagged.
The styles are so basic that one could conceivably wear a
single outfit during the day for a business luncheon, quick change to fancier
buttons on the jacket, and have a formal suit for wedding attire by evening. The fabrics are seasonless and wearable all
year round. As Sue says, “These are
miracle clothes—one of a kind!”
The best part, she is quick to emphasize, is that the durability
and wearability of the fabrics save uniform owners a fortune in dry cleaning
costs. Sue goes on: “What if a woman is wearing these garments in
a smelly job where foods or other items regularly soil the fabric?” No worries.
“Just throw everything in the washing machine and in a few hours, the
garments are good as new.” This is a
woman who is completely energized when it comes to pushing her product. She loves it, believes in it, and speaks to
its accolades every moment she gets. The
result is that Ingenuity is making millions.
In addition to standard in-stock programs, Ingenuity also
has its fashion line in novelty patterns, such as tweeds, stripes, plaids, and
whatever else a customer could possibly want.
If you don’t see a color you want, ask.
You’ll get a lab dip, and the fabric will be custom dyed for you. If you have a special design you want,
discuss it with Ingenuity. Need a
particular size? Ingenuity manufactures
in misses, petites, pluses, plus petites, and tall’s. If that’s still not you, it will custom make
the garments.
Men’s wear, you say.
Yes, the company is doing that, now, too. The same basics, only in handsome men’s
styling to complement female counterparts.
No one in the entire office ever looks wrinkled, second best, slept in,
frayed, or less than band-box fresh. In
business, appearance is a keen element.
“We’re still a tailor shop,” reminds Sue. She is firm that in repping over 50
organizations in her career, Ingenuity is the most principled and well
presented company she has worked with.
“Our customers are 100% satisfied, we bend over backwards to help them, we
do not undercut our dealers, and we stand behind our production.” Asked about turn-around time, she smiles and
remarks that Nordstrom’s once asked for 7,000 pieces in five days and Ingenuity
delivered on time.
*****
Ingenuity products may be found online at www.jmjingenuity.com, or you may call
direct to 1-800-600-0001.
