SoHo, NYC is world-renowned for all things charming, delicious and one-of-a-kind.  Over the years, this uniqueness has been chipped away by soaring rents and the commercialization of mass consumption.  It’s been reported that not even the toniest of brands make a profit at their SoHo locations, but instead plant stores in the neighborhood for branding purposes.  If we can all have such a marketing budget.

But if you take the time to meander each street, not just Prince and Spring, you’ll find a wonderful little shop on Thompson -- 118 Thompson Street, to be exact.  Here you’ll find, Peter Hermann, a retailer of understated and exquisitely crafted carrying items and accessories, socks and scarves. I never fail to stop and press my face up against the window to see what new treasures can be had.  Chances are before a bag or wallet ever gains mainstream attention, Peter Hermann carried the label years before its star rose. They have a seasoned eye for identifying talented designers before anyone else -- if I want something that no one else has, I come to Peter Hermann.

Stephan Hermann Worobel, founder and proprietor of Peter Hermann, opened the semi-eponymous store in 1987 with his partner, Peter Mercurio, who passed in 2012.  Stephan is charming, funny, generous and can tell you a story about every item he carries in his shop. He’s also multi-talented -- not only has he successfully run a thriving retail store for 32 years -- as a student of architecture, he also builds homes.  Stephan seamlessly juggles this passion by partnering with builders, predominantly in Connecticut, reimagining homes to the likes of the designs from the late 1800s.  

I had the privilege of hearing Stephan’s story -- his beginnings, his journey as an entrepreneur and his perspectives on the retail industry.  

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Tell me about you and the origins of Peter Hermann.

We came in 1955 from Germany.  My father was Ukrainian and we came with nothing, basically and not speaking any English.  It was after the war and a distant cousin sponsored us until my father got a job. I was the first in my family to go to secondary school -- I was an art major.  My first job was at Bloomingdale’s in Stamford, CT. I helped do the furniture arrangement as my background was in architecture and they needed someone to do visual merchandising for that department.  After a while, I decided maybe I want to move to the big city -- New York. I eventually went to Lord and Taylor’s -- they hired me on the spot. I worked in the interior of the store with an older gentleman who taught me the ropes.  It was a great experience. We would do research and go to all the museums, visit SoHo when it was just starting to blossom, visit art exhibits -- it was a dream job but not much pay! At the same time as I was working at Lord and Taylor,  I had an interest in making things -- I was very creative. I always wanted to make something like a bag and learn about that. When I was living at home, my mother used to store her shoes in the basement. I thought, she doesn’t care about these and I started cutting up her shoes and put together pieces of leather and sewing.  That was my first introduction to making something. My mother nearly killed me!  

There was a handbag buyer at Lord and Taylor, Mrs. Kempner.  She was tough as nails, she was old school and had 28 stores.  She had been in the business for 50 years and very well respected.  I told her my interest in designing bags. She said, make them and show them to me.  I made some and she put them in the window. I did that on the side and then at the same time, I got a call from a Vice President at Macy’s and they hired me to do all the windows at Herald Square.  I was this pipsqueak with a team of older, union guys -- we had to change the windows once a week. 32 windows. It was maddening. It was a big deal. I had very good people who worked with me. Also, while working at Lord and Taylor’s and Macy’s, I moonlighted for Valentino, Yves St. Laurent and Bergdorf’s. 

Then I had a friend who worked at a buying office who worked with small high end stores around the country.  Some of the collections they represented were Halston, Ralph Lauren, Geoffrey Beene and other big names of the time.  We decided to become partners and go into business -- we made handbags, jackets and vests -- they were very well received and bought by major stores.  It was called Cashew. It wasn’t widely spread. We were small and with no funding. We did get our collection into Bloomingdale’s. I wanted to go more into handbags and stay focused on that.  That’s where my love was. We took that direction, had a huge line and it was 1977 where it was the gold era. Everything was metallic gold -- not just the hardware. We were the kings of this style -- we did this for three years and the trend died out.  So, I decided to come to SoHo and make bags myself. I knew how to make bags as I made samples for my label, Cashew.  I opened a shop three doors down from this [Peter Hermann] store in 1983.  I was opened seven days a week. It was a former garbage room and I turned it into my little atelier.  It was a lot of work. There weren’t many handbag people in the city. Coach was one of them. I had a certain look that was attracting attention -- celebrities, too.  I decided to sell them to Bendel’s and they sold it through their catalog. Catalog was the big thing then. My label, Cashew, was one of the biggest sellers of handbags in their catalog history.  We sourced right on Spring Street where there were three leather goods sources -- wholesale suppliers -- it’s now a Starbucks.  

I came to know the buyer of accessories at Bendel’s -- at that time they had no competition.  Bendel’s was exciting and had all the up and coming designers. We talked about Il Bisonte -- I loved its workmanship, the natural quality, no branding, just the little buffalo -- she was a sales rep for Il Bisonte prior to becoming a buyer for Bendel’s.  I was a huge fan of Il Bisonte. We decided to go to Italy and ask Il Bisonte if we could open a little shop -- they gave us the rights to have it in the States. This was in 1987. We opened the shop on Thompson Street and I sold it in 2015 to a business partner.  At the same time as the opening of the Il Bisonte shop, Peter, my partner who I had been with since 1984 was looking for something to do. He was into the arts, studied English, was really into music and was a small time actor at one point. He wanted to do something related to Paris as he loved traveling there.  So, we decided to open a little shop -- Peter Hermann. We went through the hillsides of Italy. I had a list of designers who had nice bags. We put a collection together and opened the store within a few months of the Il Bisonte store.

It’s becoming rare to see, especially in SoHo, individually owned establishments.  The rising rents have pushed out the special and unique proprietors who truly give SoHo its charm and coveted shopping magnetism.  Your store has been here since 1987. How do you do it?

Oh my goodness, I don’t know.  You have to have a love for what you do, you know?

That’s what attracted people to SoHo -- the mom and pop shops and the art galleries.  That’s why Peter Hermann opens at 12:00 pm because that’s when the galleries would open.  I’m still very invested in this business. I could retire. I have two more years on the lease.  If the rent remains reasonable I will likely still continue as I still have the energy and we’re a destination now.  After all these years we have locals and people from all over the country who will come back and it’s the same for our customers from Europe.  It’s been a word of mouth thing -- no website.

That was my next question.  I researched Peter Hermann online and discovered that there was no website.  In this day and age of direct-to-consumerism, companies have websites before a physical address.  Tell me more. Is it intentional?

I’m so against it.  Not because I’m old-fashioned but because it doesn’t make sense to do all that work to capture one or two exclusive items to put on a site.  When you have an item that’s $1,800 you want to feel it, smell it and try it. I learned from other retailers that nearly up to 60% of their sales wind up as returns and that could be the demise of the business.  We’re on Instagram now, though. It’s fun and entertaining!  

I believe you have to have that in-person contact with the customer.  That is one of the most important things -- you can’t have a general chat online -- oh, you have three kids?  Where do they go to school? And are they married? This is what happens here -- not that I’m prying but it’s very interesting meeting all these people.  People seem to open up to me for some reason. I’m interested.  

Tell me about your customer.

Our customer is the one looking for something unique and well made.  

The turning point for me was when the buyer at Lord and Taylor, Mrs. Kempner, showed me her personal handbag collection -- she had a huge collection.  It was filled with wonderful craftsmanship. I was so intrigued. She had such a good eye. My appreciation for quality bags grew further from my conversations with her.  

I didn’t feel that many American companies had the capabilities at that time.  Ralph Lauren had their bags made in Europe and Coach made everyday bags. I spent a lot of my time traveling through Italy and France to learn.  We also carried different things than department stores. We were a novelty back then -- stores were just starting to pop up in SoHo -- people would stroll by on Sundays with their ice cream cones and look through our windows and say, oh, that looks interesting.  That was the goal. To have something different, well made and not widely distributed. People were drawn to this.

SoHo used to be more of a specialty type of place.  In 1987 it was half the foot traffic of what it is today.  SoHo was an open space. It was a curiosity. There weren’t these tall buildings.  There were little shops even on West Broadway. It was a fun place to go. It’s now turned into a mall.  It’s a Disneyland attraction now.

We’re in the era of ‘what’s the next shiny new thing’, how do I get a venture capitalist to throw gobs of money at me and my unprofitable business, grow fast, grow big, fail bigger -- what’s the difference that Peter Hermann offers?  What’s been the key to its endurance?

The customers.  They reassure you and they’re often complimenting -- I often hear, you have the best stuff -- I can’t tell you how many times that people come in and say, oh, thank goodness, you’re still here!  They validate me that I’m on the right path -- they like what I do and they buy. I enjoy working with leather goods. It’s also the hunt -- I love the hunt and looking for things and zeroing in on something I like.  

The products of artisans and designers that are offered in the shop have storied histories.  What do you look for when you’re deciding on which to carry?  

When I see something I like, I go right to it.  It’s instinctual. There’s no complex process. It’s a sixth sense.  I don’t need to think about it. I’ve seen so much and been around bags for so long -- and it’s all built up to a great deal of experience and it’s now an instinct.  

While this may be akin to asking someone who’s your favorite child, tell us the one designer you love and why.

It would have to be Renaud Pellegrino.  He’s a master craftsman. He comes up with these ideas year after year after year.  He’s famous for his unique Cardinal bag. He worked for YSL and Givenchy. He knows what’s out there and what it takes to make a bag.  He chooses the finest materials. He’s an artist. He’s my favorite designer and he’s visiting us in two weeks. I’ve been carrying his line for 18 years.  

Do designers usually visit you?

Some do!  It’s very nice.  We usually go to dinner together. 

Retailers of all sizes and channels have been experiencing challenging times.  There’s gloom and doom for department stores -- the very ones where a lot of us in this industry started our first jobs.  What do you see on the horizon?

Size doesn’t matter anymore.  The little shops are just as important as the big shops.  We keep things alive. The problem with the larger stores is that you can’t find someone to help you.  People like the contact and interaction. They appreciate the story behind a label. You just don’t get that anymore.  At the end of the day, the personal interaction and the in-store touch is what people will always gravitate toward.

How do you collect feedback?  Data is a huge thing nowadays -- companies invest large budgets to collect numbers, churn numbers, analyze numbers and read them like tea leaves.  

My data is talking to people.  I don’t have analytics. I take risks.  

As I’ve been sitting here, with my view toward your front window I can easily see the foot traffic go by -- nearly every single person stopped to look at the display.  

Oh, I didn’t notice but glad you mentioned it!  This is the appeal of SoHo and I hope to keep being a part of this charm.

Visit Peter Hermann —

Address: 118 Thompson Street, New York, NY 10012 USA

Phone: +1 (212) 966 9050

Email: peterhermann118@gmail.com

Instagram: @peterhermannleathergoods

Website: n/a