Evolution is Good for Service

  What 36 years will do (in the photos above) . . . I decided to tell a more personal story as it reflects on a lesson in service delivery.  While I've been involved in private advisory work for years, two years ago I leveraged my 23 years of involvement in real estate to launch an unparalleled boutique client experience by developing The Horswell Collection.

 

I first met Pluto at age seven and recently celebrated the 70th Anniversary of Disneyland by remembering my unusual history with the brand.  A year before that old photo, I had sent a letter to Disney's President E. Cardon Walker that included a sealed "top secret" envelope with a new ride design. The design envelope was returned unopened with a very sincere letter from him noting that due to infringement issues they could not review it, but he invited me to "return as an imagineer in a few years."  Over the years, I crisscrossed the Disney constellation to talk with people who knew Walt including my father as well as my friendship with Walt's nephew Ted.  Every aspect of this company and its politics from Roy Disney to Michael Eisner to Bob Iger, its unusual board of directors dynamics, and the speculation about my personal pick for the next CEO, Josh D'Amaro, has always fascinated me.

 

The Horswell Collection is designed in many ways to exemplify the values of a successful studio and media company with its own unusual reach into media, analytics, and rarefied lifestyles . . . and as such, I decided in conjunction with my birthday this year to shake up my world and move my bungalow on the backlot to a real estate company that mirrors the global impact that Disney extends in the experience category - Coldwell Banker Realty.

 

Walt realized that nostalgia could take the company only so far, and that's why "Disneyland will never be completed.  It will continue to grow as long as thee is imagination left in the world.  What I didn't know in 1977 was that Card Walker would take a leap of faith when Roy Disney and Stanley Gold crafted a winning combination in Michael and the late (great) Frank Wells to inject new excitement into the brand while standing guard to preserve the rich tradition of storytelling that is at the core of the company's operations.

The courage to explore new opportunities for clients through expanded service is a path not usually taken when sameness is so much more comfortable.  I thought the backstory of this brand enhancement was something that both my advisory and real estate clients would enjoy.  You're invited into the skysuite of my imagination on a creative and clear path resulting in exceptional client results.

The Regency Magazine Spring | Summer 2025 After-Dinner Trivia Quiz

 

 

 Let’s see how you ‘measure up!’

While the Spring / Summer 2025 issue of REGENCY Magazine is located HERE, our Medley section offered an additional opportunity . . .

 

Games following a spirited dinner party are always in good taste.  Even the most notable entertainers are caught on camera with tissue crowns around an elegant table.  Let the fun continue in the drawing room with an after-dinner cognac.  Our Advisory Council has developed a special trivia game for those “in the know.”  Download the quiz HERE.

 

A Case of Mistaken Identity

 

Meet our subject - Block 216 in Portland, Oregon.  Subject to a recent Supplemental Data announcement in its Q4-2024 financial results, Ready Capital disclosed liability related to this real estate holding.  After this project advances to formal proceedings, I will release a white paper which chronicles the entire development.  Having followed its history since before initial design concept and also helping to author the original winning proposal to represent the condominium units for a former client, we will discuss the psychological, political, financial, marketing, and design implications and how they all blended in concert to form the current framework for investors.

HUBRIS and the Amenant Vendor

Please review the above video for context to this post:

As chronicled in the last issue of REGENCY Magazine, we discovered how the word "Luxury" has lost all meaning and has resulted in our proposal of a different word to encapsulate that special category of product which truly exemplifies the meaning of something created explicitly for a "patron" - the word "amenance" and in this case, having "amenant" qualities.

Recently, main line "luxury" brands like Kering-owned Gucci (also owning St. Laurent, Balenciaga, etc) and LVMH-owned Louis Vuitton (also owning Dior, Fendi, Givenchy, etc.)  have fallen prey to the financial pressures of being associated with larger conglomerates within the sector.  Naturally, finding ways to exploit the storied brands for financial gain from the middle-market consumer has created an unfortunate byproduct:

HUBRIS
defined by Merriam-Webster as: exaggerated pride or self-confidence

While creative, the temporary facade of New York's 5th Avenue Louis Vuitton is a telling story about the brand's high opinion of itself.  As with human nature, life does imitate art and so-called luxury brands that may be still hand-made to some extent have become poster children to announce that "I have arrived" rather than "I always was."

For those who have long-loved the style, durability, and architecture of a classic horsebit Gucci shoe or the wall-crafted longevity in design of a 1932-inspired Noé bag, there is a great sense of betrayal at the hands of current creative directors at these fashion houses to generalize merchandise into a frenzy of logo-emblazoned pile of trendy products.  Gradually, the community of discerning clients who painstakingly select their style accoutrements and dress out of respect for themselves and others have begun to renounce the products that were specifically created for them due to the mass-market sensibilities of the companies that control them today.

What can you do?

• Delight in the amenant: search out that rare artisan who creates individuality for the patron.
• If you do have an undying brand loyalty for that bamboo handle or horsebit shoe, purchase selectively from the brand of choice based on utter quality and comfort and bury the desire to wear a 5th Avenue trunk facade on your body.
• Someone is always watching . . . as a member of the UHNW community or a vendor that serves the demographic, actions are always under a microscope and your choices impact the marketplace in untold ways.
  

Welcome to REGENCY's Fall 2024 / Winter 2025 Issue

 

Welcome to the Fall 2024 / Winter 2025 Issue of REGENCY, the curated biannual journal for a discerning global population segment of pioneers, seekers, wanderers, creators, and leaders.  Featuring inspired innovation in real estate and lifestyles, it is a joint venture between The Horswell Collection at Windermere Realty Trust and Regency Media LLC, a private advisory firm.  Enjoy a thematic sojourn featuring partnerships, preservation, and purpose.  All content is by invitation and advertorial is strictly prohibited.

This issue is dedicated to the memory of the life work of Bergdorf Goodman's Betty Halbreich (1927-2024).  Her zest for style, panache with clients, and reminder to not take life so seriously will be missed.

 

No One Ever Leaves a Star - Or Do They? The Norma Desmond Syndrome

In Billy Wilder's movie Sunset Boulevard, lead character Norma Desmond believed no one could ever leave a star.  As we all know, that is not is always the case as it happens all the time.  Fortune can change on the dime and often people caught up in the middle of the mix do not always see the writing on the wall.  This statement sets the framework for the analysis of "The Norma Desmond Syndrome."

I am analyzing several situations currently that are fascinating studies in human dynamics and the unwillingness and/or inability to assess the pendulum's swing.  Why is it so hard to not address a problem in an honest or forthright matter?  Because of overly-permissive new norms where consequences no longer exist, everyone's behavior has been psychologically affected (and exasperated by the Covid Pandemic) to a point where we have unfortunately come to accept and expect less-than-excellent products and service delivery in all sectors without an environment that fosters and recognizes superior quality.  This is most apparent in the new generations of workers who are coming to market with an entitlement mentality rather than the spirit that value of hard work delivers untold happiness and unexpected joy from making something that is good into great!

In my research on regaining a foothold on expectation for excellence, I've been watching three entities grapple with major issues of perception: A) a well-known restaurant; B) a storied non-profit; and C) a professional services firm.  In each case, the audience and interest for each has shifted tremendously to a point where all of them have a solitary choice: figure out a new path OR become extinct.  Each example is guilty of one similar characteristic: they're all acting like Norma and refuse to evolve and accept positive change.

These scenarios are not uncommon by any cadence as it is human nature to deflect and ignore rather than to innovate and do the heavy lifting.  A call to action would be for everyone to look under our collective hoods and approach life with a little more verve and intention to create sustainable results for a bright future.

Luxury Is No Longer Relevant

 

Yes . . . it is true.  "Luxury" as a term has had its day in the Court of Good Taste, and is convicted on all counts of lacking relevance to the consumer of today.  While my magazine REGENCY will discuss how to approach alternatives in its next issue, the one thought we can all collectively do is ponder how we've strayed so far from the special and unique to something of no significance whatsoever.

 

While it has been an eight-year project for both me and my colleagues since really renouncing the term for use in describing the services and products we represent, it is a good time for reclaim the concept for appropriate use with the client.  Stay tuned for additional info . . .