Hortense McQuarrie Odlum (July 1891 – January 12, 1970) was the first woman president of

Bonwit Teller Bonwit Teller & Co. was an American luxury department store in New York City, New York, founded by Paul Bonwit in 1895 at Sixth Avenue and 18th Street, and later a chain of department stores. In 1897, Edmund D. Teller was admitted to the par ...

Department Store in

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and the first wife of

financier An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Type ...

Floyd Odlum Floyd Bostwick Odlum (March 30, 1892 – June 17, 1976) was an American lawyer and industrialist. He has been described as "possibly the only man in the United States who made a great fortune out of the Depression". Life and career After strug ...

Biography

Hortense McQuarrie was born in St. George,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, the daughter of Ella Carr (Gardner) and Hector Allen McQuarrie. She married Floyd Odlum when he was a law clerk. They moved to New York City when he accepted a position with a New York law firm in 1916. Mr. Odlum became president of

Atlas Corporation The Atlas Corporation is an American investment firm that was formed in 1928. Atlas invested in and managed a number of major US companies during the 20th century and has a number of investments in natural resources. History Atlas corporation wa ...

, which took over Bonwit Teller in 1934. Mr. Odlum appointed his wife as president. She always maintained: :"I was forced to take the job." The store was confronted with enormous financial problems bordering on bankruptcy. However, within her first two years, the volume of business doubled, and during the third it tripled. She made major rearrangements of boutiques and salons, introduced a bright, cheerful

decor Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordina ...

and focused on customer relations. She once said: :"I worked like a

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. But I never intended to stay. I'm out now and the whole thing leaves me cold." Divorced from Odlum in 1935, she next married Dr. Porfirio Dominici, but that marriage was annulled in 1938. After six years as Bonwit's president she retired in 1940, but served as chairman from 1940–1944. She said "dollars and cents will never mean much to me except as evidence of customer approval." She also stressed in her words: "high class, but not high hat." When asked about her business experience: "I got mine in the hardest of schools. For nearly 12 years, I ...was just a customer." After retirement she proclaimed, "I want to go back and be what I really am – just the typical customer who has found a store she loves to shop in." Her sister's son was the actor Robert Hudson Walker. She offered to finance his studies at the prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. He stayed in her home during his first year there.

Publications

Her book about her life experiences and in particular becoming president of Bonwit Teller, '' A Woman's Place'', was published in 1939.

References

* "Mrs. Odlum: Bonwit Teller's Chief Began Work 2 Years Ago", ''Newsweek Magazine'', October 20, 1934. * Odlum, Hortense McQuarrie. "Let's Talk Shop", ''The Reader's Digest'', condensed from ''The American Magazine'', January 1939. * "Hortense Odlum of Bonwit Teller: Head of Store Here From 1934– 1944 is Dead", Obituary: ''New York Times'', January 13, 1970. {{DEFAULTSORT:Odlum, Hortense 1891 births 1970 deaths Businesspeople from New York City People from St. George, Utah 20th-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from Utah 20th-century American businesswomen