John Schumacher, former chief executive officer of Bonwit Teller and president of I. Magnin in the 1970s, died early Friday evening at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach. Schumacher was 94.
According to his wife Barbara Cirkva, the former division president of fashion, watches and fine jewelry for Chanel, the cause of her husband’s death is to be determined, but for the past several months he had been losing weight and stopped leaving his home.
“He was feisty. He lived well and was fun to be with,” Cirkva told WWD. “John loved to go out and socialize, but when he didn’t feel he could anymore, he just didn’t want to.”
Schumacher’s career in retailing began at Lord & Taylor as a service manager in the millinery department and later a footwear buyer. “He always liked to tell people that he started as a slipper buyer,” Cirkva recalled.
“I knew John since his I. Magnin days, when I was working at Neiman Marcus. I’d see him at all the fashion shows in Europe and New York,” said Neal Fox, former CEO of Mark Cross, Sulka, and the Garfinckel’s and Raleigh’s store chains. “John was an interesting guy. He had this definite flair. He was most interested in restaurants and travel.”
In fact, he encouraged Fox and his wife Martha to visit Capri, Italy, essentially introducing the couple to the island. “The first time we went, we all stayed at the same hotel.”
Schumacher had a meteoric retail career, quickly climbing the ranks of Lord & Taylor to senior vice president and general merchandise manager before joining the San Francisco-based I. Magnin, first as executive vice president before becoming president.
“It was an interesting time in fashion,” said Sonja Caproni, who was a buyer and later fashion director at I. Magnin working with Schumacher. Designers were emerging and Saint Laurent was very established, but not at I. Magnin until Schumacher felt it was important to include the French designer in the mix. “Saint Laurent instantly became a huge business for us, and John had us opening boutiques,” in various I. Magnin stores including Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco.
“John was quick to respond to things,” Caproni said. “He was very determined and competitive but for the right reasons. He always kept the store first and foremost in mind. He wanted I. Magnin to be the best on the West Coast, and I’m sure he mentored a lot of people along the way.”
Eventually, Schumacher was recruited to become chairman and CEO of Bonwit Teller in New York by the store’s parent company Genesco. During his tenure at Bonwit’s, Schumacher improved the store’s profitability and sales and kept a tight rein on expenses while also spending to renovate stores and install designer shops for a boutique-like ambience. However, after two years on the job, he was ousted over allegations by Genesco that he misused company funds for personal use. Bonwit Teller, I. Magnin and Lord & Taylor are no longer in business.
After his abrupt departure from retail, Schumacher joined M. Ferrari, a maker of Italian women’s clothes. A gourmet cook, he left the retail/fashion industry to become a restaurateur, launching La Colonna on 19th Street in Manhattan in the mid-1980s.
“John wanted the restaurant to be as Italian as it could be,” Cirkva said. “He brought over from Italy the chefs and sous chefs and found them apartments near the restaurant.”
She said he also hired Italian artists to paint the walls of the La Colonna. They used the eruption of Mount Vesuvius as the motif and also got “playful,” as Cirkva recalled, with some depictions of the erotica lifestyle of ancient Pompeii. Schumacher’s next restaurant venture was Q.V. on 63rd Street. In yet another business venture, Schumacher and Cirkva became co-owners of a gardens antique shop in Mount Kisco, N.Y., called Fleur.
Schumacher’s body will be cremated and his ashes flown to New York, where Cirkva plans to hold a reception honoring her husband, most likely in September, she said.
In addition to his wife, Schumacher is survived by three daughters: Victoria Schumacher, Lisa Sumner and Pamela Schumacher; a grandson Christopher Dungan, and a sister, Carol Dougherty.
