- Peter L. Harris
Peter L. Harris is a prominent
retailer with an illustrious career, who now serves as a consultant to retailers around the country.Biographical Information
Harris was an early
baby boomer born onDecember 17 ,1943 inStockton, California into a middle classJew ish family. He is married with three children.Career
Peter Harris began his career in the Central Valley of California stocking shelves at
Gemco . He became theChief Executive Officer of the company 13 years later. Under his leadership, Gemco achieved $2.2 billion in sales - the peak for the company.In 1985 Harris became an investor partner at a troubled
FAO Schwartz . There, he turned around the company to become a leading and world-renowned toy leader with an emphasis on the customer's experience in the store and exclusive, quality toys. Notable features were the characters around the store, a singing clock, and a friendly teddy bear outside stores. It is often said that his time at FAO was the peak of the company, and toy industry.His time at FAO left a lasting mark on the retail industry, as he invented the concept of "entertainment retail." Entertainment retail is the philosophy that the costumer should have an experience while in the store, a personal interaction between consumer and retailer. The effects of his time at FAO can be seen most directly at
Toys "R" Us inNew York where aFerris wheel is available for the costumers' amusement.Harris' career continued at
video game company Accolade and then Picture People until it was sold toHallmark Cards . Harris employed the entertainment retail philosophy here too, where photographers would where fun, spin hats and children could play with a giant camera.In July 2000, new owner-representative of the
San Francisco 49ers ,John York , hired Peter Harris to replaceCarmen Policy as CEO. Harris stayed for a four years but did not renew his contract. In his short time with team, he jumpstarted the process of building a new stadium, an effort never completed.In 2004 Harris was named the CEO of leading boat-supplier
West Marine inWatsonville, California , and remained there until he resigned in December 2007. Currently, Harris serves on multiple boards around theSilicon Valley and is a respected consultant for retailers. [ [http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/071210/20071210006345.html?.v=1 Geoff Eisenberg Succeeds Peter Harris As President and Chief Executive Officer of West Marine: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance ] ]Trivia
*In the
Tom Hanks film "Big " the toy-company owner MacMillan, played byRobert Loggia , is based on Harris. The character is portrayed as fun, eccentric, and youthful - words often descriptive of Harris. [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094737/trivia Big (1988) - Trivia ] ]
*AttendedWhittier College , where he played center on the football team, and was acatcher for thebaseball team. He went on to play AAA baseball. Inhigh school , he lettered 6 times (forbasketball , football, and baseball).References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.