Thursday, Aug. 28, 2003

10. Alla Verber

By Lauren Goldstein

Alla Verber is a woman who knows what she wants. On this hot July morning in Paris, that would be three electric-green Lanvin dresses. And no, she does not want them in rust or peach. "If you give a client too many choices, it's confusing," she says.

By lunchtime Verber will have bought some $87,000 worth of Lanvin goods (with a retail value of about $236,000). It's a sizable amount for a brand in the midst of a turnaround like Lanvin but mere peanuts to Verber, vice president of Mercury, a Moscow-based Russian retail company that has recently become known as a savior of sorts in the fashion world. Brands like Gucci, Prada and Chanel are partnering with Mercury to open outlets in Russia, and the country is one of the few bright spots in the global economic gloom of the last few seasons. But Verber is even more valuable to the fashion world this year: in October, Mercury will try its hand at department stores. TsUM, a vestige of Russia's communist past, is one of two major stores that were owned and operated by the government (from 1917 to 1992 in TsUM's case). Mercury's owners, Leonid Friedland and Leonid Strunin, bought the controlling share of TsUM last November, and are in the process of giving the 377,000-sq.-ft. store a massive makeover and expanding it by more than 100,000 sq. ft. Verber is in charge of filling those revamped floors with goods, and industry insiders estimate that she has more money to spend than her counterparts at any other store in the world. But in this case dollars do not necessarily buy respect. In fact, it took a lot of nagging to get many in fashion's highest ranks to meet with Verber at all. She has got tale after tale of unanswered faxes, of being left waiting for hours in hotel lobbies or being sent away with remarks like "Russia is so far away!" A spokesman from Ralph Lauren, a brand that has yet to sell to Verber, says, "Russia is definitely part of our European business-development plan. We strongly believe that this market represents a potential growth for the company, but we have to ensure the proper establishment of the brand in the appropriate locations."

It will take more than a fashionista's cold shoulder to dissuade Verber. She left St. Petersburg in 1976 when she was only 18 and made her way to Rome and Toronto, working in boutiques and other fashion-related jobs, before returning to Russia to join Mercury.

"In 1994 I tried to open every door," Verber says. "People were afraid to sell to me. They thought I would spoil their image. I had to show them I was professional." She got most of the top brands she was after but not without compromise. "We're Russian," she says. "We pay in advance." There are plenty of others she still dreams of carrying (note to Ralph Lauren and St. John), but perhaps not for long. --By Lauren Goldstein