The Mori Mix

Jean Mori studies the blueprints before him with excitement. This is the part of the business he likes best. Breaking new ground. Building something from nothing. The plans laid out on the simple wooden table in his office are for his 19th and 20th stores. The Nashville, Tenn., stores, opened in April, are the newest entries in his retail roster of luggage and gift shops across the Southeast.

Mori's penchant for expansion has served him well: Geographic diversity has proven a buffer from recession. Together with expert product management, a solid market niche and a businesslike approach to the sometimes egocentric world of retailing, new locations and the networking possibilities they present have allowed Mori to experience an average annual growth rate of 20 percent.

That success is the exception to the norm in today's retail environment. The decision by Macy's to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy may be more typical of retailers' plights after struggling through two sub-par Christmas seasons and continuing to be affected adversely by low consumer confidence in the economy. Mori Luggage & Gifts, however, survived these tough times through management and marketing practices that allow it flexiblity in a rapidly changing marketplace.

Mori entered retailing on the rebound from a career crisis. A graduate of Georgia Tech, with interests in engineering and computers, his early business success was tied to the meteoric rise of Management Science America (MSA). When MSA became overextended and filed for bankruptcy in 1970, Mori fell back on his family's retailing roots. His father owned a retail business in Jackson, Miss., carrying items--luggage, leather goods and home accessories--not unlike Mori's merchandise mix today.

The first Mori store opened its doors at Northlake Mall on Oct. 7, 1971. What followed during the next several years is as much a story of Atlanta's growth and mushrooming mall scenes as it is of Mori's success. As Lenox Square, Perimeter, Cumberland and Southlake malls broke ground or expanded, mall managers courted Mori to become part of their retail-tenant mix. Downtown and Peachtree Battle locations followed, and by 1978, Mori was looking to expand beyond Atlanta.

The result is a $12 million company and growing name recognition. The geographic diversity gives Mori an edge in riding the waves of economic...