Author: Katina Manko
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190499842
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 305
Get Book Here
Book Description
The Avon Lady acquired iconic status in twentieth century American culture. This first history of Avon tells the story of a direct sales company that was both a giant in its industry and a kitchen-table entrepreneurial venture. With their distinctive greeting at the homes across the country--Ding Dong! Avon Calling!--sales ladies brought door-to-door sales of makeup, perfume, and other products to American women beginning in 1886. Working for the company enabled women to earn money on the side and even become financially independent in a respectable profession while selling Avon's wares to friends, family, and neighborhood networks. Ding Dong! Avon Calling! is the story of women and entrepreneurship, and of an innovative corporation largely managed by men that empowered women to exploit networks of other women and their community for profit. Founded in the late nineteenth century, Avon grew into a massive international direct sales company in which millions of "ambassadors of beauty" sat in their customers' living rooms with a sample case, catalogue, and a conversational sales pitch. Avon was unique in American business history for its reliance on women as representatives, promising them not just sales positions, but a chance to have a business of their own. Being an Avon Lady avoided the stigma that was often attached to middle-class women's work outside the home and enabled women to maintain the delicate balance of work and family. Drawing for the first time on company records she helped acquire for archives, Katina Manko illuminates Avon's inner workings, uncovers the lives of its representatives, and shows how women slowly rose into the company's middle and upper management. Avon called itself "The Company for Women" and championed its high flyers, but its higher echelons remained dominated by men well into the 1990s. Avon is more than perfumes and toiletries, but a brand built on women knocking on doors and chatting up neighbors. It thrived for more than a century through the deceptively simple technique of women directly selling beauty to women at home.
Author: Delores Musante Gensch
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 9780738504223
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 132
Get Book Here
Book Description
Embraced by Sylvan Lake on the north, Shark River on the south, and the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Avon-by-the-Sea has always been synonymous with sandy beaches, great surfing, swimming, fishing, and panoramic views of its waters. Founded in the late nineteenth century by a tobacco industrialist, Avon-by-the-Sea became a resort by the early twentieth century. By restricting expansion early, the founders made sure that their "virtual utopia" would forever remain a small seaside community. Avon-by-the-Sea is the ideal pictorial history for this model community. With over two hundred images, primarily gathered from dozens of local residents, very little of the town's rich past escapes attention. This lively history includes a full chapter on the Avon Inn, the best-known and certainly best-loved guesthouse in the town's history. Throughout this intriguing reminiscence, Avon-by-the-Sea recaptures life on the waterfront, including the boardwalk, the Pavilion, and of course the beach.
Author: Laura Klepacki
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118040384
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 297
Get Book Here
Book Description
A Winning Formula for Selling to Women Around the World Avon has come a long way since handing out its first perfume sample back in 1886. The company, long famous for ringing customer doorbells, is now the world's largest direct sales organization—with almost five million representatives in more than 140 countries. AVON: Building the World's Premier Company for Women is the first book ever to show how this cosmetics juggernaut achieved such incredible success, while revealing secrets any business can use to effectively market products of all kinds—especially to women. Through this entertaining journey, you'll not only learn the colorful Avon story, but also see how every company, big or small, can benefit from its unique approach to sales and product development. "By providing women with an unlimited opportunity for career success, Avon harnessed the power of a committed sales force to win customers and grow the business. The company's success story is testimony to the importance of focusing on your core business while recognizing the changes taking place with your customers and the environment." —Mary Sammons, President and CEO, Rite Aid Corporation "The book is an excellent primer on how to successfully make alternative forms of distribution work." —Allen Burke, Director of Merchandising, QVC, Inc. "The author's incisive revelations . . . capture the extraordinary personalities and entrepreneurial strategies of one of America's most spellbinding success stories." —Annette Green, President Emeritus, The Fragrance Foundation
Author: Monica Lynn Clements
Publisher: Schiffer Book for Collectors
ISBN: 9780764305238
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Get Book Here
Book Description
Avon has been a major supplier of costume jewelry since the 1970s and much is found in collectibles markets today. This guide has 450 color photos and current values for more than a thousand pieces including popular holiday creations, replicas of historic masterpieces, men's watches, children's charms, novelty wear, perfumed pins and more.
Author: Rebecca Brandewyne
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780380768325
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 420
Get Book Here
Book Description
A selection of four stories of romance, passion, and the supernatural includes tales of a vampire and a governess, an altruistic witch, and a ghostly protector
Author: Parris A. Bonds
Publisher: Fawcett
ISBN: 9780449125397
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 312
Get Book Here
Book Description
Author: Peter J. Wright
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1439624046
Category : Photography
Languages : en
Pages : 100
Get Book Here
Book Description
Once known as Northington, a northern parish of Farmington, Avon was incorporated in 1830 after the construction of the Farmington Canal. Located at the juncture of the Albany Turnpike, the Farmington Canal, and later the Farmington Canal Railroad, Avon became a transportation and commercial center of considerable importance through the 19th century. Avon Historical Society board member Peter J. Wright, with an introduction from town historian Nora O. Howard, illustrates Avons past and present in vintage and contemporary images.
Author: Michelle M. Budzinski-Braunscheidel
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 9780738533186
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 134
Get Book Here
Book Description
In 1814, Wilbur Cahoon led a group of pioneers to the French Creek, near Lake Erie. They decided to settle at this spot, as the creek could provide them with fresh water and power their sawmills and gristmills. Other businesses began to develop, and a town was born. At first called Xeuma, and later Troy, the town blossomed into an agricultural center. In 1824, Lorain County was created, and the town's name was changed to Avon. Prosperous citizens of the 1850s and 1860s built beautiful homes and buildings. In later years, Avon survived the creation and demise of the trolley and interurban line, the closure of the wineries during prohibition, the draining effects of the Great Depression, and the loss of life in the World Wars. Today, Avon remains strong and continues to grow. Many of her century-old homes still stand in the midst of new developments, as a reminder of Avonites' ongoing tradition of hard work and perseverance, which has made Avon the great place to live that it is today.
Author: Deborrah Himsel
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 1137437782
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 242
Get Book Here
Book Description
Andrea Jung, the glamorous former head of Avon, was arguably the world's most charismatic and effective CEO, credited with the astonishing turnaround of the venerable brand. Avon's board was filled with tough-minded, successful CEOs and other high achievers, but when Jung walked into a room wearing her Chanel suit, custom- blended lipstick and signature pearls, every head turned and she had them eating out of her hand. She seemed incapable of making a wrong move, until, amid declining sales, an investigation by the SEC, and a brand in crisis she stepped down in late 2012. In Beauty Queen, former Avon VP Deborrah Himsel uses Jung's story as a case study for two timeless leadership questions: What makes great leaders great? And what makes them fail? She explores both Jung's early years of success as well as the combination of missteps that led to her downfall, including her failure to nurture Avon's direct selling channel, the erosion of trust that occurred as a result of frequent decision reversals, and her ignorance of operational details, including how her people secured a license to conduct door-to-door sales in China, that led to a federal investigation. Through interviews with other CEOs, Avon executives past and present, and leadership experts, Hiimsel explores the unique challenges Jung faced as a female Fortune 500 CEO; the thin line between pride and hubris; and the danger of the so-called "halo effect" in our high-stakes times.
Author: Robin Williams
Publisher: Peachpit Press
ISBN: 0132797771
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 587
Get Book Here
Book Description
It is long overdue that someone took a closer look at the brilliant Mary Sidney. I have a suspicion that Mary Sidney’s life, and especially her dedication to the English language after her brother’s death, may throw important light on the mysterious authorship of the Shakespeare plays and poems. —Mark Rylance Actor; Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, 1996–2006; Chairman of the Shakespearean Authorship Trust For more than two hundred years, a growing number of researchers have questioned whether the man named William Shakespeare actually wrote the works attributed to him. There is no paper trail for William Shakespeare—no record that he was ever paid for writing, nothing in his handwriting but a few signatures on legal documents, no evidence of his presence in the royal court except as an actor in his later years, no confirmation of his involvement in the literary circles of the time. With so little information about this man—and even less evidence connecting him to the plays and sonnets—what can and what can’t we assume about the author of the greatest works of the English language? For the first time, Robin P. Williams presents an in-depth inquiry into the possibility that Mary Sidney Herbert, the Countess of Pembroke, wrote the works attributed to the man named William Shakespeare. As well educated as Queen Elizabeth I, this woman was at the forefront of the literary movement in England, yet not allowed to write for the public stage. But that’s just the beginning . . . The first question I am asked by curious freshmen in my Shakespeare course is always, “Who wrote these plays anyway?” Now, because of Robin Williams’ rigorous scholarship and artful sleuthing, Mary Sidney Herbert will forever have to be mentioned as a possible author of the Shakespeare canon. Sweet Swan of Avon doesn’t pretend to put the matter to rest, but simply shows how completely reasonable the authorship controversy is, and how the idea of a female playwright surprisingly answers more Shakespearean conundrums than it creates... —Cynthia Lee Katona Professor of Shakespeare and Women’s Studies, Ohlone College; Author of Book Savvy
