Jack Mitchell

Jack Mitchell is Chairman and CEO of Mitchells/Richards/Marshs, a three-generation family business that operates men’s and women’s specialty stores in Connecticut and New York that are nationally renowned for their brilliant service touches and strong relationships. Jack himself has been recognized as one of the top ten retail visionaries of his time by the Daily News Record, one of the most widely read retail trade publications in the country. 

The author of the 2003 Wall Street Journal bestseller Hug Your Customers, Jack has just completed his second book, HUG YOUR PEOPLE:  The Proven Way to Hire, Inspire, and Recognize Your Employees to Achieve Remarkable Results which Hyperion will publish in March 2008.

After completing a B.A. at Wesleyan University in 1961 and an M.A. at the University of California-Berkeley, Jack joined the family business, Ed Mitchell, Inc., which was founded by his parents, Ed and Norma, and later became Mitchells of Westport.  In 1995, Mitchells acquired Richards, the leading men’s clothing store in Greenwich, Connecticut, and in 2006, added Marshs of Huntington, Long Island, to the group.

Growing up in a close-knit family and raising four sons established patterns of thoughtfulness and caring in Jack that blended seamlessly into serving the public in the retail clothing business.  Under his leadership, Mitchells, Richards, and Marshs have become well known for employee engagement and longevity and providing exceptional customer service and high quality merchandise in an exciting, friendly, and visually dynamic atmosphere.

In 2000, Richards received “Store of the Year” honors in the annual Retail Design Awards competition held by the National Association of Store Fixtures (NASFM) and co-sponsored by VM SD magazine.  In 2001, MR Magazine, the magazine of menswear retailing, named Mitchells/Richards Retailer of the Year.

In addition to running the retail stores with his brother, Jack has become an active speaker, keynoting at events for corporations including Morgan Stanley, Build-A-Bear, Payless, Nike, and Harvard University School of Business.  

Jack shares with his family a number of Community Leadership Awards from the Anti-Defamation League, The Menswear Division of UJA-Federation of New York, and Sacred Heart University. Jack is on the Yale Cancer Board and Greenwich Hospital Board of Trustees.

MOST REQUESTED TOPICS:
Hug Your Customers
The Proven Way to Personalize Sales & Achieve Astounding Results
(Based on his best-selling book) Customers are the very core of any business, and Jack Mitchell knows how to attract them and how to keep them. His winning approach to customer service is simple - there is a relationship at the heart of every transaction. Jack shares with audiences his business philosophy based on "hugs"-personal touches that impress and satisfy customers. His dynamic, anecdotal presentation, shows you how to adapt his hugging philosophy to your business to attract a great staff, lower marketing costs, and maintain high gross margins and long-term revenues. At a time when customer service is the difference between success and failure, Jack's one-of-a-kind philosophy brings the results you're looking for.

Hug Your People
In a day and time when social networking is the hottest buzz word and “relationships” are things that can happen virtually, author and CEO Jack Mitchell is committed to bringing back the human connection to our business and our lives.  In his new book, Hug Your People: The Proven Way to Hire, Inspire, and Recognize Your Employees and Achieve Remarkable Results (Hyperion; hardcover; March 4, 2008), he looks closely at how relationships drive successful businesses and offers a road map for keeping them alive in today’s companies.