Shopping for the Stars
By Bill Spring
When shopping for holiday gifts, do you struggle to come up with something, anything, that will please that "person who has everything"?
Well, just imagine the challenges that face Marnie Lerner. On a daily basis, she must find presents that will delight and impress A-list celebrities accustomed to being pampered. Together with business partner Cynde Cassel, Lerner runs Star Treatment, a Los Angeles-based personal-shopping service that specializes in talent-appreciation gifts for the film and TV industry.
While in high school, L.A. native Lerner worked as a free-lance entertainment writer for her father's Spanish-language magazine company, Latin Publications. Covering movie junkets and premieres, she saw celebs treated like royalty. "I definitely got the sense of the excess," she says. "You can see how the celebrities are ushered around from event to event with kid gloves."
After college, Lerner went back to reporting for her father's company. The low pay was definitely a frustration, but Lerner's chief problem was working on her own. "I wanted something that was more of a group environment," she says. As for what this new job might be, Lerner didn't know. "I had no idea what I wanted to do."
In December 1995, Lerner's father dropped an interesting project in her lap. "(Latin Publications) is fueled by the big movie ads," says Lerner, "and they wanted to send something out to the agencies and the marketing people to thank them for a great year." Lerner and Cassel, who had been a personal shopper for Bloomingdale's, were tasked with putting together over 100 thank-you gifts for advertisers.
Happy to have an important and creative assignment, the two women brainstormed, pitched ideas to the boss and went shopping. They ended up turning one of the company's offices into a gift-basket workshop, where they put the final touches on their creations. "It was the most fun I had had working for a long time," says Lerner.
In January 1996, emboldened by rave reviews on the baskets, Lerner sold Cassel on the idea of moonlighting as personal gift shoppers. She came up with the name Star Treatment to suggest that everyone deserves special high-end gifts, but the moniker would take on new meaning once the primary client base became Hollywood itself. Starting with the idea of treating normal people like stars, Lerner ended up creating gift packages for the hottest stars in movies and TV.
It did not happen overnight. Still working their day jobs, Lerner and Cassel hit the pavement and the phones throughout that first year. Trying to sell gift baskets at office buildings, Lerner found little success.
The turning point came when they got a call from an executive at Universal whom they had been bugging with calls and gifts. The studio was starting production on "Snow Falling on Cedars," and needed gifts to welcome the cast to the film's cold location.
"We put together these leather suitcases with cashmere sweaters for the women and wool sweaters for the guys," Lerner says. Some of the packages also included engraved silver flasks and picture frames. The high-end items were a huge hit. "We definitely went forward from there," Lerner says.
With word of mouth spreading, Lerner and Cassel decided to let go of their day jobs.
"We went to a private lender to borrow money," Lerner remembers, "and we started out renting warehouse space in the back of another office."
After a year and a half, the company moved into its own 5,000-square-foot office space. They now have about seven year-round employees, and hire temps to help out during peak gift season.
Today, Star Treatment is the go-to company for Hollywood "suits" who need to keep celebrities happy with extravagant gifts.
Finding the right gift idea is sometimes difficult, however. Some clients require Lerner to pitch dozens of concepts, while others trust her judgment implicitly. On rare occasions, Lerner has surfed the Web for insights into a celebrity's life. Tommy Lee Jones, who has the reputation of having very selective tastes, proved a challenge, as did Harrison Ford.
But despite the occasional "stumper" and the normal pressures of running a business, there are quite a few thrills.
"I always like shopping for George Clooney," says Lerner, sounding a bit like a woman with a crush, "and Cynde has had a good time doing gifts for Julia Roberts, because we get to do clothes and jewelry, and that kind of thing."
Star Treatments is not just for stars or corporations. Anyone can click onto the company Web site and either make use of its personal shopping services or buy pre-made baskets.
Meanwhile, Lerner is getting a little restless, and looking for the "next big thing" in business and life.
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