BOOM! COVER PROFILE
Sue Groce, Knows How to Catch the Big One! This month’s BOOM! profile is Sue Groce. Sue is a retired Dillard’s Store Manager, loves deep sea fishing, teaching philanthropy to children, fashion consultant with Carlisle, grandmother and volunteer at MACOA. And if she were part of a previous generation she’d most likely be in a rocking chair, but she’s part of our generation and she loves living in the moment. We were introduced to Sue through Sandi Aplin of Gallery One Fine Arts and when we shared a conversation with Sue for this month’s Cover Profile we had to catch our breath just to keep up with her. She’s energetic and involved. A good model for the aging process. We hope you’ll enjoy the experience of getting to know Sue, we certainly did! BOOM!: Please give me a brief biography, i.e. where you’re from, education, what brought you to the Montgomery area, did you raise your family here, schools, married family, etc. Sue: Born at St. Margaret’s Hospital and raised in Montgomery, Alabama. I have three older brothers, Bernie, Clyde and Jack Herring. My father and mother were both Civil Service employees at Maxwell Air Force Base. My father was a Base Administrator and my mother was a secretary. We lived in west Montgomery on the Old Selma Road where I developed childhood friends from that area and we are still, to this day BFFs. After graduating from Sidney Lanier High School in 1967, I attended Troy University for one year and then transferred to Auburn University earning my B.S. in Clothing, Textiles and Retailing. While at Auburn, I completed my retailing internship at Montgomery Fair, which became Gayfers and is now Dillard’s. After graduation, I accepted the position of Department Manager with Gayfers and within a year was promoted to Junior Sportswear Buyer. In 1973, Larry, a Troy University football player from the 1968 NAIA National Championship Team, was shopping at Gayfers. We had met while I was a student at Troy, we were both in the right place at the right time that day and married in 1974. In 1980 we were blessed with our son, Hunter. We celebrated our 40th anniversary this past January.
14 BOOM!
August 2014
RiverRegionBoom.com
Sue with a BIG Amberjack
BOOM!: You worked in the Gayfers/Dillards Department Store for 30 years and retired as a store manager, what was that experience like? Since many of your responsibilities included fashion, how would you assess the fashion world for women over 50+? Sue: My job was awesome! It was so rewarding and just plain fun. As a buyer for the store, I had an opportunity to travel to New York and see the fashion trends. Working with customers, store associates and management teams, at times, it was tedious and looking back, such a growth period of my career. One of my fondest career memories was in 1977, Roger Ciskie was our store manager and under his leadership, we opened the Gayfers Department Store in the
brand new Eastdale Mall. This was a very exciting time for retailers as more women were entering the work force and were in need of professional attire. Eastdale Mall positioned itself as the place to shop for cutting edge fashion for men and women. This is when the Montgomery growth began to move east. In the early 1980’s, I was promoted to Divisional Ladies Sportswear Merchandising Manager at Gayfer’s Montgomery Mall, the corporate office for the Montgomery Gayfer’s Group of six stores. In the early 1990’s, I was back to Eastdale as the store manager. While at Eastdale, Merchantile Stores, the parent company of Gayfers, was acquired by Dillard’s. Approximately a year later, I was transferred to Dillards in Montgomery Mall as store manager. This is where I worked the last four years before retirement. My husband is a Financial Advisor with Morgan Stanley. He has helped me so much, by encouraging me to accept the challenges I was offered along the way. His support is so valuable and he has continued to help me make difficult decisions as I traveled down my own career path. After fourteen years of retirement, with his support, I am so excited about being back in the fashion world as an Associate with Sandi Aplin and Margaret Bentley, our District Manager, representing the Carlisle Collection NY. As far as fashion for women over 50, I believe many women develop their own special style over time. They know exactly what they want and more than that, what makes them feel good, such as color, jacket length, skirt length and quality. Women today are busier than
The River Region’s 50+ Lifestage Magazine