John Peterman speaks Wednesday during Commerce Lexington's second annual EMERGE conference.
Local retail entrepreneur and “Seinfeld” inspiration John Peterman talked about his life in business Wednesday at Lexington Center during Commerce Lexington’s second annual EMERGE conference.
Peterman, taking the stage in his trademark duster and wide-brim hat (which he quickly abandoned), detailed his rise from marketing consultant for a brand of beer cheese to founding his iconic clothing catalog, which he built into a $75 million-per-year behemoth before losing it to bankruptcy and then regaining control of the company several years ago.
“I never wanted to work for anybody,” Peterman said. “I’ll work with anybody, but I don’t want to work for anyone.”
Peterman also talked about the amazing, if bizarre, effect of having his persona adopted and twisted by writers for the classic 1990s sitcom “Seinfeld,” where “J. Peterman” was played with bombastic and obtuse hilarity by actor John O’Hurley.
“I thought, 50 million people are going to hear the company name?” Peterman said, summing up his reaction to the somewhat unflattering portrayal of him and his company.
Attendees also took part in various work sessions and heard later from keynote speaker Kathleen Stiller Rikleen, author of “You Raised Us, Now Work With Us -- Millennials in the Workplace.”