Anecdotes from Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf Goodman
by Sara James Mnookin

“Mrs. Kennedy — well, she was Mrs. Onassis by then — would walk down Fifth Avenue from her apartment to come here. She would wear an old, beat-up raincoat so that no one would recognize her on the street. But she still couldn’t eat at the restaurant. We’d have to serve her in the fitting room, so she wouldn’t be bothered.” — Dawn Mello, Former President

“I did my internship at Bergdorf Goodman when I was a student at FIT…. I was a Christmas angel not long after I started. These were young girls who would stand at the front of the store and people — usually gentlemen — would come in and give you their shopping lists. And you would say, ‘I’m your Christmas angle. How can I help you?’ That wouldn’t be very PC today.”
— Candy Pratts Price, Vogue.com, Creative Director

“When I worked at Bergdorf Goodman as copy chief, Gloria Swanson once came into the store. She was wearing a leopard hat and a leopard coat and she was, almost, like a leopard. She just had a catlike walk and all the doormen and elevator men…they were just aghast.”
— George Malkemus, Chief Executive Officer, Manolo Blahnik