Wild Company
The Untold Story of Banana Republic
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Narrated by:
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George Newbern
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Elisabeth Rodgers
About this listen
With $1,500 and no business experience, Mel and Patricia Ziegler turned a wild idea into a company that would become the international retail colossus Banana Republic. Reimagining military surplus as safari and expedition wear, the former journalist and artist created a world that captured the zeitgeist for a generation and spoke to the creativity, adventure, and independence in everyone.
In a book that's honest, funny, and charming, Mel and Patricia tell in alternating voices how they upended business conventions and survived on their wits and imagination. Many retail and fashion merchants still consider Banana Republic's early heyday to be one of the most remarkable stories in fashion and business history. The couple detail how, as "professional amateurs", they developed the wildly original merchandise and marketing innovations that broke all retail records and produced what has been acclaimed by industry professionals to be "the best catalog of all time".
A love story wrapped in a business adventure, Wild Company is a soulful, inspiring tale for listeners determined to create their own destinies with passion for life, work, and fun.
©2016 Mel and Patricia Ziegler (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Story
Instructive as it is innovative, Unlabel will empower you to channel your creativity, find the courage to defy convention, and summon the confidence to act and compete in any environment. This blueprint will teach you how to grow both creatively and commercially by testing your personal brand against the principles of the Authenticity Formula. Marc Eckō shares the bruising mistakes and remarkable triumphs that reveal the truth behind his success, growing from a misfit kid airbrushing T-shirts in his parents' garage to the bold creator of two hugely successful branded platforms.
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...So Real, It Should Be Illegal
- By 2Fresh on 01-20-16
By: Marc Ecko
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The Wizard of Ads
- Turning Words into Magic and Dreamers into Millionaires
- By: Roy H. Williams
- Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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With the knowledge of a seasoned business consultant and the warmth and wit of a natural storyteller, the Wizard will help you to multiply the effectiveness of your advertising, understand the tug-of-war between intellect and emotion, and more.
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If you have a hard time hearing don't waste your time
- By Michelle J on 01-09-17
By: Roy H. Williams
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Ametora
- How Japan Saved American Style
- By: W. David Marx
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Look closely at any typically "American" article of clothing these days, and you may be surprised to see a Japanese label inside. From high-end denim to oxford button-downs, Japanese designers have taken the classic American look - known as ametora, or "American traditional" - and turned it into a huge business for companies like Uniqlo, Kamakura Shirts, Evisu, and Kapital. This phenomenon is part of a long dialogue between Japanese and American fashion.
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You must read for anyone interested in Japanese and American style
- By Spencer Jackson on 01-23-22
By: W. David Marx
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My Mrs. Brown
- A Novel
- By: William Norwich
- Narrated by: Angela Brazil
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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When the grand dame of Ashville passes away, Mrs. Brown is called upon to inventory her estate and comes across a dress that changes everything. This isn't a Cinderella confection; it's a simple yet exquisitely tailored Oscar de la Renta sheath and jacket - a suit that, Mrs. Brown realizes with startling clarity, will say everything she has ever wished to convey. She must have it. And so Mrs. Brown begins her odyssey to purchase the dress.
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Sweet story
- By Pam Hewitt on 05-01-20
By: William Norwich
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Gods and Kings
- The Rise and Fall of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano
- By: Dana Thomas
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Sastre
- Length: 15 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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In February 2011 John Galliano, the lauded head of Christian Dior, imploded with a drunken, anti-Semitic public tirade. Exactly a year earlier, celebrated designer Alexander McQueen took his own life three weeks before his women's wear show. Both were casualties of the war between art and commerce that has raged within fashion for the last two decades.
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Captivating
- By kpaige on 04-15-15
By: Dana Thomas
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Bend, Not Break
- A Life in Two Worlds
- By: Ping Fu, MeiMei Fox
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Ping Fu knows what it’s like to be a child soldier, a factory worker, and a political prisoner. To be beaten and raped for the crime of being born into a well-educated family. To be deported with barely enough money for a plane ticket to a bewildering new land. To start all over, without family or friends, as a maid, waitress, and student. Ping Fu also knows what it’s like to be a pioneering software programmer, an innovator, a CEO, and Inc. magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year.
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A true account as good as any Horatio Alger story!
- By Roy B. Paschal on 01-14-13
By: Ping Fu, and others
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My Korean Deli
- Risking It All for a Convenience Store
- By: Ben Ryder Howe
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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This sweet and funny tale of a preppy editor buying a Brooklyn deli with his Korean in-laws is about family, culture clash, and the quest for authentic experiences. It starts with a gift. When Ben Ryder Howe’s wife, the daughter of Korean immigrants, decides to repay her parents’ self-sacrifice by buying them a store, Howe, an editor at the rarefied Paris Review, agrees to go along.
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Absolutely delightful!
- By Grace O'Malley on 03-19-11
By: Ben Ryder Howe
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Country Driving
- A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory
- By: Peter Hessler
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 16 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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In the summer of 2001, Peter Hessler, the longtime Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, acquired his Chinese driver's license. For the next seven years, he traveled the country, tracking how the automobile and improved roads were transforming China.
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Pass the white rice please
- By Nick on 02-18-10
By: Peter Hessler
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The Art of Innovation
- Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America's Leading Design Firm
- By: Tom Kelley, Jonathan Littman - contributor, Tom Peters - foreword
- Narrated by: Nick Podehl
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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IDEO, the widely admired, award-winning design and development firm that brought the world the Apple mouse, Polaroid's I-Zone instant camera, the Palm V, and hundreds of other cutting-edge products and services, reveals its secrets for fostering a culture and process of continuous innovation.
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This is an old book!
- By EPR review on 01-05-17
By: Tom Kelley, and others
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Comic Shop
- The Retail Mavericks Who Gave Us a New Geek Culture
- By: Dan Gearino
- Narrated by: Douglas R. Pratt
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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The early 1970s saw the birth of the modern comic book shop. Its rise was due in large part to a dynamic entrepreneur, Phil Seuling. His direct market model allowed shops to get comics straight from the publishers, bypassing middlemen. Stores could better customize their offerings and independent publishers could now access national distribution. In this way, shops opened up a space for quirky ideas to gain an audience and helped transform small-press series, from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Bone, into media giants.
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A good listen.
- By Amazon Customer on 08-30-20
By: Dan Gearino
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Magic Is Dead
- My Journey into the World's Most Secretive Society of Magicians
- By: Ian Frisch
- Narrated by: Charlie Thurston
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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In the vein of Neil Strauss’ The Game and Joshua Foer’s Moonwalking with Einstein comes the fascinating story of one man’s colorful, mysterious, and personal journey into the world of magic and his unlikely invitation into an underground secret society of revolutionary magicians from around the world.
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Not for me.
- By Jason P Aylward on 03-17-19
By: Ian Frisch
What listeners say about Wild Company
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Debbie
- 01-09-22
Wow
I’m really glad I listened to this book. I loved banana republic back in the day…before they got all dance and overpriced, and wondered what happened
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- Adriane B Miller
- 08-28-21
A Real Blast
I listened to this twice in a row, really blown away for their story.
Pure Genius!!!!!!!! I love it when you can keep the creative alive cause the numbers don’t lie.
Now I want mini series! Ticks off all my boxes, art, writing, fashion, and how things go from concept to garment. Really enjoyed each speaking their roles.
Many congratulations for enthusiasm to live so Large.
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- Amazonian-Thor
- 05-04-17
Well-written and narrated.
Enjoyed the account of how Mel and Patricia left their jobs and got Banana Republic going.
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- JB
- 09-11-24
Ideas, hard work & a little luck
This book was expertly written and beautifully narrated. I love how the jacket inspired it all. Amazing success story. Thank you for sharing your story.
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- Mike Chevalier
- 11-22-22
Surprisingly Great!
A compelling and interesting story. Read by my absolute favorite narrator: George Newburn. Highly Recommended!
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- JR
- 03-10-23
Always a big fan of Banana
And, wow. Knowing all this I'm a bigger devotee to the backstory and awkward about the current business. Regardless, congratulations to the authors for an excellent book and a perfect business reality.
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- jay chandler
- 06-24-16
Wildly inspiring and entertaining!
Easily one of the most inspirational and best books I've read in months. This book has given me so much inspiration for my own business and the story of this husband and wife is so crazy.
Wether your in business or not you'll be entertained and inspired by this book!
One of my new favorite books, I hope to meet these two one day!
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- D'Anne McMillen
- 09-16-23
Loved this story!
This book was very well written. I loved hearing the backstory to the company Banana republic. I enjoyed both the male and female narrator and thought it worked well with the two points of view in the book.
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- Art Espey
- 05-27-22
just listen...
A great story that was totally unexpected. I highly recommend that you listen to this audiobook. I was pleasantly surprised at the pace, tone and tenor of the story. A great light car listen that makes you think about the gift of creativity and the bane of it being constrained by business...not for the good of the customers but for the good of profits.
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- Sandy Adams
- 04-16-24
The whole story!
As a lover of the original store, this story has the same thrill and richness. Never boring and very inspiring!
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