A farewell and thank you letter from Jeremy...
To the countless customers, employees and fashionistas at large who have followed me and Jeremy’s for all of these just under thirty years.
In my quest to open the new Jeremy’s store in Uptown Oakland, I have encountered almost five months of maddening delays to get the necessary permits to open in time for our very famous Black Friday event, which unfortunately as a result we will be unable to do. This is very disappointing and will make it very difficult to successfully launch the store. I LOVE Oakland and the amazing Mayor Libby Schaaf (you rock!) and plan to support and remain in Oakland for the foreseeable future.
However, as a result of the repeated disappointing delays - on second thought - I have simply had a change of heart. Once the Berkeley store closes mid-November, Jeremy’s Department store will permanently close and we will not be opening the Uptown Oakland store.
I can not be more proud of what I have done with Jeremy’s. The store when I started was a simple small office space in the back of an office building I found in the classifieds, with $300.00 to my name, all of it used to open the new store.
My dear friend Diana and I loved to shop discount and I had nothing better to do. So, with her moral support and hard work, for which I will forever be grateful, off I went at 19 years old. I did not know how to read a financial statement, let alone manage an inventory or employees, yet Jeremy’s made money from the very first day and to the very last. At the end of this journey, I am very proud and honored to say, Mickey Drexler and Glen Senk, two of
the greatest merchants ever, proved invaluable colleagues and became personal friends. We end profitable and not owing anyone a single penny.
Jeremy's has provided me with good fortune financially as well as introducing me to so many interesting and wonderful people and creating very memorable events in my life. Starting and building Jeremy's has been an incredible learning experience for me and I now know what the American
dream is and how great it feels to have this opportunity.
I could not be more grateful to the countless dedicated Jeremy's customers, fashion junkies wanting the lowest price to feed their habit, socialites, everyday mothers, celebrities, all of you, Thank you for shopping with me, for sticking by me all those almost thirty years. I really appreciate your loyalty and business very much and Black Friday will never be the same without seeing you all!
I could not be more appreciative to the over a thousand amazing, talented and creative dedicated employees for whom I have had the pleasure to
work with. You are the ones that made Jeremy’s. You defined who we are and the greatness that we achieved... You have joined the search for the very best quality fashion and worked so so hard serving many thousands in a single day at our epic sale events. Thank you. Thank you, very much. It was a true honor to work with you.
To the San Francisco Chronicle and specifically Tony Bravo, thank you for the amazing story, and, more so, getting it right. Also to the unbelievable, overwhelming support that I have received, and am still receiving, from the general public to open the new store. I get a lot of e-mails and nice wishes from people I meet on the street everyday and I appreciate your enthusiasm and kindness very much!
From here, I will work on establishing a foundation to help kids from underprivileged backgrounds and continue my never-ending pursuit to help the
underdog, along with some other ideas I have. I will still be finishing the Franklin
building to serve as my home base and maybe even open a little cafe!
I will miss you all.
All the best,
To the countless customers, employees and fashionistas at large who have followed me and Jeremy’s for all of these just under thirty years.
In my quest to open the new Jeremy’s store in Uptown Oakland, I have encountered almost five months of maddening delays to get the necessary permits to open in time for our very famous Black Friday event, which unfortunately as a result we will be unable to do. This is very disappointing and will make it very difficult to successfully launch the store. I LOVE Oakland and the amazing Mayor Libby Schaaf (you rock!) and plan to support and remain in Oakland for the foreseeable future.
However, as a result of the repeated disappointing delays - on second thought - I have simply had a change of heart. Once the Berkeley store closes mid-November, Jeremy’s Department store will permanently close and we will not be opening the Uptown Oakland store.
I can not be more proud of what I have done with Jeremy’s. The store when I started was a simple small office space in the back of an office building I found in the classifieds, with $300.00 to my name, all of it used to open the new store.
My dear friend Diana and I loved to shop discount and I had nothing better to do. So, with her moral support and hard work, for which I will forever be grateful, off I went at 19 years old. I did not know how to read a financial statement, let alone manage an inventory or employees, yet Jeremy’s made money from the very first day and to the very last. At the end of this journey, I am very proud and honored to say, Mickey Drexler and Glen Senk, two of
the greatest merchants ever, proved invaluable colleagues and became personal friends. We end profitable and not owing anyone a single penny.
Jeremy's has provided me with good fortune financially as well as introducing me to so many interesting and wonderful people and creating very memorable events in my life. Starting and building Jeremy's has been an incredible learning experience for me and I now know what the American
dream is and how great it feels to have this opportunity.
I could not be more grateful to the countless dedicated Jeremy's customers, fashion junkies wanting the lowest price to feed their habit, socialites, everyday mothers, celebrities, all of you, Thank you for shopping with me, for sticking by me all those almost thirty years. I really appreciate your loyalty and business very much and Black Friday will never be the same without seeing you all!
I could not be more appreciative to the over a thousand amazing, talented and creative dedicated employees for whom I have had the pleasure to
work with. You are the ones that made Jeremy’s. You defined who we are and the greatness that we achieved... You have joined the search for the very best quality fashion and worked so so hard serving many thousands in a single day at our epic sale events. Thank you. Thank you, very much. It was a true honor to work with you.
To the San Francisco Chronicle and specifically Tony Bravo, thank you for the amazing story, and, more so, getting it right. Also to the unbelievable, overwhelming support that I have received, and am still receiving, from the general public to open the new store. I get a lot of e-mails and nice wishes from people I meet on the street everyday and I appreciate your enthusiasm and kindness very much!
From here, I will work on establishing a foundation to help kids from underprivileged backgrounds and continue my never-ending pursuit to help the
underdog, along with some other ideas I have. I will still be finishing the Franklin
building to serve as my home base and maybe even open a little cafe!
I will miss you all.
All the best,