E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
AP
Martha Stewart is having a very good week, basking in the glow of strong book sales and a major deal with J.C. Penney.
With a major new alliance with J.C. Penney Co. and a new hot-selling book, Martha Stewart, the doyenne of entertaining, is celebrating an improbable comeback.
Stewart, 70, seems to have shaken off the taint of her 2004 criminal conviction and has steadily rebuilt an empire that encompasses everything from wall paint to dog leashes. Indeed, most news accounts of the $38.5 million deal with J.C. Penney announced Wednesday barely made mention of her conviction and five-month imprisonment for lying to authorities about a suspicious stock sale.
“You don’t see ‘convicted felon’ and that’s a big victory,” said Ronn Torossian, author of book on crisis public relations and CEO of 5W Public Relations, which has represented clients who have faced scandal. “Martha Stewart is the poster child of what to do right in terms of rebuilding your brand.”
Indeed, Stewart’s brand today includes a long list of products and services marketed under her Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. umbrella including a line of home improvement products at The Home Depot, four magazines, a show on SiriusXM Radio, the Martha Stewart Collection at Macy’s and pet products bearing her name at PetSmart. Under the deal with Penney, which is buying a 17 percent stake in MSLO, the retailer will create Martha Stewart stores within most of its locations beginning in 2013.
Stewart rejoined the board of the company in September after a five-year ban under terms of a settlement she reached with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Shares in the company jumped 33 percent Wednesday on news of the J.C. Penney deal, although they still trade only a bit over $4, compared with a peak of over $35 in 2005. A recent report from RBC Capital Markets said the company's merchandising arm performs well but the company is being hampered by its publishing operations.
Carol Roth, a business strategist and author of “The Entrepreneur Equation,” said there are a host of reasons why Stewart has been able to overcome her prison past to serve as an effective spokeswoman for her company.
“Underdogs are cheered for, even when they weren't the underdog to start with,” she said. “Our culture is one where we both tear people down but also build them back up. We are forgiving unless the action is completely unforgivable.”
For many average people and even well-known celebrities or corporate leaders, a criminal conviction or major scandal could spell career doom.
But the public seems to be willing to forgive Stewart, in part because of a hazy memory of the precise details of her crime, which were related to her sale of shares of biotech company ImClone, which was caught up in an insider trading scandal.
One key factor in Stewart’s favor is she did her time, seemingly atoned for what she did, and was able to maintain “a degree of elegance” through it all, said David Johnson, CEO of Strategic Vision. “She’s not one of these typical greedy bankers, the stereotypical middle-aged white guy in a pinstripe suit. She doesn’t fit that,” he said.
And Stewart isn’t shying away from discussing her time behind bars in a minimum-security federal prison, which might even give her a bit of street cred among the cooks and homemakers who make up her primary audience.
During an appearance on National Public Radio this week to hawk her latest book, “Martha’s Entertaining: A Year of Celebrations,” Stewart shared this story:
“When I was incarcerated at Alderson in West Virginia for a five-month term, they had a ceramics class. And in the ceramics class was a storage warehouse room where I found all the molds for an entire large nativity scene. I was able to purchase enough clay with my monthly stipend. I didn’t get a lot of other things that I would have liked in that five-month period because I bought clay instead. And I molded the entire nativity scene.”
Capitalizing on a past transgression can be unseemly, said Joshua Perry, an assistant professor of business law and ethics at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, but he doesn’t see it as an ethical breach.
“She fulfilled her obligation as we have set up through the criminal law and paid her dues,” he said. “The fact that she’s having this resurgence is a great American story. And, she’d appreciate me saying this, she was able to make lemonade out of lemons with some mint as garnish.”
A look at JCP's strategic plans to invest more than $38 million in Martha Stewart Living, with Jeff Klinefelter, Piper Jaffray retail analyst/managing director.
Leave a Comment:
K-Mart dumped her and her MAGAZINES suck; it's only a matter of time before JC Penny decides to dump her as well. It's NOT a "GOOD THING".
She could always go back to the stock market and do some-more "insider trading".
You are obviously misinformed and it's your loss. Martha taught me many things and my family's life will forever be enriched by the lessons I learned from her. She was made an example, YES SIR, when others (like public servants we all know) do much worse, in fact, do what she was prosecuted for.... and are allowed to get rich and continue the insider trading.
Yes, we are a capitalist society in the worst manner possible and now with the help of the GOP, this tradition will not only continue, unabated and unchecked, but much more than ever before only now it's called bribery, fraud, lobbying, influence peddling, graft, theft, etc...... which is now legit seems like and even applauded it look like, just look at the front runners.....
Bravo Martha! Keep it up, be strong, there are many of us out here that will continue to follow you and thanks for many things....
And why not? She didn't do anything that men have done but yet those same men didn't go to jail. I think they were just jealous of her success and now she's even more successful than before!.
Hey ask her who she's going to vote for! What, oh what do you mean she can't vote. Convicted felon???
Martha Stewart is an unrepentant convicted felon. As a master of manipulation, Martha Stewart's so called 'come back' is nothing but fancy propaganda campaign in an attempt to rehabilitate her soiled image so that she can project herself as that wonderful sweet, kind lady with style, grace, and good manners. As a former media personality, Stewart is all too familiar with the marketing ploys selling the 'new' Martha Stewart. But cautious readers should be very wary of being deceived, as underneath the studio make-up, professional photography and haute couture there is the same old self-centered, greedy and immoral Martha.
As in the past, Martha Stewart is a con-artist who used the media to spin her image as a down-to-earth, wholesome homemaker when in fact she is a vicious bitch without a conscience. As her conviction of insider trading has shown, she is capable of repeatedly lying through her teeth without blinking an eye lash. She breaks stock trading laws as casually as she manipulates others so long as she nets profit.
While the seedy sides of the business world is full of Martha Stewarts, the ugly side of Martha Stewart is almost without equal.
I don't really know if she is a bitch or not but, I do know it's a damn shame that she sat in prison while hundreds of people, many of them elected officials, do much, much worse everyday without breaking a single law. Of course the only reason they are not breaking the law is because they have had the law twisted to their advantage by themselves and their business partners. Look up the case. It's legal for a mortgage company to bet against a loan they approved but what she did was illegal? If anything I would say the person that gave her the information was the one in the wrong.
Martha Stewart was "made an example of" because she beat men at a man's game. Not only was she a sucessful stockbroker, she turned being a "housewife" into a multi million dollar industry! Had it been a man involved with that insignificant trade, he probably would have gotten no more than a slap on the wrist and a 3 month suspension of trading privelidges from the SEC. But the "old boys club" needed to put that "uppity woman" in her place without upsetting the apple cart that is Middle America, so she ended up in Club Fed with that token sentence.
That's my 2 cents
Haggard Old Man
The words in your commentary describe Martha Stewart in the past tense: made, beat, turned and ended...
Sounds like she's nothing but a has been looking to reestablish herself. Her 15 minutes of fame are up; she should just slither away quietly.
Obviously she's been given alot more than 15 minutes dear, sounds like your jealous. Are you?
Allison-467021
Oh dear! Your mindless comment (# 2.2) makes it appear that you may have "sh_t your brains out" the last time you went to the bathroom. It may be a good idea to check your toilet prior to flushing in the future. "15 minutes of fame" is a frequently used idiom.
Hannibel Lechter
I don't think that Allison-467021 "sh_t her brains out"; sounds more like a "brain fart" to me.
Mal'achi,
If I had her money I would retire to a life of tinkering with cars like Jay Leno, but some folks just like the limelight, I guess. At least she's not making sex tapes..................
Haggard Old Man
You stated: "At least she's not making sex tapes.................." PLEASE, don't give her any NEW ideas.
As for Jay... he's OK in my book; I love cars as well.
Haggard Old Man
When you said: "At least she's not making sex tapes.................."; it got me to thinking.
Since she loves the publishing business maybe she can do a "spread" (using some kitchen terminology) for "Playboy" or "Penthouse" magazine.
I think it's amazing if anyone can stay in the limelight for as long as M.S. has. She's doing something right. There are lots of people in this world who are truly JEALOUS of such success. I say~~give credit where credit is due, even if you don't like the person.
The fact is that M.S. is successful, has created an empire, and continues to do well, in spite of her brush with the law. She served her time, paid her debt to society, and has come back into society on a positive note. Hardly can you say that about other felons once they get out of jail, and back into society.
She's not my favorite chef/cook/entrepreneur, but I respect the hard work she's done for the 'FOOD INDUSTRY'. Others have followed in her footsteps, and are successful as well. I wish the best for all of them.
She is still a criminal. A convicted felon who saw others lose everything while she got hers. We do not allow any of her items into our home. We stopped shopping Sears/Kmart and we will now stop shopping Penney. My next call is to cancel that card. The mere fact that we forget so soon that these priviliged people get away with things that ruin the normal family just makes me sick.
Her's was petty change compared to most men, it was only $50,000.
She was convicted and served time. Exactly what did she "get away with?"
Martha is the American success story no matter how you spin it, she did her time and is free to build another empire. This woman enjoys what she does and that made her a success. Yawl are so hateful all the time towards others. You sicken me to call yourselves American.
TexanOne
You stated that she "did her time"
She sure did... five months at "CLUB FED" ; what a joke!
The main reason Martha Stewart was convicted was because she supported Democratic candidates and the Bush Administration didn't like it and made an example of her although her mistakes were small time and would have been overlooked in another.
She did not go to prison for insider trading. She went to prison for perjury. The penalty for the insider trading issue was nothing more than a fine.
sad that a piece of garbage like her is successful..
I don't hate on her.. I simply and sick to death of her name on everything you buy. She does have some taste, but she also has an army of very talented people who come up with most of her "ideas". I find her to be the ultimate bully when she is on tv. Doesn't let her guest have the lime-light. Always cutting them off to give HER little life story, etc. I'll never forget seeing her mother on one day who was making some ethnic pastry she gave to friends. Martha pointed out mom never gave her a loaf and the mother just sort of went.. "eh".... Martha didn't let it go... kept talking about it. She used to have to hire kids for her show because her own daughter at the time, wasn't talking to her.
It's hard for me to believe she went to prison for what Congress can do legally.
her case is nothing compared to the social and financial problems we now have. That plays in her favor and Kmart is the underdog to Walmart, who heavily trades in Chinese goods(and Kmart does too). I bet if Kmart was to sell more American products they would gain a greater market share.
I think she's hot, but why don't they show a current photo of her?
as my Father once told me as a small boy....its not how many times you get knocked down, it how many times that you get back up that count.
Merry Christmas to all!
"save the enviroment" is correct.
Walmart and K-Mart as well as every other popular chain is guilty of sending jobs overseas.
If you turn over the product of any of these stores you will not see made in America much.
Bad part is, we the consumer are just as guilty for buying the crap.
It is a case of supply and demand.
Demand American, you will pay more, but you will better America.
So now I have to put Pennys on my don't buy list with WallMart? I got no use for her. She is Jon Corzine in drag. Insider trading criminals that got off light because of connections. The market is so rigged by these types that real estate is the right choice for poor folks. Martha Stewart will get caught again before it's over.
The fundamental truth about Martha Stewart is she did nothing wrong. So, "unlikely comeback" or "improbable comeback" is media propaganda.
Indeed, this entire diatribe is media propaganda with misinformation, disinformation, misrepresentations, and distortions on Martha. In her triumph over evil, Martha has moved on with her life in an extraordinary, inspiring fashion, creating jobs for Americans, the latest, "a major new alliance with J.C. Penney Co." For Macy's, it was a "home run," says the CEO.
The Martha Stewart case evidenced a clear disconnect between the U.S. Constitution and the legal system. Her case stands as a condemnation of the legal system and a blot on American democracy. This mandates a presidential pardon from President Barack Obama.
In her personal stock sale of 3,928 shares of almost 8,000,000 ImClone shares traded, Martha made a legal stock sale under securities laws going back almost 80 years. No evidence existed of any wrongdoing for any "forgiving." Not one single word spoken by her or the "investigators" was recorded in a transcript or in sworn testimony; she was never under oath at any time. Under the rule of law in this American democracy with economic freedom, Martha's small, personal, legal stock sale was nobody's business, including why she sold the stock; simply, she owed no one any explanation. Martha committed no "crime"; her "criminal conviction" was bogus; she was involved in no "major scandal" and was never "caught up in an insider trading scandal." She committed no "past transgression," and "paid her dues" is of no relevance to her as she owed none.
Martha "did her time," and selflessly self-surrendered early, to save the jobs of her employees and her namesake company, which the Bush Administration cared nothing about in targeting her destruction for political gain in a McCarthy-style witch-hunt that resulted from grossly inept legal representation.
All of the trumped-up charges, including the big-time bogus charge with 10-years prison and a $2 million fine that was thrown out in court as completely baseless, related to the time period after her legal stock sale and after she retained legal representation. Martha made her small, personal, legal stock sale based on her decision only a mere two months earlier to sell ALL of her ImClone stock in a tender offer from Bristol-Myers despite ImClone's rebuff of Bristol-Myers' takeover bid. Her decision to sell was based on sound investment management principles, and that's the fundamental truth underlying her small, personal, legal stock sale.
With competent legal representation, there would have been no Martha Stewart case and no abuse and misuse of the criminal justice system on her by the Bush Administration.
As to "hawk her latest book," Martha promotes her book with truthful representations of its inspiring contents and relevant facts , so it's a "new hot-selling book."
The fundamental truth about Martha Stewart is she did nothing wrong. So, "unlikely comeback" or "improbable comeback" is media propaganda.
Indeed, this entire diatribe is media propaganda with misinformation, disinformation, misrepresentations, and distortions on Martha. In her triumph over evil, Martha has moved on with her life in an extraordinary, inspiring fashion, creating jobs for Americans, the latest, "a major new alliance with J.C. Penney Co." For Macy's, it was a "home run," says the CEO.
The Martha Stewart case evidenced a clear disconnect between the U.S. Constitution and the legal system. Her case stands as a condemnation of the legal system and a blot on American democracy. This mandates a presidential pardon from President Barack Obama.
In her personal stock sale of 3,928 shares of almost 8,000,000 ImClone shares traded, Martha made a legal stock sale under securities laws going back almost 80 years. No evidence existed of any wrongdoing for any "forgiving." Not one single word spoken by her or the "investigators" was recorded in a transcript or in sworn testimony; she was never under oath at any time. Under the rule of law in this American democracy with economic freedom, Martha's small, personal, legal stock sale was nobody's business, including why she sold the stock; simply, she owed no one any explanation. Martha committed no "crime"; her "criminal conviction" was bogus; she was involved in no "major scandal" and was never "caught up in an insider trading scandal." She committed no "past transgression," and "paid her dues" is of no relevance to her as she owed none.
Martha "did her time," and selflessly self-surrendered early, to save the jobs of her employees and her namesake company, which the Bush Administration cared nothing about in targeting her destruction for political gain in a McCarthy-style witch-hunt that resulted from grossly inept legal representation.
All of the trumped-up charges, including the big-time bogus charge with 10-years prison and a $2 million fine that was thrown out in court as completely baseless, related to the time period after her legal stock sale and after she retained legal representation. Martha made her small, personal, legal stock sale based on her decision only a mere two months earlier to sell ALL of her ImClone stock in a tender offer from Bristol-Myers despite ImClone's rebuff of Bristol-Myers' takeover bid. Her decision to sell was based on sound investment management principles, and that's the fundamental truth underlying her small, personal, legal stock sale.
With competent legal representation, there would have been no Martha Stewart case and no abuse and misuse of the criminal justice system on her by the Bush Administration.
As to "hawk her latest book," Martha promotes her book with truthful representations of its inspiring contents and relevant facts , so it's a "new hot-selling book."
When JCPenny board of directors member Len Roberts was CEO of RadioShack, he created the store-within-a-store concept with the "Sprint" telephone store, "Compaq" computer store, "MSN" internet center(store) and the "RCA" store. Unfortunately his ideas and vision created a bloated, top-heavy corporation that bled red ink and almost bankrupted the company. Hopefully that's not where these "store" concepts lead for JCPenny
Ms. Stewart went to prison for the same things our congress does openly everyday. I guess criminal acts get you to prison but criminal minds get you elected to congress.
Skeletor didn't want Martha Stewart giving people warm, comfortable feelings so they threw her in jail.
Men hate Martha because she makes more money than them. I love, love, love her. Smart, successful, hardworking woman with taste. Did wrong in the past (haven't we all), but seems to have learned her lesson. She's consistently kind to waiters and us working folks. Laugh if you will, but to me she deserves kudos for at least trying.
I think that is wonderful. Congress has been doing insider trading for years and alot more illegal things, yet they continue to hold office and collect perks and retirement. Bravo to Martha!
I like her house and property and animals but, her products are lousy 3rd class quality priced too high and are often made in China with no quality control. She is all for herself and is not for the consumer. She is cold as ice.
Martha Stewert is a Lizard Person who eats small mexican children! Ive worked on her house Ive seen the truth!
Her merchandise is overpriced and of inferior quality. Her magazines are a rehash of the same topics every month. She did do the time for her crime and that is to be respected. NBC must owe her a favor as she appears on the TODAY show every now and them.