Le Deal: How a Young American, in Business, in Love, and in Over His Head, Kick-Started a Multibillion Dollar Industry in Europe Review

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Le Deal: How a Young American, in Business, in Love, and in Over His Head, Kick-Started a Multibillion Dollar Industry in Europe ReviewIn LE DEAL, real-estate developer Bynre Murphy relates his struggle to extend an American retail innovation -- outlet malls offering iconic apparel brands at deep discounts -- to a skeptical and change-averse Old World.
Murphy's saga is set in motion by the savings and loan crisis that devastated the US commercial real-estate market in 1992. His small but successful Washington, DC-based development company was wiped out, and Murphy and his boss find themselves clinging to the only asset their company retains -- licensing rights to open McArthur Glen retail outlet centers in Europe.
As Murphy explains to a long succession of French mayors, councilmen, administrators, and permit-granters, McArthur Glen has a stellar track record in the US, and its concept will be "win-win-win" in France:
- French shoppers will get 40-60% discounts on sought-after brands like Versace, Nike, Gucci, and Calvin Klein;
- the brands will be able to monetize their end-of-season inventory instead of writing it off; and

- the downtown merchants and restaurants will benefit from shoppers visiting from afar who need a place to refuel and buy what they couldn't find at the outlet. It's a no-brainer, right?
Umm... non.
As the presentations, setbacks, hearings, and appeals drag on for months, Murphy begins to understand the true nature of what he and McArthur Glen are up against as they try to gain a foothold in France. Any new business concept is viewed first and foremost as a threat to the established commercial order, and only vaguely and secondarily as an opportunity. As the author explains, in France it's all about job preservation, not job creation.
Murphy's key insight is that if he can move forward at exactly the right moment -- when he's won a regional victory that will inevitably trigger a backlash from Paris and a conclusive defeat -- he can use the French obsession with job preservation to outmaneuver his opponents and launch McArthur Glen in Europe. And as Murphy relates with a series of entertaining anecdotes and a self-effacing touch, nothing succeeds like success.
The crux of the story unfolds in France, but Murphy also describes McArthur Glen's simultaneous effort to open outlets in England, and the ensuing efforts to establish the company in Germany and Italy. Along the way we're treated to entertaining cameos from Mickey Mouse, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, soon-to-be German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, and Italian dynastic heirs and petty mafiosos.
It's hard not to root for this 30-something American who relocates his young family to Paris and then realizes he's jumped off the deep end into the inscrutable waters of Continental politics and rivalries. But the author's determination to "never, never, ever give up" -- along with a little luck and a growing appreciation for the importance of local culture -- ultimately allow him and McArthur Glen to prevail, and then surpass all of the goals they'd originally set for Europe.
LE DEAL is a light-hearted, fast-paced read that also provides useful insights into how European culture manifests itself in the commercial sector, and why American business instincts can be at turns effective and counter-productive when applied on the Continent. I recommend it highly for Americans who interact with colleagues or customers across The Pond.
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Rules, Britannia: An Insider's Guide to Life in the United Kingdom Review

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Rules, Britannia: An Insider's Guide to Life in the United Kingdom ReviewWhilst scanning my local bookstore's shelves for a quick read I came across "Rules, Britannia" by Toni Summers Hargis. After finishing it (in one sitting) I know not to say "it was 'quite' good", for that would indicate something less than extreme pleasure on my part. "Rules, Britannia" is VERY good, informative and funny and while our language differences deserve credit for the book's inspiration the author has earned all of the rest.
Having grown up on the other side of the pond, Ms. Hargis has spent sixteen years in the States and has a perspective that is most welcome from an American point of view. For those of us who have spent a good amount of time in England, reading "Rules, Britannia" tells one more of the things one doesn't know but probably should. This is not merely a collective glossary of word translations (although at the end of each chapter there is one, relating to that particular chapter) but a look at what every American needs to know upon visiting the mother country. From transportation and food to shopping and partying, the author is a gentle teacher, or perhaps more of a cultural ambassador.
What Toni Hargis does so well is relate things from an English viewpoint. I was surprised to see that the Brits find it very rude if you refer to another person in your midst as "he" or "she", or that if you cannot attend a dinner party it is essential (almost to a comical fault) that you let your host know exactly the reasons WHY you won't be there. I laughed out loud after reading about the fact that Brits never park their car leaving it in gear when the author then goes on to say, "if you borrow someone's car, for heaven's sake don't leave it in gear when you return it, or the owner will kangaroo straight through the garden wall next time the engine's turned on." Who can resist such advice?!
Occasionally, you'll find some repetitions in the book....what you're reading you just read a few pages ago. A couple of additions would be good also... (unless I missed them) when stepping off the pavement make sure to look right before crossing the street (there are reminders on London streets) and if trying to book passage on BritRail on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, forget about it. I suppose this is a way of saying there is probably enough material for another book by author Hargis.....one I would stand hours in a queue to purchase!
I highly recommend "Rules, Brittania". It's practical, down-to-earth and immensely enjoyable.
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