Norton Ditto, an Old Store with a New Personality
See a scanned Norton Ditto article from DNR Magazine.

Norton Ditto, the Houston store that traces its history to 1908, can trace its newfound success to 1998, when Dick Hite returned to the family business after a 14-year leave to rescue it from the threat of bankruptcy. The personality of Norton Ditto today is very much the personality of Hite - upbeat, friendly, competent, and totally in tune with the times. DNR has described the move as a shift from traditional to forward classic, and this can be seen as a description - if only partial - of Hite himself.

Dick Hite is the living connection between sports and sportswear. He is a near-scratch golfer and close friends with many sports figures, including Rudy Tomjonavich, the great player and coach for the NBA Houston Rockets. This translates into more emphasis on sportswear in the Norton Ditto merchandise mix, which is one of the main reasons for the store's soaring rebound from the dark days of 1998 to its best year ever in 2006.

Sportswear now accounts for 40-45 percent of total volume, an increase that is balanced by a lesser emphasis on clothing. But the clothing department has been updated with the addition of Italian suits and an expansion in dress shirts, accompanied by the introduction of outstanding labels in those departments - Oxxford Clothes, Ravazollo of Italy, Robert Graham, Scott Barber, as well as in neckwear, which includes Dolce Punta, Robert Talbott, and its most profitable collection, Private Stock Neckwear.

The new success of Norton Ditto is largely a matter of management. Hite brought in an infusion of cash by assembling a group of investors from the Houston business community. He sought advice from his friend Russ Mitchell, of Mitchell's, the famous Connecticut retailer, and embarked on a streamlining campaign that sounds like the reorganization plan of many modern companies, although with more success than most. It included the closing of its women's departments and one of its two locations, a trimming of staff, a more free-flowing traffic pattern in the store, becoming a member of the Shaw Group for accounting and inventory control, and the introduction of livelier displays.

A more innovative and selective approach to marketing is reflected in Hite's decision to make Norton Ditto the sponsor of the Houston edition of Pinnacle magazine. Publisher Gary Cahn considers this sponsorship the pinnacle of his own publishing career.

And the beat goes on. Norton Ditto's management team has expansion plans that go well beyond enhancements of the current location, such as the remodeling of the sportswear department. The world of better men's wear awaits the announcements.