BURLINGTON, N.J. — Monroe Milstein is an unabashed bargain hunter.

        The founder and chief executive of Burlington Coat Factory manages to find deals on everything from store rents and inventory to key aides. He readily admits his executives — a number of them family members — make less than they would if they worked for his competitors.

        Keeping costs down enables his fast-growing chain to offer deep discounts to customers, he said. From one factory outlet store opened here in 1972, the family-run business has grown into a chain of 295 stores with 23,000 employees in 42 states, including outlets in Greater Cincinnati.

        Recent news has been good for Burlington Coat.

        Net sales for the nine months ended March 3 were almost $1.9 billion, up about 12 percent from the same period last year. Same-store sales were up 3.6 percent during the nine months, the company said. Its stock has almost doubled since July.

        “They have done a very good job of choosing brands,” moving with consumer tastes and capitalizing on manufacturer surpluses, said apparel analyst Holly Guthrie of Janney, Montgomery Scott Inc.

        Revenues have risen from $1.2 billion in 1993 to $2.2 billion in the fiscal year that ended last summer. Mr. Milstein, 73, wants to double that within the next decade by continuing to add about 20 stores a year and possibly expanding into Canada.

        And by further diversifying the product line, in keeping with the company's advertising slogan: “We're more than just great coats.” While its stores typically stock 10,000 to 20,000 coats, just 20 percent of revenues now come from that sector.

        A year-old Web site baby regis try already produces about 7 percent of sales. Last year, stores introduced a line of home furnishings from Discovery Channel design guru Christopher Lowell.

        “It's like a total store,” drawing customers back repeatedly with constantly updated inventory, said Gayle Marco, associate marketing professor at Robert Morris College in suburban Pittsburgh. She expects Burlington to fare much better than department stores if the economy keeps sliding.
       

Steady performer

               Burlington has consistently turned a profit, even in tough times. Net income climbed from $29 million in 1996 to $62.5 million in 2000.

        Mr. Milstein chose well when it came to business direction. His father, a Russian immigrant who began wholesaling coats in 1924, wanted himto avoid retail, but his wife, Henrietta, urged him to give it a go.

        Savings from her job as a school librarian covered most of the $75,000 down payment made in 1972 to buy a former coat factory outlet in Burlington, a working-class community on the Delaware River near Philadelphia. Mrs. Milstein soon joined the company and quickly organized its move into baby items, initially by leasing store space to another merchant.

        That became a pattern, as the Milsteins filled up empty space in their increasingly large stores with new departments — menswear, sportswear, women's clothing, linens — leased to other merchants. The family learned each new business, then bought out the merchants or brought them into the company.

        By 1976, the company was up to three stores. In 1983, an initial stock offering raised nearly $130 million, funding 37 new stores.

        Still, Mr. Milstein's father, Abe, was leery.

        “Every new store I opened, he said: "You're crazy. Stop,'” Mr. Milstein recalled.

        A new headquarters with a heavily automated warehouse, just up N.J. 130 from the original factory outlet, opened in 1988. A recent expansion nearly doubled its size.
       

Family helps

               Two of Mr. Milstein's sons, Stephen and Andrew, now are executive vice presidents and along with chief operating officer Mark Nesci, a longtime employee, are ready to succeed him. But he said he plans to keep working as long as possible.

        The company now is focused on improving service and upgrading the look of older stores.

        “They're a strong competitor,” battling everyone from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to mainstream department stores and Neiman Marcus, said management consultant Emanuel Weintraub of Fort Lee, N.J. “I can't think of a negative.”

        Animal-rights activists can: Three years ago the company ordered a few hundred coats with coyote collars from China, but ended up with coats trimmed with dog fur.

        Once the mistake was caught, Mr. Milstein said, the remaining coats were pulled from racks, buyers received refunds and he donated $100,000 to the Humane Society of America. A law enacted last year bans imports of items with dog or cat fur.

Web sites start charging
$3 gas? Experts divided
White House notes prices
Comair still plans layoffs
Delta names government liaison
Avon plans makeover to include retail sales
Chain racks up big sales
Computers face crossroads
Tristate Summary
What's the Buzz?