Careers

How did Sandy get into decorating? 

Sandy and her two sisters Sherry and Barbara, her father John L 

Sandy was a natural who knew where to find unique things, and intuitively knew if they would harmonize with whatever someone already owned. Initially, she helped her friends and family decorate their homes. When our youngest child, Tracy, went off to grammar school Sandy went off to the New York School of Interior Design. Soon after her graduation she teamed up with her friend, Helen Schwartz, and established HSG Interiors.

After a number of successful years together, Sandy and Helen amicably split up, and Sandy founded her own company, SG Interiors.

Throughout Sandy’s decorating career, did she often place contemporary craftwork in her client’s home?

She most certainly did! She would have placed a heck of a lot more if she didn't have the habit of ordering a piece for a client, and then not being able to part with it when the time came to deliver it. 

Sandy and her two sisters Sherry and Barbara, her father John L 

As a decorator, Sandy wasn't one to take the ‘money and run.’ If a client admired an expensive piece that Sandy didn't think was a good fit long term, she'd say no and often lose a sizeable sale.One of Sandy's most successful store designs was Eleganza, the home of its visionary owner Vera Colitti, offering selections before they became famous from French and Italian clothes designers.

Sandy and her two sisters Sherry and Barbara, her father John L 

Sandy took her Eleganza design fees out in clothing by purchasing the likes of Yves Saint Laurent, Krizia, and a long, red, vinyl Pierre Cardin coat, just like the one that’s displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

Sandy and her two sisters Sherry and Barbara, her father John L 

What was your career path?

I spent my entire career in just one industry, electrical wire and cable. I started working under my father. Soon after, he had succeeded its founder, my grandfather, Meyer Bornstein, as the president of Hatfield Wire and Cable.

Sandy and her two sisters Sherry and Barbara, her father John L 

When my father retired, his financial backing enabled me to become one of four partners in one of Hatfield’s largest customers, Paige Electric. My fifty-year Paige career began as a salesman, and culminated in my final thirty years serving as the president of its over hundred million dollar a year worldwide operations. Over those years Paige evolved into a 100% employee-owned freewheeling successful entrepreneurial outfit.

Sandy and her two sisters Sherry and Barbara, her father John L 

Our passwords into many a major-sized big deals with many a difficult customer was “Give us your pains in the ass, and we won’t let you down”….and we didn’t!  

Sandy and her two sisters Sherry and Barbara, her father John L 

Throughout my career, I was fortunate to always manage to mix business with pleasure, hitting the road with our local salesman calling on major customers in most major cities.

Our company policy of predominantly selling only one customer in any one market provided yours truly, who was often accompanied by Sandy, plenty of time to visit major local architecture and touch base with the top craft artists, collectors, and museums. A number of those museums had significant shops that became major contributors to the rooms of our house. Whenever I made a sales call to the Philadelphia Electric utility company, we always visited Helen Drutt’s iconic gallery.

Sandy and her two sisters Sherry and Barbara, her father John L 

I often found Sandy seriously shmoozing with Helen about the weight of the world, and the work of her numerous all-stars. When it came to the number of orders, Helen received far more from the Grotta family than I ever enjoyed from Philadelphia Electric.

What kind of a financial investor were you?

Throughout the years, I have happily passed my account management responsibilities to First Manhattan

Sandy and her two sisters Sherry and Barbara, her father John L 

under the tutelage of David (Sandy) Gottesman. Sandy is no longer with us, but I'm still with First Manhattan, 100%. My father loved to gamble. He loved the action and his stock portfolio confirmed it. When he passed away, I took his list of stocks over to Sandy who looked at them, whistled, and said, “I'm selling every one of them. A few of them might become highflyers, but the difference between your father and me is I only want to be a millionaire once.”

Sandy was more than a millionaire, he was a billionaire when they were far less common than they are today, and the only one I’ve known personally. Aside from First Manhattan, I did have two outside investments in Broadway shows. One of my college friends, Pete Katz, who changed his name to Peter Kent, got me to convince my father to become an ‘angel’ and buy a unit in two shows for my sister, Sue, and me.

Sandy and her two sisters Sherry and Barbara, her father John L 

Sandy and her two sisters Sherry and Barbara, her father John L 

The first was An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May. Opening night was a smash, a sold out hit. Unfortunately for its backers, the show’s run came to an early end when its irreplaceable stars got sick of doing it. 

When Pete called me about the other show, Any Wednesday, I asked him for a copy of its script. He said, “If you read it, you'll never invest in it.” We did anyway based on our trust in Pete and our fondness for its star, Sandy Dennis. As luck would have it, it ran for 983 performances.

Did you inherit your father’s love of gambling?

Luckily no. With all today’s sport betting options, if I were he, I’d be broke!