Retired Macy's manager's style included doing right by customers, employees, and breaking the rules

Tom Bruenderman was a teenager when he started working at the Bacon's department store in Saint Matthews in Louisville, collecting and burning garbage.

The experience influenced the rest of his career, even when he became the manager of the McAlpin's (now Dillards) at Fayette Mall, and later moved to Lazarus, which is now Macy's.

It taught him to value the work that each employee does.

"Because I started collecting trash, I respected everybody's job," Bruenderman said. "Every job is important. From there, it's really, how can I help them get better?"

Bruenderman, 62, retired from Macy's in early February, after a lifetime in Kentucky retail.

Macy's cosmetics manager Jill Burke said that Bruenderman would get on a register and check out customers if he saw there was a long line of people. Managers waiting to meet with him would often find him interacting with customers.

He also carried the bulky packages of customers out to their cars, he said.

"We all have the same job — taking care of the customer," Bruenderman said.

He never wanted customers to feel that he had better things to do than help them, said Burke. Store employees often ask themselves, "What would Tom do?" she said.

Bruenderman started working at Bacon's — a store similar to McAlpin's — while still in high school. He became a department manager for fabrics soon after, then was put in charge of linens and textiles. He then became a buyer and worked as a merchandising manager for the children's and men's departments.

Twenty years ago, Bruenderman moved his family from Louisville to Lexington so that he could manage McAlpin's. He and his wife even bought the house of the McAlpin's manager who worked at the store before him.

Bruenderman was the manager of the Fayette Mall Macy's for nearly 17 years.

It was at McAlpin's that he learned a lot about building customer relationships, Bruenderman said.

"McAlpin's was beloved," Bruenderman said. "Their customer service was outstanding. Their return policy was outstanding."

McAlpin's was a dominant department store in Lexington. Not only did the store make it easy to return unwanted items, but its frequent big sales were social scenes, where Lexington acquaintances caught up with each other while shopping for items at bargain-basement prices.

Bruenderman noted that he was the voice for McAlpin's Moonlight Madness sales when he was the manager for its Fayette Mall store.

The experience at McAlpin's taught him so many lessons, he said.

"Listen to the customer always, and don't stick to a policy," Bruenderman said. "Ask how you would feel if you were the customer."

Being a department store manager with experience in everything from linens to men's clothing has made him more knowledgeable about picking out items for his own wardrobe and for the Bruenderman home.

And working long hours at the mall often meant Bruenderman showed up at his children's activities and games in full suit and tie. He and his wife, Beverly, have three children.

In 2013, Bruenderman was a Macy's Store Manager of the Year for his Macy's district, which includes Cincinnati, West Virginia and Kentucky.

In retirement Bruenderman plans to take better care of his health — he has had two hip replacements and two stents in his heart — and to tutor elementary school students in mathematics. He has started working out four times a week at a local YMCA.

What was one of his best memories? Bruenderman said it was Black Friday four years ago, when Macy's opened at midnight for the first time.

He arrived at 10:30 p.m. and was surprised to see the parking lot starting to fill. He saw about 150 people in the Macy's vestibule. By the time the store opened, the line was more than 2,000 people, Bruenderman said.

"It was the first and only time I was not in control of my store," he said. "It took me 20 minutes just to get on the elevator. I couldn't get up the escalator."

Still, he said, "Black Friday is always exciting."

This story was originally published February 25, 2015 at 4:27 PM with the headline "Retired Macy's manager's style included doing right by customers, employees, and breaking the rules."