Geiger goods fuse function with flair

Author: Andrea Glaessner

Hailed as the "Billboard-less State," Vermont has been forced to seek alternative methods of pointing the thousands of roadway tourists who pour in every autumn towards its local shops. And so the black sign was born to fill the void of billboard advertisements in the Green Mountain State.

Most of these signs are pretty self-explanatory, like "Panda House Restaurant, 1 mile" and "Frog Mill Art Gallery , 1 mile." But "Geiger of Austria, 1 mile," one of the many black signs just outside town on Rt. 7, called to me like a clue in an Agatha Christie novel.

When I first beheld that ambiguous black sign on my way back from Burlington, I thought, "Weird - is that the secret office of the Austrian ambassador Sir Geiger? Or perhaps some exiled Austrian prince named Geiger set up his new residence there in the lush valleys of Middlebury, thinking the town bore some semblance of the green hills of the Austrian countryside?"

I started to ponder all these possible connections between Middlebury, Vt. and Austria, curiously seeking to solve the mystery of this Geiger man. So I finally decided to find out what it was all about.

I turned onto Exchange Street from Rt. 7 and went all the way back towards town, passing boring brick building after boring brick building before realizing I should probably get directions. So I called and discovered that my destination lay on a side street of the long, wining Exchange Street. The next time around, equipped with instructions from a friendly receptionist, I was successful. I found a building with the name GEIGER printed all over it.

I walked in and was greeted by a warm woman named Phyllis, who casually revealed to me the secret of Geiger of Austria. Alas, her words did not paint the picture I had hoped for-Geiger is no displaced royal despot's palace, nor some polished Austrian diplomat's foreign office. Phyllis disclosed that Geiger of Austria is actually the U.S. headquarters of a family-owned, Austrian-based clothing company that makes fabulous wool jackets and sweaters.

Even though I had wild dreams of what Geiger had in store, I was certainly not disappointed by my discovery of the real Geiger. The people at Geiger are royally hospitable and the clothing they make is truly fit for kings - or queens. Phyllis, a credit manager and jack of all trades at the headquarters, entertained me with some general facts about Geiger while I waited for Connie St. George, director of sales and marketing, and Dorothea Langevin, product manager to chat.

St. George and Langevin welcomed me into their office and immediately began gushing about Geiger. It was actually inspiring to see how much these two women seemed to love their jobs and it reveals a lot about the company and the way it treats employees. St. George was able to rattle off the names of about 10 co-workers whom she knew to have been working at Geiger for fifteen plus years now. Once Langevin handed me the catalogues and samples of fabric, which she accompanied with informative descriptions of the production factors of Geiger products, it became quite clear that Geiger screams quality.

According to St. George, the company began in 1906 in Austria. Originally, Geiger was totally European. The firm did not begin branching out to the United States' retail market until a man named C.J. Kvasnak, a.k.a. Neil, the owner of the old Ski Haus in downtown Middlebury, came into contact with the Geiger brothers in the late 1970s.

Kvasnak's store, the Ski Haus, carried high-quality clothing and gear, and sold many products from Europe. One year, Kvasnak met the Geiger brothers, and when he laid his fingers on one of those boiled-wool sweaters, he knew he had found something extraordinary. According to St. George, he brought back a few to sell in the United States and "they went like hotcakes." So Kvasnak convinced the Geiger brothers to let America try them on for size.

When the Geiger brothers set foot on Middlebury soil, St. George said, "They actually felt kind of at home." The rolling hills of the Vermont cowland were quite reminiscent of those verdant Austrian fields upon which Julie Andrews frolicked in The Sound of Music.

The climax of the tale occurred when the Geiger brothers told Kvasnak they would open up headquarters in Middlebury and begin distributing in the United States, with one catch- Kvasnak had to run it. So Kvasnak ran the U.S. office for four years and then turned it back over to the brothers, who, by that point, were convinced that America was ready for Geiger.

The truth is, Geiger is high-quality stuff, and that means high prices, something not everyone is prepared to shell out. But according to St. George, a faithful Geigerian, "I get stopped when I wear my Geiger, and that does not happen with just any jacket." As a lover of fine sweaters myself, I must admit, after strolling through the overstock store located at the headquarters, I found some original and gorgeous coats and sweaters with colors to "dye" for.

Geiger is a household name in Europe, especially since the 1980s when the round neck princess waist boiled wool coat was the latest fashion. Today, Geiger is generally well known among investment dressers - those smart shoppers who believe in buying good quality and yes, expensive, clothing that will last for a very long time. Geiger uses all natural fibers and no chemicals, so even those people who claim to have wool allergies have been able to wear Geiger because the chemical-free wool is gentle on the skin.

With a new line called Isabella G, Geiger is hitting up the younger end of the retail market with fashion-forward designs and catchy colors. Some of the new designs are ultra-cool and funky-fresh, and, better yet, they are of fine quality.

Even though they are interested in trends and in creating new, updated styles, Geiger will always carry the traditional, well-cut and designed wool coats and sweaters that gave it its original niche in retail markets in Europe, and now, America. So save up some money or write it on your Christmas list because Geiger is the new North Face.