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Checking Out: Les Hiscoe

The ceo of Boston-based Shawmut Design and Construction has built a retail business by satisfying a luxury brand clientele looking to grow in America

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Was building retail stores your passion from the beginning?

Not at all. As a young civil engineering graduate just out of college, I began my career building schools, assisted living, healthcare and the like.

What turned you on to retail?

When I first interviewed with Shawmut back in the late ’90s, I saw a picture on the wall of a Disney store – a terrazzo floor with Mickey Mouse engraved in it – and I thought, ‘Wow, it never dawned on me that this is a whole segment of the construction business – this stuff is cool.’

Shawmut was building a lot of retail?

Not much, actually. We had a restaurant and retail division, but only 10 percent of that work was stores. We were building national restaurant chains, so whenever we were working in a mall, we networked and picked up a retail store here and there, mostly as an afterthought. After a while, the owner of the company said to me, ‘You really love this retail work. Can you grow us a retail unit?’

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Which you did. How?

When we started focusing on retail, we got a Chanel store and an Armani store on Newbury Street and a Tiffany store in Copley Plaza – all Boston. I realized that if we wanted to be in luxury retailing, we needed to be in New York. So we moved our retail headquarters to Manhattan 10 or 11 years ago and have tripled in size since 2010.

How has luxury flourished for you?

There’s a lot of global instability that has made luxury retailers pause. They need growth, but too many markets are unpredictable. However, not only is the U.S. the largest luxury market in the world, it’s also the most stable. So luxury international brands are focusing on the U.S.

Why do you think clients choose your company?

As I’ve grown into the ceo role, I’m focused on three pillars of growth that set us apart: customer service excellence; developing talent, so that every person who interfaces with a client understands the business, communicates well and is a good technician; and leading-edge technology.

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