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It's official, Larry Buchanan, GM of Saks Fifth Avenue in Phoenix is retiring today. We decided to sit down with Larry and absorb as much wisdom as possible, after all, he has been at Saks for about 30 years and watched the Valley grow. We respect him as a partner, friend and hero who has helped shape Phoenix into what it is today. Here's an interview capturing his journey from his early retail years to his retirement announcment a few months ago. What will Larry do next?

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Q. When did you decide you officially wanted to retire?
A. It had been a goal since I started in retail in ’69 out of USC to be able to retire at 65 and I turned 65 in January and I’ve been able to fortunately reach my goal so that’s why I have decided to retire. I really started thinking about it about 8 or 9 months ago.

Q. How did your Saks journey begin?
A. I started at the Saks store in Palm Springs as a GM in 1983 and it was a very small store, about half the size of one floor of this store, at 30,000 sq ft. While I was there we opened up a larger 50,000 sq. ft. store and that was a great experience to be able to close the old one and open a new one.

Q. What about retirement are you most looking forward to?
A. I would have to say two things: one would be travel and one would be spending more time with our grandchildren. They live in Dallas. We have a trip planned to China and Tibet in July and we have several other trips planned in US and Canada this year. I also want to do some writing and also work on my golf game.

Q. What is your fondest memory since starting at Saks. Phoenix? 
A. My fondest memory is rekindling relationships with clients from the first time I was in Phoenix and to be able to come back 16 years later and be able to recognize and reestablish strong ties with clients that I knew in the late 80’s. I think that’s at the top of my memories. I like the clients that shop at Saks, they are very philanthropic which I admire.

Q. How long have you worked at Saks?
A. Since, ’87-’90 at first location and at this location since April ’06, and leaving April’ 12.

Q. What’s the first thing you’ll do after your last day at Saks?
A. It’s relatively easy because my last day is April 6 and we are flying to Dallas on April 7 to be with our grandchildren for Easter. My wife and I will take another couple of weeks to see part of Austin and San Antonio, too. The true test will be what will I do when I get back. I don’t know, is the answer.

Q. What will you miss most?
A. The people. The sales associates, the clients, the vendors, people like you at Arizona Foothills, who are a good group of people. I’m going to go cold turkey where now I interact with many different people everyday and that will completely stop. I will be interacting with my wife, people that I meet out and about.