GREENWICH, Conn. — At this point, the story has become retail industry legend.

It was 1958 when Ed and Norma Mitchell opened a haberdashery in an 800-square-foot former plumbing supply store in Westport, Conn., with “three men’s suits, a coffee pot and a dream.”

Over the years their family has built what is arguably the most successful independent multibrand luxury retailer in the U.S. , one that includes Mitchells and Richards in Connecticut; the former Marshs on Long Island; Marios in Portland, Ore., and Seattle; Wilkes Bashford in San Francisco and Palo Alto, Calif., and most recently, the Dallas-based Stanley Korshak.

All told, the stores have sales in excess of $250 million with what is believed to be the highest sell-through rate in the industry.

But how have the Mitchells d

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