Business & Finance: Matriarch Magnin

One of the richer residents of San Francisco's St. Francis Hotel is Mrs. Mary Ann Magnin, the spry little 87-year-old founder of I. Magnin & Co., West Coast smartshop chain. Her daily routine includes a drive down the "Peninsula" in her Packard limousine, lunch at a Burlingame restaurant, a brief visit at the main store in San Francisco, dinner in the hotel's dining room. When she was younger she played a shrewd game of poker. Every April her 50-odd children, grandchildren and in-laws assemble for her birthday party, to which the St. Francis contributes...

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