Publisher's Forum VOL 8 NO1

A Classic Business Redemption Story

One of the classic business chain reactions is the one that occurs when an industry leader changes hands. The established management is eventually replaced by a new regime and the new regime all but destroys the company. Three years ago, From the Source Futon and New West were sold to Loewenstien Furniture and subsequently Loewenstein was bought by Winston Furniture. The new company, WinsLoew, brought with it several companies in the casual furniture, contract furniture, lifestyle furniture and RTA furniture industries. Over the next two years people came and went at the futon division of WinsLoew now called New West / From the Source Futon. In fact the new management team was featured on the cover of Futon Life (V6N4 Winter 94-95). Unfortunately things were not that rosey back in Cookeville. By the time the Spring 1995 High Point Market rolled around things looked bleak for the company, now named, simply, New West.

Ultimately, focussing on mass merchants as a source of new business was probably the straw that broke the camel's back. This move tied up New West's futon production time with a very low margin product and also caused the company to lose sight of its futon business. Things were seriously breaking down.

During late summer of last year the WinsLoew upper management team made some major decisions. By October of 1995 they had hired a new President for New West, Richard McLeod. Since then a startling turn around has occurred at the company which will be evident to the futon industry this spring. McLeod, a furniture industry veteran, quickly established himself as a leader who listened. He wanted to discover any and every problem the company had, at every level, then solve it. He is succeeding.

At first, my reaction to all this was skeptical, but as this man made promise after promise and commitment after commitment I began to believe him. He didn't know "squat-didly" about futon furniture, but he had personal integrity.

At our first meeting he didn't have a specific plan as it pertained to the futon frame, futon mattress and futon cover business he'd inherited, but he did have a generic plan that included a deep seated commitment to producing quality goods, delivering them on time and backing the whole operation with a "for real" customer service department and some workable futon sales tools for retailers -- all at the right prices.

McLeod then hired furniture sales veteran Tom Aders. Aders' direct style and honesty impressed me. He also had an uncanny ability to quickly decypher the futon industry's secret code and make the translation easy to understand for the average furniture rep, a rep who was already doing a million to a couple of million dollars in sales per year.

At a recent sales meeting in Cookville, attended by the company's service and sales team, I was treated to a day long meeting designed to show off the company's new futon line. In actuality, with the product nicely styled (by Paula Sonner, of Castle Bay) behind them, McLeod and Aders were the ones on display. The men and women at the meeting had heard it all before, but not from these guys. These men were willing to be honest about what they were doing and they demanded the same from us.

I was flattered that they invited me to be there and I was impressed with their desire to be the best they could be. Bottom line: New West is for real and their commitment to futon product excellence can only help our industry continue to grow and prosper.