ron wanek, founder and chairman of ashley furniture industries, inc chats with simon kaplan founder of value city furniture
Ashley Furniture honors retailer Simon Kaplan
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The Ashley Furniture Inds. team honors Simon Kaplan, seated center, of Crest Furniture, Dayton, N.J., with a Lifetime Achievement Award during High Point Market at the Ashley showroom.
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“Simon has always been a great educator and mentor to his employees,” Ron Wanek, chairman of AshleyFurniture told Furniture Today. “He’s someone that I’ve learned from. He’s excellent at using storytelling to help explain the ‘why.’ If people don’t understand the ‘why,’ they won’t get things done.”
Kaplan, who this year will celebrate his 94th birthday, continues to drive growth at the Dayton, N.J.-based Crest, leading the company to 2017 sales of approximately $122 million and the No. 62 spot on Furniture Today’s Top 100 list. Far from slowing down, Kaplan told Furniture Today the company will open its 19th store in about a month, with plans for additional stores in the works.
Kaplan, who played an active role in the founding of Furniture Marketing Group, is a disciple of W. Edwards Demmings and has made the mantra of continuous improvement a cornerstone of his company since first attending a lecture by Demmings in the 1990s.
“I asked Jim McIngvale what was the one thing that drove his success, which was a stupid question because we all know it’s never just one thing but the combination of things. But he wrote a name and number down on a card and passed it over. It turned out to be Demmings name and a number to call for his seminar.”
Kaplan called the number, asking when the next seminar would be. “The woman told me it would be September in Charlotte,” Kaplan said, pausing for effect. “When I went to sign up she said, ‘The next one is September, that doesn’t mean there is an opening.’”
It would be December before Kaplan could get into one of Demmings’ events, requiring a cross-country flight to San Jose, Calif. He recalled that when he arrived, Demming, who was then in his 90s came out on stage, had attendees turn to a page in his book and began reading.
“I thought to myself I flew all this way and spent all this money to hear this guy read?,” Kaplan said. “Half an hour later, I got my moneys’ worth back and then some. The guy was fabulous.”
That learning has underpinned Kaplan’s drive to continuously improve his Crest business, which continues to grow and expand.
Kaplan, who this year will celebrate his 94th birthday, continues to drive growth at the Dayton, N.J.-based Crest, leading the company to 2017 sales of approximately $122 million and the No. 62 spot on Furniture Today’s Top 100 list. Far from slowing down, Kaplan told Furniture Today the company will open its 19th store in about a month, with plans for additional stores in the works.
Kaplan, who played an active role in the founding of Furniture Marketing Group, is a disciple of W. Edwards Demmings and has made the mantra of continuous improvement a cornerstone of his company since first attending a lecture by Demmings in the 1990s.
“I asked Jim McIngvale what was the one thing that drove his success, which was a stupid question because we all know it’s never just one thing but the combination of things. But he wrote a name and number down on a card and passed it over. It turned out to be Demmings name and a number to call for his seminar.”
Kaplan called the number, asking when the next seminar would be. “The woman told me it would be September in Charlotte,” Kaplan said, pausing for effect. “When I went to sign up she said, ‘The next one is September, that doesn’t mean there is an opening.’”
It would be December before Kaplan could get into one of Demmings’ events, requiring a cross-country flight to San Jose, Calif. He recalled that when he arrived, Demming, who was then in his 90s came out on stage, had attendees turn to a page in his book and began reading.
“I thought to myself I flew all this way and spent all this money to hear this guy read?,” Kaplan said. “Half an hour later, I got my moneys’ worth back and then some. The guy was fabulous.”
That learning has underpinned Kaplan’s drive to continuously improve his Crest business, which continues to grow and expand.
about bill mcloughlin
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I'm Bill McLoughlin Editor in Chief of Furniture/Today and Chief Content Officer of KidsToday. For over 25 years I've covered retail across more channels of distribution then I can count. My goal on these pages is to share ideas, insights, even random musings to help enhance children’s lifestyle merchandising, whether that is in the form of trend, product or lifestyle information; or simply a fresh take on our society.
Some of you will agree with me, others not. Either way I hope to spark a lively dialogue that can help move the industry forward in positive directions. |
