WOW LEADER

Joe Carroll

Interview by Stephanie Lowder

I am an only child. I can entertain myself.

I only had two dates in high school - I was very shy. I was always being elected to something, I was always president or vice president of my class, and I was always surprised because I was very shy. I was too shy to ask girls out. My two dates: one for junior prom, one for senior prom.

For 20 years I've been hearing that there's going to be a shakeout in the furnishing industry, there's going to be fewer manufacturers, fewer retailers. People have been saying this for 20 years. This may be that time.

However, I agree with Jerry Epperson. In November we were talking and I said historically the industry had increased business 1 to 1.5 billion annually, but for the first time in 2008 there was a drop: 2007, 85 billion; 2008, 78 billion. Jerry asked, what were sales in 2001? 67 billion. So, he said, "From '01 to '08, there was an increase of 11 billion. Yeah, sales are down from last year, but somebody is still selling a heck of a lot of furniture." He's right.

The International Alliance of Furnishing Publications. Our 17 members are truly the #1 publications in their countries, one from every major country in the world, except Russia and Poland. And there's only one from each country, because it just wouldn't be fun to be meeting with your competitor.

I accepted the current presidency reluctantly, because of the the ugly American image traveling abroad, Americans thinking we always have to be number one and we have to show everyone else what to do. And because I was elected as the first president earlier when the organization was founded.

As an international group we have a lot of power, so we ought to be doing some good in the world, we ought to be doing something to help this industry. All agreed that we would freely exchange editorial, manufacturing statistics, and marketing data.

For several years, I'd been trying to tell them about WithIt, how we were increasing the number of women in home furnishings. I suggested our new initiative could be trying to promote and bring more women into the furnishings industry worldwide.

Boy, did I get a roomful of blank stares. They said this might work in the U.S. but I don't think our country would go for it. Each one said, in our country all the factories are owned by men, all the stores are owned by men. They weren't interested.

It's going to take a long time to move the gender diversity issue internationally. 

All news organizations are trying to figure out how to be profitable online. Of course, our online coverage of the five top stories of the day - people tell us they value that, it saves them a lot of time in reading and research. But will people pay for a story? So far, people say no.

Our growth strategy at the magazine has long included an idea Paul Broyhill gave me back in the '80s. I was interested in starting an international magazine, and Paul said, "I think you'll find that people in the U.S. furniture industry don't care what other people around the world are doing. It's a very closed industry and people are only interested in what's going on in their own country. The only thing valuable, the only thing people will pay for is statistics, data. They'll pay for that." Of course, he wasn't talking about online, but that's a strategy we'll continue as we go forward.

In 10 years, what will the furniture industry look like?  First, nobody really knows. Logic says certain things will happen, but what's logically true usually doesn't come true in the furniture industry. But logic says that after this economic shakeout we're going to end up with fewer manufacturers and retailers. The companies that survive will have 1. the best management teams,  and 2. capital or access to capital.

The best teams, not just one guy. The best vp of sales, of marketing, of production, the controller. The best minds have a power that is profound.

Recruiters are telling me that some of the best minds in the industry are available right now. Somebody could put together a dream team.

Companies that do have the cash are saying a recession is great for us. It's what the Harvard MBA teaches: if you've prepared in the years prior, and you have a cash reserve, then you can advance your position when the economy emerges from downturn.

It's amazing how far behind this industry is with online, web sites, search marketing, all of it. It's amazing how many furniture manufacturers and retailers say they have a lousy web site.

We need more young people in the home furnishings industry.

I'm thinking about retiring - sometime - and about learning Latin and Spanish. I studied Latin in high school and it was so elegant, and I think I could be speaking fluent Spanish with 30-days of intensive study. And one college has asked me, so I'm thinking about teaching a course in home furnishings marketing.

A suggestion I can offer WithIt: We've got to find and raise more money for scholarships. We need to raise a million or two, and from the interest we can award significant scholarships to women who major in home furnishings - not just design, but sales and marketing, or supply chain logistics. I recently spoke to a class of college students in a furniture program, eight women in the class wanted to become a vp of manufacturing.

The more that WithIt can find mentors in the industry, the better.

Some people want to be helped and some don't. Whenever we hire a new person in sales, I tell them I'll be glad to mentor you. I make the offer. I think it's crazy that someone doesn't take you up on the offer.

Whatever your gender, the best advice I can offer is to network.

I'm reading the new John Grisham, The Associate. Before that, The Legal Limit, which was a terrific novel. Next I'm traveling to Malaysia and I want something big and heavy for the trip - I'll be reading The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.

Joe Carroll, publisher of Furniture/Today, is president of the IAFP, and a director, officer, and member of multiple home furnishings and community non-profits. Since the founding of WithIt, he has remained a generous supporter, member, and friend of the organization.