A conversation between Brenda Pereyda, Mallin assistant vice president, and Margo Smith, a friend of both Conn and Pereyda
and a writer for Hearth & Home.
Merv Conn, vice president of Mallin, was a well-liked man. His death last week from a routine surgical procedure surprised and shocked the patio furniture industry. Tall and thin with an athletic build and a ready smile, Conn built Mallin from a floundering producer of low/moderate outdoor furniture to a highly successful manufacturer of stylish upscale offerings.
Brenda Pereyda was at his side in that effort for 37 years. The Conn/Pereyda partnership at Mallin was the quintessential working relationship. One was yin to the other's yang.
Not only did they work together, they were solid good friends. Outside of his wife, no one knew Conn better than Pereyda. Still dealing with her deep sadness regarding Conn's unexpected death, she graciously spoke to Hearth & Home about this quiet, solid, industry figure.
Hearth & Home: When did you and Merv first meet?
Brenda Pereyda: "Merv came to work at Mallin in 1963. He was a family acquaintance of owner Sam Mallin. Conn's wife, Karen, and Mallin's wife, Evelyn, are first cousins. Mallin offered Conn a job and he started in the Shipping Department. He worked himself up (the ladder) through many departments. I guess that Sam wanted him to know the line. By the time I came on board, he was general manager.
"I came to work at Mallin as a typist in the Order Department, May 1, 1974. I wasn't working directly for Merv, though I met him at that point."
How did you begin working with Merv?
Pereyda: "Life opens up avenues. The person I was working directly under ended up having major physical complications and was off work for three months or so. Since I was the only other person in that department, I had to step up and start taking calls. The company was so small then, on 27th Street in Los Angeles, that two people couldn't walk down the hallway at the same time.
"Merv noticed that I was doing a good job. When things got better and Customer Service started working fine, the credit manager left. So he made me the credit manager. That happened about six months after I first got there. Within the year, I was working directly for Merv.
"In those days, the Sales Department was run by Dale Boles and he worked closely with Merv, who ran production. Then Sam (Mallin) moved on to Leonis Avenue, and that's when we got bigger and started to grow. At some point, I got promoted to Purchasing manager and started doing Buying.
"Merv was in charge of inventory control, production, purchasing and all those things, so we started working together very closely on costing and getting the product manufactured and ordering and getting the purchasing done. He taught me a lot. I spent a lot of time listening to and watching Merv."
What did you learn from him?
Pereyda: "Negotiating. He was a good negotiator. He didn't push it. He just had people figured out. He would say, 'Yes, that's a good thing to do. Let's do it that way.' Just watching him negotiate was a learning experience. It was more like he was just talking to you and, all of a sudden, you realized that what he was suggesting was the best way."
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Brenda Pereyda and Merv Conn.
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Did the two of you hit it off right away?
Pereyda: "I was basically a clerk and he saw potential in me; he brought me along and gave me the opportunity to be where I am today. For the last 10 years, he was the one who did the sales and the marketing and we bounced a lot off of each other. We were partners."
What were Merv's particular strengths?
Pereyda: "People just liked him. Because he was a nice person, people just wanted to do things for him. He was able to get people to do what he wanted without having to be demanding about it.
"Everybody loved Merv. But you knew when he meant business. He never yelled or raised his voice. He just made his point clear and it was in a voice that people knew - 'Merv means business. Let's do it.' I knew exactly how much I could push, and when he had his mind set.
"He was direct and honest and you knew where you stood with Merv. If he had something to say, he would never say it in a way that was mean and hurtful.
"He would design a chair and say to me, 'What do you think?' And I would tell him what I liked about it and what I didn't. He would then make revisions and continue until it got to the point (where it was close to being right). Then we would bring in people from the factory and salespeople and ask their opinions. He really listened. You knew that he was listening to you."
When did Minson buy Mallin?
Pereyda: "In September 1991, it was the day before market. It was only then that the bankruptcy courts allowed Minson to buy Mallin."
How did the direction of the company change when Merv took over?
Pereyda: "We were known as a low- to middle-priced company. Merv knew that we had to change to survive. We needed to be different than what people remembered of Mallin. His vision of the frames - and my working on the cushions - created furniture of style, looks and comfort. People sit on our furniture now and know that it's Mallin.
"When Minson bought the company, we started out with people thinking that we didn't even exist. We'd walk into a showroom and get the reaction, 'You're still here?' We started with nothing. This company is where it's at because of Merv."
What kind of change did the purchase make in Merv's role?
Pereyda: "As the company changed hands, with Dale gone, Merv worked directly with the designers and the R&D Department on the frame portion, and I worked on the fabrics and the finishes. He would tell me what he was considering for frames and I would visualize it and get fabrics in the right colors and prints for the cushions.
"Most of the time, we had pretty much the same taste, so it worked out. Most of the time I would select the same stuff he had, without his telling me which ones he liked.
"I knew the direction in which he was taking the company. For the coming year, his groups for Mallin will represent a strong change for the company. We're coming out with a lot of new collections. He had already completed plans for the line, ideas for the catalog and for the showroom."
What was Merv's favorite part of the business?
Pereyda: "I think it was keeping in touch with the customers. It was a one-on-one. He was a people person. He loved working on the designs and getting the groups ready. He liked the people that he met, the friends that he made in this industry - vendors, suppliers, customers, office people -- all the people that he met."
What did you enjoy most about working with Merv?
Pereyda: "That he treated me equally. For many, many years, he treated me like I was equal to him, though he was vice president. He made me feel that I could do anything he could do."
Can you share a little about Merv's family life?
Pereyda: "His two favorite things were golfing with his wife and playing with his dogs. He got Karen to golf with him and, for the last five or six years, they golfed together once a week.
"Merv adored his wife and loved his kids - a son and a daughter and grandkids. He loved spending time with his grandkids. Last year, he became a great-grandfather.
"Years ago, they had horses and a ranch. But getting up at the crack of dawn to feed the horses everyday got old. He moved to Henderson, Nevada, a suburb of Las Vegas, five years ago and commuted to LA every week. He would spend three days in the office here and then four days in Nevada. He told me that the last five years were the happiest of his life."
What is the legacy that Merv left Mallin and the industry?
Pereyda: "His legacy to Mallin is what he made of this company from the time Minson bought it. He took it from zero to what it is today.
"Merv wasn't a public speaker. However, when he became president of the SCFMA, I think that he helped the industry grow.
Anything else you want people to know?
Pereyda: "This is a man who loved to eat. He thought about food constantly, but never gained an ounce. He was a planner. When he was having breakfast, he already knew what he was going to have for dinner.
"Merv started a tradition from the time Minson bought Mallin. Every year, around Christmas-time, he would take all the managers out for Dim Sum. Everybody loved it.
"Every Tuesday he would bring in cookies for the girls in the office that he had Karen bake - and she is a really good baker." 
