Open discussion leads to family business success
David Price nearly missed his chance to run the family business: His father, George Price, Jr., was ready to sell the high-end furniture retailer, Toms-Price Co., in 1978.
But David, then in his late 20s and with no previous interest in being the third generation Price to own the business, made a decision. Ensconced in a corporate career he had chosen but facing a job transfer to Pennsylvania, “I realized I would never have (another) opportunity to grow the business,” Price recalls.
“I (had been) a little involved. My wife and I would work the annual floor sample sale, but I wanted to be in the corporate world.”
On the other hand, Price says, “I have a pretty strong sense of family loyalty. My Dad was ready to sell. He was burned out. If I hadn’t come on, he would have sold.”
Conversely, Jerry Glunz “knew my whole life” that he wanted to join the family’s beer distributorship, Lincolnwood-based Louis Glunz Beer, Inc. “I’d work on the trucks during the summer, sweep the warehouse.”
Today, Glunz is general manager and, with four other siblings, the fourth generation to run the 123-year old company that is home to more than 800 micro, specialty and imported beers.
Other than a long history — Bloomingdale-headquartered Toms-Price hit the century mark in 2008 — the two businesses seem to share just one trait: Family members talk to each other.
That trait matters, however. Open discussion and decision-making are central to both businesses’ success.
“I’d be lying if I said it was always ‘Kumbaya,’” says Glunz. “My mother taught us to leave business at the business. No Sunday dinner discussions.
“But we’re a close-knit family. We don’t run the business by committee, but we do sit down and talk. We hit bumps. Not everybody gets what they want. My father (Jack, president of the company) still runs the business, but there are very few times we go to him.”
Conversations are likely less boisterous in the Price family, if only because there are fewer participants: David and son Scott, who came on board in 2003 after four years as an investment banker, manage the business.
If titles matter, David is CEO. Scott is president.
“Scott is pretty much at the helm,” David says. “He runs the business.”
There’s still discussion, however. “We may disagree,” Scott says, “but we have pretty clear vision. On major decisions, we have to be in agreement.”
One of those decisions, to hold off construction of the company’s new South Barrington store, came with the recession in 2008. “We were ready to break ground,” Scott says.
Instead, the Toms-Price South Barrington location opened in October 2010, post-recession, joining existing stores in Wheaton, Lincolnshire and Skokie, and the company’s furniture outlet in Bloomingdale.
Ÿ Contact Jim Kendall at JKendall@121MarketingResources.com.
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