It’s always heart-warming and inspirational to hear
the story of family owned businesses and how they started—and continue
to prosper. One of our newest members—Andy Stern’s Office Furniture—with headquarters in Beltsville—sent a newsletter which included this information. I pass it along to inspire others!
And Now A Word From Andy…
I had the honor of being interviewed with my 96 year old Dad, Sam (our company's founder), last week on Executive Leaders Radio (Click here
to see a picture from the interview). In the interview Sam spoke about
his experiences trying to start a business in post WW2 Washington in
1948. As soon as the interview is published I will post it on our
website. I'm proud to be part of a 65 year tradition!
One of the things I found most interesting listening to my Dad speak (besides the fact that he is still sharp as a tack at age 96) was how difficult it was to buy new office furniture after the war had ended. He explained that most of the office furniture factories had been converted to war production so there was no new office furniture he could buy. What did he do? Well, he went to the federal government and started buying surplus furniture (the government was downsizing after the war), refinishing it at night, selling it the next day and then delivering it the day after that. All by himself. Slowly the country recovered and he built a business that became one of the largest of its kind in country.
As I start my 37th year in our family's business Sam's spirit of entrepreneurship, he resourcefulness and his constant admonition to me that the customer is always right has inspired me to try to carry on the tradition all those years ago by Sam Stern. To see more pictures from the early days Click Here
No comments:
Post a Comment