Gat Caperton wins over Tom Seely employees
By Jeff Linville -- Furniture Today, October 14, 2001
BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. — When Gat Caperton took over Tom Seely Furniture in 1996 when he was 28 years old, many of the longtime employees feared for the company's future.
Five years later, the still-young president and chief executive officer has won over the workers with his enthusiasm and business knowledge. During a dinner for employees and sales representatives last month, many spoke about the positive difference Caperton has made.
For decades, Tom Seely quietly made solid-wood antique reproductions in this small West Virginia town. While others were automating or importing, the company continued to handcraft each piece of furniture.
So when a young man not long out of graduate school bought Tom Seely, the employees were concerned.
Caperton is the son of Gaston Caperton, who served two terms as governor of West Virginia. Gaston has a home on the Potomac River less than an hour from Berkeley Springs and had heard of Tom Seely. He mentioned the company to his son, who liked what he saw and became a partner in ownership.
The younger Caperton was only 28, but had an MBA, a disarming personality and a sense of humor. When recently showing the latest products to retailers in a new showroom at the factory, he said he struggled to come up with a catchy name for the building. Thinking of the acronyms common at the International Home Furnishings Market, he called it the IAHP — for It Ain't High Point. (Caperton said that isn't an insult to the High Point market; last April, he moved the company in a new direction by showing in High Point for the first time. It's back for October, sharing space in the Tucker Furniture showroom at 308 W. Broad St.)
When he took over in 1996, the company had a backlog of finished goods. It took some talking to convince company officials that this needed to be cut, he recalled, but now Tom Seely builds product for timely delivery without tying up money in inventory.
"We build all of our furniture to order in six weeks," he said. "Shipping schedules will add one to three weeks to your ultimate delivery time."
Rather than look for shortcuts in production, Caperton said, workers at Tom Seely try to figure out how to improve the product and give consumers more value. Workers have stations where they make an entire piece of furniture rather than repeating the same task over and over again on an assembly line.
Morgan County only has a 3% unemployment rate, Caperton said, but despite other companies' needs to recruit workers, few people leave Tom Seely.
One of the ways Caperton helps the employees feel at home is allowing them to decide for themselves when the workday begins. During the summer, they start at 6 a.m. to beat the heat. In the winter, workers begin at 7 a.m., except for Fridays, when a 6 a.m. start gets people out the door earlier to enjoy the weekend.
Another benefit for the employees is the company's selective distribution. Tom Seely has a small number of clients and doesn't try to sell to everyone; office personnel don't have to put up with unruly dealers, and a company motto is that the customer is NOT always right.
At the same time, Tom Seely is looking for more retailers.
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