Broyhill salutes industry icon
By Jeff Linville -- Furniture Today, July 16, 2007
Lenoir, N.C. — More than 230 people turned out at the Broyhill Furniture headquarters here last week to welcome back retired President and CEO Paul Broyhill.
He stepped down at the manufacturer in 1985 and since then has grown apart from the onetime family business, now owned by Furniture Brands International.
"It is unconscionable to me that a man of his stature, who did so much to bring the company to dominance, has essentially been unwelcome in the building he designed and built," said current President and CEO Jeff Cook.
Cook said to the crowd, "We officially welcome back a man who understood and loved the people who worked side by side with him; a man who was nothing less than passionate about the furniture he helped design, the legendary sales team he developed and the business he inspired to greatness."
Paul Broyhill said his uncle Tom Broyhill, a sawmill operator, first invested in a furniture company in 1905. Then Tom purchased a bankrupt company in 1912, with his younger brother James joining him after serving in World War I. Paul joined the business in 1948 after serving in World War II and graduating from college.
"I guess I was sort of raised to be what I turned out to be. Going into the furniture business was just expected," he said.
He became president and CEO in the early 1960s and held the job until his retirement in 1985. Under his leadership, Broyhill's sales grew from $10 million to $325 million and employment jumped from 1,000 to 7,500.
He admitted that the furniture industry has changed, and the company has struggled some with that change, but said he believes Jeff Cook is the best man to right the ship.
