A Maine Legacy: Thos. Moser's Furniture, Family, and Future, by Chairman Aaron Moser

Today with me in the studio is Aaron Moser, whose last name is pretty well known within the state. Welcome. Thank you for coming. Thank you for having me. So your current claim to fame is? Well, I was CEO e o um, for five years. And as of two years ago when I found my dream property, I stepped back as CEO Fred Prescott, joined the company and it supported me the role of chairman, which is really more about managing my family and family expectations of the business. Uh, I would say moving from my prior 30 years as the head of commercial sales into the CEO role, that was a very difficult leap. Going from CEO to chairman has chosen, become much more difficult than I would've imagined. Really? Yeah. Why is that? Trying to be the buffer between a management team that's trying to prepare the company for the next 50 years, which we've just had our 50th Ann 50th anniversary, and set the groundwork and put in the disciplines and the, and the tools to help us sustain another 50 years while maintaining what's special about our brand. Well, I remember being in Boston and walking past one of your stores in Boston. I don't know if it's called a showroom or what they're called Exactly. Showrooms. Showrooms. You can't buy furniture out of the Store. Okay. Well then, I guess that's what they're called showrooms. Yeah. Yeah. This is why I, this is why you asked why I do this, even though I'm a doctor. It's cuz I like to learn stuff. Yeah. And so that's why I get to kind of live vicariously Sure. Through these conversations. So we walk by one of these showrooms and it was just so, the quality, even standing on this Boston Street was so striking and it, it was so evocative of Maine and it, it really made me feel proud to think, oh, this is a company, this is a main company, and here they are down here in Boston. We try to ground ourselves more in the craft and in the tangible work that happens rather than, obviously the end game is a beautiful piece of furniture. But I think we identify ourselves as the makers, the people who are doing the work. Um, my dad used to say the only reason he has a sales manager is to get rid of the things he makes. So I think some of that I hope rings true for us in the future, is that the making and the community of people who, um, do the work. That's really who we are. Um, the showrooms are a manifestation of that, but not necessarily the end goal. Um, but if we achieved a graceful look and you were happy with it, great. And that is what I was saying, not, not to say that you have an elite brand per se, just that it didn't seem in any way outta place because the work is so beautifully done. Yeah. Thank you. Well, it travels well through time and space that our products, uh, if, if done well, if executed well. And honestly, they will fit a pretty broad range of environments and households and lifestyles. And that's really the goal is to not put ourselves necessarily in a, in a, uh, you know, luxury. Uh, obviously our pieces show up in beautiful homes, very luxurious homes, but it should be as comfortable in a, um, very, um, minimal home as well. So in moving, you said from sales to CEO to chairman. Mm-hmm. How did, I'm interested in how the skillsets transferred or maybe didn't Not true. I don't know if the skills transferred as well. I think what I, uh, just speaking for myself, I'm sure others may have a different view on it, but, um, there's a, there's been a bit of tenacity involved in what I do. What I'm really good at is helping customers, uh, pull, pull their vision out and help them design a solution, whether it be a one piece of furniture or a million dollar library where they have challenges to do fundraising and they have to facilitate and sell to their colleagues this idea of a beautiful, handmade product that will help be an extension of their brand. Um, that takes time and patience. So in order for me to be successful in that space, uh, it would take years, um, to get through. So you don't quit. You have to stay, you have to stay on it. And so I think not quitting and staying the course and upholding the brand values were probably were translated. What didn't necessarily translate is an administrative, uh, prowess or a strategic prowess, like, you know, laying things out in a very organized way. Um, d doing the work is what stuck. So I was happy to have Fred join the company. Uh, it, it gave us a new focus and a new, um, a new sense of structure for investing in the future. I believe the family is behind me in that. We're very happy right now with where we are. We've, uh, just dis just this past week implemented a new e r P system, enterprise Resource Planning. It's a, basically a computer system. It's a way you run your business and it required disciplines in all areas to be in harmony with the, with the vision for the future. Um, huge amount of work that just happened. There's no way I could have implemented that. Uh, it takes way too much discipline and way too much structure. None of the Mosers could have done it. So, um, we're very happy to have that done at the same time in order to keep up with a, a challenging labor market. Uh, and increasing costs we're, uh, bringing technology into the shop in a big way. Um, so major investments this year preparing us for the Future. So when you talk about technology, are you talking about, um, different tools that can be used in the crafting? Or are you talking about Yep. Okay. Yep. Yep. Uh, technology has as much to do with planning as it does hardware. I mean, a lot of people when they see woodworking and talk technology, they're thinking robotics or c CNC machines. And yes, those are, we've had those for many years. Um, but how you use them and how you optimize them and how you schedule and how you plan. Um, because what you don't want to do is put the machine in place and then design products to satisfy it. We've been a victim of that in history. Um, Americans will often, not just Americans, obviously the world has seen technology drive design, and that's kind of dangerous from a, you know, if your goal is to, um, realize, uh, design and product vision. But for us, uh, that is just a machine to help facilitate what might be an unpleasant task. Let's look at repetitive work injury. If you can replace something that is maybe harmful to you with a machine to help aid that, it allows you to focus on fit and finish and material selection. And after all, you're putting your name on the piece. So When you are engaging in a design project, and I don't mean you, I mean people from your company mm-hmm. , um, how long start to finish about does it take for any given project to How long does it take? Or how long should it take? Oh, Okay. Let's go with Wallace. Let's start with how long should it take? It should take a year. Okay. You should, you should start the design process early enough so that your team has the opportunity to, um, test drive it to make sure there's, it's, it can be facilitated that you can find the material, that you can find the right vendors that, uh, when first or second prototype is done, the marketing team has enough time to find the right environment to shoot it in. So it's, it, it can take time. We tend to be very, um, and again, I'm talking about the Mosers here, mostly, we tend to be more on the creative side. So when we create something, we think, well, that's, that's where the work happens. You gotta have to have it created. I think what we're learning now that implementing a creative idea into a production environment is really the challenge. And it re it requires a lot more people, but we can, you know, six months is fee is doable. Uh, a year is probably more realistic. When you're creating a design or your team is creating a design, I'm assuming that multiple different individuals touch that process. Mm-hmm. , how do you facilitate the working together of that team from beginning to end? Well, you bring them in early and there's a fine line between consensus building and, um, an autocratic, like, this is what we're doing. Um, I think it requires as, I think it requires time and, um, giving people, everybody a voice in the process. So I think what you just said is really interesting because when you give people a voice there, there does have to be a balance. Because if you give everybody a voice, not everybody's voice is gonna be able to Right. Tran be translated into some actuality mm-hmm. , which doesn't make everybody happy. Well, life's tough. Sometimes you have to, you do have to call it at some point. I mean, David, my brother David, who just, we just finished a chair, the 50th anniversary chair, the 1972 chair. I don't know if you spoke with him about it, but, um, he obviously has to be willing to compromise as well. So at the end of the day, these products have to be profitable. You don't wanna wait until after you're shipping the furniture to realize you failed on that one. I mean, there are a lot of goals. Profitability is one of them. It's not necessarily the most important one. It depends on what the goal of the product is. Um, but if you don't have the people who are responsible for the implementation into production, if, if they're not signed on early enough, um, you're gonna carry that anxiety all the way through the process. So you want to get 'em signed on as soon as possible. I didn't actually talk with David about the 50th anniversary chair. Oh. Mostly I spoke with David about, um, his, his sculpture, his own sculptures, his own sculptures. Yes. Um, and for those of you who listened to Radio Manual, recognize the same last name, David Mozer, and he's obviously Portland Art Gallery artist. Um, so I'm interested to hear a little bit more about the decision making behind the 50th anniversary chair. Why, what, what was it about having a spec, specifically a chair? Why That they're symbolic in nature. A chair can be a successful product because you don't need a chair, especially if it's a chair that's free standing. Um, you could look at a, at a chair, a lounge chair or, or an occasional chair and fall in love with it and say, I'll make room for that. Like, I don't need a lifestyle change to have an excuse to buy it. So he said, we need to have a product that can be, um, freestanding that can give anybody who's pulse in love with it, a reason to buy it. They don't have to have, um, they don't have to have a new dining room or, or new bedroom. So a chair is, it's practical in that sense. It's very symbolic. Uh, if you look at chairs throughout history, they're, they have great meaning. Um, I'll tell you about the New York Public Library chair in a minute, but that's a very symbolic chair. The chairs we built for the Pope, very symbolic, but not just us chairs in history. The word chairman has to do with the chair. Maybe the only chair in the meeting, uh, the chairman would sit in. So chairs are symbolic, but how did we come, how did we, uh, work with David to determine what styled his chair and what should the message be? What statement does the chair make? Um, and we agreed early on that it, if it's gonna represent a 50 year culmination of a business, it should include elements of some of our more successful iconic products. So the 1972 chair, if you dissect it, then you should ask David to do that. You're going to see influences from my father and David and others in that chair specifically. Um, the joinery and the material use and some of the, some of the geometry of the chair, even though it's a very unique chair for us, we've not done anything like that. It's made up of motifs and elements that exist in other pro successful products in our line. So we kind of determined that early on, that it needs to speak to the history of the business, not just the future. I think before you started talking about this, I hadn't really considered the historical nature of chairs and the importance, but as you're talking about this, when I graduated from my residency in family medicine from the main medical center, they actually gave me, they gave you a chair, a chair that had the main medical center mm-hmm. , um, logo in Boston on it. Yeah. And it was, it was very special because it was a very significant kind of, i, I don't know, milestone Yeah. That I had reached and passed. And now it's, yeah. Sits there. And it reminds me that this, this was a very, this was a solid piece of work that I went through. Hopefully it wasn't black with spindles. Uh, it may have been actually, Well, the college chair, um, we havet been able to crack that market. But there is a, there is a product called the Nickels and Stone Chair, which is found in all the bookstores in all the colleges and universities. And of course, in order to make it economically feasible for the bookstore, they have to buy it at a certain price. And so we haven't seriously tried to explore it, but we have definitely, um, we've kind of bounced on the edge of that in a lot of ways. We have several clients who come back to us every year for either, you know, graduating faculty or, or professors. Um, so yeah, the, the chair is a symbolic piece. It's a symbolic gift, and it's something that you take with you in life. And you were mentioning that the person in charge was the only one who actually got a chair at some point? Well, if you go back to the earliest shaman, I mean, they're the only one sitting on something high. Maybe it's a stump. But yeah, a chair is a symbolic piece for sure. You have, is it four? Four. Three brothers. Three brothers. So there's you and three brothers. Yes. Yes. There's four of us. And there's an, you've obviously been part of this family business, it sounds like, your entire career. Uh, no. Well, there was the childhood portion. Sure, sure, sure. Then we all left and then we came back. So What was it like to work with your three brothers in a business? Uh, very competitive. You know, we were very competitive. We were all seeking, you know, dad's approval, you know, constantly. Even today, even at 60 years old, we're still buying for that. Um, we all bring our own skills to the business. Um, you know, I can, I can tell you Andy is a fantastic woodwork. He's probably, he's, he's one of the best woodworker in the family. Um, my brother Matt was an engineer and designer. David is a sculptor. Uh, and I'm a sales guy, so we're all very different. But we're, but we're also all very much the same in that regard. So we found in the business, we found our comfortable places and it worked for a long time. Now, my brother, Matt, he left the business 15 or 20 years ago. Um, but we still stay very close. So I would say it was tough. It was tough on my mom, uh, not having a daughter. Um, and the business, the business was the fifth child really in many ways. So it was very near and dear to us. And it was, it, it sculpted our personalities in a large sense. Um, that business was our recreation and it was also our income at the same time. So everything, uh, revolved around the business. And hopefully you don't grow up and regret that and resent the fact that the business took precedence. But at least it didn't for me. Um, I'm glad we had it. Well, I think about another prominent main family that transitioned from pretty much entirely the family owning the business and running the business to others coming in mm-hmm. and still having people still having a hand in the business. And that's LL Bean. Mm-hmm. and the Gorman family. Mm-hmm. . Um, and it's interesting to me that this kind of the, the, the legacy nature of both of these organizations pro probably it has created some, both some stability and some value and, and also an interesting unique opportunity mm-hmm. , because you, you are still related to people. Sure. Well, Tom ha is probably the, in, in the Moer family. My dad is still the most, I think, connected to the business. I mean, he needs it like, uh, air. Okay. He's, it's, it's what sustains him at 88 years old. And he has every right to have that. Um, my brothers and I have other interests, so it's not just the business. And because we have that other things, whether it's, you know, our houses or our families, um, it's, as we've age, it maybe dilutes our ability to have that same level of engagement. So at one level, we, you have to have an outside management can't go on forever this way. So getting, getting to that point wasn't, has been very hard to, to be able to let go and embrace others in your business, in your home. Um, that's, those are the feelings you have. Sometimes. It's almost like having somebody come into your, into your home and, uh, tell you what the rules are. So you have to, you have to embrace it. You have to trust, you have to trust the process, and you have to have patience and give it time. I remember interviewing somebody who was involved with an organization that had to do with family owned businesses here in Maine. And this person talked about the importance, like actually the absolute critical nature of working through a succession plan and, and, and actually upfront kind of acknowledging that this needed to happen. Mm-hmm. and also specifically saying challenging. Very, very challenging. No, our situation is not unique. The founder asking the founder to let go. I mean, yeah, I don't think my dad's that unique in that sense. I think he's a brilliant person. Uh, and as I said, he, he's formed his, his, um, his view on the world. I think obviously his early childhood experiences helped, but as he, as the business became successful, it's, it's how he formed his view on the world. And so any changes to the business as he understands it, as he knows it is a, is potentially a threat against that. So, and with the, with the internet and the new marketing that's happening and social media of which he is void of in by increasingly, you know, my brothers and I are, we're not glued to our phones watching every Instagram post. We're missing out on some really good things. So when something negative happens, we sometimes don't have enough of the goodness to understand how it's balanced out. So, you know, I, I have a Facebook account only so I can monitor our website, our Facebook account. Um, you have to be able to do that. Um, there was a time when a hundred percent of who we are, uh, was visible only through a catalog. And that catalog was everything. It was a coffee table book. So you could judge how we were doing in messaging and, and artistic style. Um, product mix, imagination could all be done in by just looking at the book. Well, now our catalog is a small fraction of everything that we use to communicate with. So that, that makes it tough on a, on a founder, I should say founders, cuz my mother was there too. Tom, Tom gets the name of the company on, on the Over the Door, but my mother was right there, and this company wouldn't be here without her. So I have to make that plug for sure. What's your mother's name? Mary. Mary. Yeah. Well, Mary, I give you credit. Yeah. Raising four competitive boys. Uh, and, uh, . Yeah. She, she, she took the brunt of it for sure. As we're talking, I'm thinking about, you know, I have five brothers and four sisters, so in my, and we're, that's a good Balance. Yeah. They, my mom did a good job. My mom's name is Mary also, but my dad's name is Charlie, Mary, and Charlie. They did a good job. Um, and those personalities, I mean, we get along really very well. And also we're very distinct and different individuals. Mm-hmm. people may look at the Beil family and say, oh, let's, you're all just pails. Right. But we're really not all just beliles. We all professionally have chosen slightly different paths or very different paths. And personally mm-hmm. are very different people. So it would be interesting. I can't really conceive of us all trying to come together and trying to make a living together, even four of us. Yeah. Very interesting. Although also, also such an interesting opportunity. Yeah. Because you are working so closely with these people that are related to You. We're, we're very lucky to have had this where it goes in the future, I don't know, but I know we're lucky that we had it because in, and I think families are lucky when they are, when they live in close proximity so they can see each other several times a year. I mean, I know families where they're fragmented around the country and they may see each other every several years. Um, my parents grew up in, outside of Chicago and we still have relatives out there. The Wilsons were on my mother's side. They all lead very independent lives. They have their own careers, they have their own interests, but they're together a lot and they don't have to compete with one another at all. And, uh, I think if there are any regrets, which again, there are a few, I would say my mother wishes the business had more to do with uniting than driving wedges. I think it it, when you aggregate it all together, I think it actually did unite more. But when you're watching the sausage making all the time, you might lose track of that. So Yeah. Yeah. We're lucky. Well, and I can relate in some part to what you're describing because my husband and I work together on this show because he's the owner of the Portland Art Gallery. And so he and Emma Wilson and their team, I mean, I live and breathe the work that he does with the art gallery. I mean, it's, even though I'm a doctor on my other side, I mean this is a life that we live. I think when you have a business, especially a small business like his, but I can imagine even Thomas Moser, I mean, if you have a business that is in your family, that's what you talk about. Right. And you know, when sales are good, great. When sales aren't that good Yeah. We're not gonna blame . Well, I was gonna say, what are we gonna do about it? You gonna blame? Yeah. But, uh, but yes. And so I think that that's a really, um, that's not something everybody experiences because a lot of people, they leave their homes, they go to work, they come back, maybe they talk about their job, but then they have a separate life. Yeah. And then the next day they get up and do it again. Yeah. And, and I know what it's like to do both of those things. Mm-hmm. , I think the interdependence that you develop as a result of that, but also the high level of knowledge and experience Yeah. And varied experiences Yeah. Are really invaluable in many ways. Oh, exactly. Um, we don't like to admit it, but we learn from each other more than we give ourselves credit for Aaron, we've been talking about the last 50 years. Hmm. And I know you have some new and excited and invested individuals who are working with, um, your family and are really bringing Thomas Mozer forward. Um, what types of things do you see for the next 50 Years? I believe the groundwork is set for the values of the business to remain strong. I mean, we have set pretty clear expectations around quality, how we treat one another, how we treat the community that we're in, how we treat our customers. Those have been the priority. So we've seen profits come and go, but those values have remained steadfast. And the strategic plan and as, as it's currently written, sets those as the priority continues. The priority. What we're doing a little differently now though, is we're saying let's ensure that there is planful profit. Cuz if you think about the past profit didn't feel like it was an important word to us. But in fact, if you want to have a sustainable workforce and a happy workforce, you must achieve profit. It has to be a closed loop. So I think it's, it's codified and it's tied into the strategic plan now, and it's been authored by a group of really smart people who have also internalized who we are as a brand. So all I can say is super grateful to have the long term employees, the folks who have just joined us, and a great management team to execute this strategy. So we're, we're prepping for the next 50 years now And hopefully beyond. Well, when 50 years comes, I'll let you know. Hopefully I'm around to her. That Sounds good. Yeah. Well, Aaron, I really appreciate your willingness to come in and talk about Thomas Moser and your experience. And, um, it's obviously a wonderful product. I think it represents the state of Maine Well, it's something that we all feel connected to. Um, but it's also a great, it really is a great family story because I think there are a lot of main families that are trying to work on wonderful main businesses. Not always easy. No. But it's not, it's important to kind of understand, I think, what that actually looks like. Yeah. So that we know that a lot of effort goes into the end product that we're all enjoying. Yes. So, thank you. Thank you. I'm Dr. Lisa and I have been speaking with Aaron Moser, the chairman of Thomas Moser. If you wanna learn more about their products, please go to the one of their showrooms or to the internet, to their website. I, I'm anticipating many of us are gonna wanna see the 50th anniversary, 1972 chairs as a result of this conversation today. I really appreciate the time you've taken to come in and have this discussion with me. Thank you, Lisa.