Award-Winning Furniture Entrepreneur
Casa Rustica Inc. Grows Its Business
From Street-Corner To International
Distinction In Just 10 Years

It's often said that the best way to learn a business is on the streets - starting with the basics and looking customers in the eye. That's literally how El Paso,Texas-based Casa Rustica Inc. grew in 10 years from selling furniture on street corners and door to door to become an international furniture manufacturing and distribution business with more than $55 million in sales.

Marking the success of Casa Rustica, company president Eduardo Ganem and his employees were selected to receive the Entrepreneurial Achievement Award from the George S. May International Company.

ONE WINNER OUT OF 17,000

Presented annually to just one of more than 17,000 possible recipients, the Entrepreneurial Achievement Award is given by May International to a small or mid-size company that best exemplifies excellence in business practices in the United States or Canada.

"Casa Rustica is an example of the American dream coming true," said Donald J. Fletcher, president of May International. "The fact that Eduardo Ganem, his employees and their company have won this award shows the power of their vision and illustrates the vitality of independent businesses in the United States."

May International's president noted that the success of Casa Rustica illustrates the need for entrepreneurs to look beyond themselves to grow their business and communicate their visions and beliefs to the people working for them.

As the nation's leading management consultant to independent businesses, May International is uniquely qualified to evaluate companies and their business practices.

10 YEARS OF CHALLENGES

Casa Rustica was founded by Ganem in 1989. The company's rapid growth, however, obscures a path marked by difficult challenges, unique sidelights and even romance.

In 1988, Ganem owned and operated a construction supply company in Puebla, a traditional colonial city in southern Mexico. Restless for greater opportunities, he dreamed of moving to the United States and starting a business in El Paso, where he had relatives and he had once worked in construction. While researching various business ideas, he went into a furniture store in Puebla and soon became enthralled with the rustic style furniture it stocked. A saleswoman made an even bigger impression, and, turning to a friend, Ganem avowed, "This is the girl I'm going to marry."

It took several months for Eduardo to successfully woo his eventual wife, Dora, and convince her to follow his dream of moving to El Paso.

As Eduardo got to know Dora, he also got to know the furniture business. He saw that Americans like rustic-style furniture with its timeless, comfortable appearance and sturdy construction.

Selling his business in Puebla, Ganem used half of the money to buy his first stock of furniture, a quarter of the remaining money for the wedding with Dora and the remainder for business start up expenses.

Heading for El Paso, Ganem made an exclusive contract for the total output of a Puebla furniture maker, who worked alone in his back yard. "You make them and I'll sell them," said Ganem.

Even though his brother offered some space in his El Paso carpet store to sell furniture, Ganem found weeks passing by without a customer. Using the philosophy "if the customer wouldn't come to him, he would go to the customer," Ganem and his wife took to the road to establish a client base of furniture stores between El Paso and the West Coast.

SELLING TO FURNITURE STORES AND ON STREET CORNERS

Motoring between El Paso and Los Angeles, the newlyweds drove a pickup and a trailer loaded with furniture. When they finished visiting all the furniture stores in a given area, they'd set up shop on street corners and sell furniture right from the trailer.

In addition to being an important point-of-sale, the street corners allowed them to meet people who invited the couple to their homes to socialize. These visits allowed the Ganems to see what types of furniture people had in their homes and why they liked it. With this information they began to design new pieces.

The Ganems did most of their business on the road until 1993, when a buyer from the San Francisco-based Pottery Barn saw a Ganem television armoire in a store and saw an opportunity to include the Casa Rustica armoire in Pottery Barn's popular catalog. It took Ganem six months to convince Pottery Barn he had the resources to produce the expected quantities. When the amoire was featured on the cover of the Pottery Barn catalog, the company quickly logged 400 orders.

With this initial exposure and sales burst, other stores soon took notice and the company began climbing a steep growth curve that continues today.

Sales for Casa Rustica grew by more than 40 percent in 1998. Even though this represented significant growth for existing lines, the company also realized that furniture makers must accommodate ever-changing customer tastes. To satisfy new interests, the company recently introduced two next-generation looks in both rustic pine and hardwood to capitalize on existing factory capacity.

CASA RUSTICA LINES

The new Monterrey and Dark Rustic lines use darker, mocha-like finishes that have less distressed finishing and cleaner lines. The Monterrey series displays a Japanese-like austerity that complements the company's rustic tradition for a very clean, young look.

Today Casa Rustica distributes four different lines - rustic, painted, iron and fine - furniture throughout the United States, Canada and Europe.

New collections are presented twice a year, in spring and fall. The company also promotes its lines at furniture showrooms in High Point, N.C.; San Francisco, Calif.; Atlanta Ga.; and El Paso, Texas. Ganem explains that the bulk of Casa Rustica's present sales are derived from national retailers - including Pottery Barn, Pier 1 Imports, Haverty's and Sears. In-store and catalog sales orders are shipped out of the company's El Paso warehouse.

THE ORGANIZATION

Eleven factories - three owned by Ganem - currently manufacture goods in Mexico exclusively for Casa Rustica. In the U.S., Casa Rustica has about 200 people on the payroll, and combined with the workers at factories in Mexico, the company provides jobs for more than 3,500.

"I try not to think about the success I've had," explained Ganem. "I believe I became successful when I stopped worrying about success and just dedicated myself to the work. Success came with that dedication."

VALUE OF MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT

"Operating a company this size can be exceptionally challenging," Ganem noted. "That is why I value the relationship with May International. Having started on a street corner and growing to the size we are now requires a variety of skills and understanding."

"Using the consulting expertise and ideas provided by May International has been exceptionally helpful at Casa Rustica," explained Ganem. "Being as busy as we are, it is difficult for us to keep up to date on all the latest procedures and best practices. May International helps us do that and much more."

The George S. May International Company is headquartered in Park Ridge, Ill., with offices in San Jose, Calif.; Montreal, Canada and Milan, Italy. Founded in 1925, May International is the leading management consultant firm specializing in work with small and mid-size businesses.

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