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WOHLERS
What are the benefits of being family owned? Our family has a passion and love for what we have achieved and what we would like to accomplish within the business. We believe our customers enjoy shopping in a South Australian family owned and operated business where traditional family values, ethics and morals are understood and respected by employees and appreciated by our customers. Our family members are privileged to spend time together whilst working to achieve a common goal and having a firm belief in their position within the company. Family members can easily grow and express themselves through an area of the business that they are passionate about. The success story of how the family has achieved amazing business growth is inspirational to other Australian family owned businesses. Customers enjoy talking to the owners and hearing first-hand the family history of the business. The community have a great appreciation for the direct communication and support that the owners of the business offer. What’s the history of your business? How did it begin? Daryl & Marilyn Wohlers started the business as a small pottery shop in 1988 where it first began in a little old house located in the main street of Tanunda where the couple sold locally made pottery and a large range of garden pots. At this stage they also offered a furniture restoration service. Daryl & Marilyn’s children; Paul, Rachel & James all grew up in the business, the whole family worked together to create the unique and successful store that it is today. As business grew, 2007 marked the opening of the second Wohlers store located in Adelaide on Richmond Road. To offer their customers an additional benefit, Wohlers placed an in store café called “Rumours Espresso”, in both of the Wohlers stores. Wohlers showroom includes two of Australia’s largest Lazboy’s galleries. Alongside Lazboy, Wohlers offer the premium Cambridge Collection, a lounge suite line that is exclusive to the company. But the iconic product that has set Wohlers apart is the manufacture of Mahogany Furniture which is sold to customers all over Australia. Today the Wohlers Homewares range includes a range of quality kitchenware, children’s gifts, handbags, including the Windermere Leather handbag range exclusive to Wohlers, luggage, unique décor, lead light lamps, jewellery, scented items and body products. The most recent addition is the Salt and Pepper shop in shop. Which family members work in the business, what is their role? Daryl Wohlers – Owner/Director, Marilyn Wohlers – Owner/Director, James Wohlers – Richmond Store Manager (son), Paul Wohlers – Warehouse & Quality Control Manager (son), Rachel Noack – Homewares Buyer (daughter), Gavin Noack – General Manager (son in law), Ryan Hissey – Richmond Warehouse Assistant (Nephew), Todd Hissey – Rumours Café Manager Richmond (Nephew), Timothy Grace – IT Manager (Nephew.) What sets your business apart from the rest? The Wohlers stores have become a shopping destination. It is a unique shopping experience that is made up of four quality services; Furniture, Homewares, Rumours Café and the Workshop. A complete Wohlers experience incorporates all four areas of the company and supports each feature with the highest level of customer service, superior product knowledge, colour, style, variety and a genuine passion for excellence in the industry. What services do you offer? Wohlers specialise in traditional hand crafted mahogany furniture while also offering a range of quality and contemporary, rustic and modern furniture. We proudly offer friendly, professional advice from a team of industry experts across all departments. We pride ourselves on providing a professional delivery service with the ability to deliver to most areas across Australia. Our customers appreciate the many promotional offers and special bonuses on offer and our beautiful range of locally and internationally sourced Homewares also contributes towards the unique Wohlers shopping experience. Rumours café that offers delicious food and coffee options is also amongst the list of quality services. What do you enjoy about working with family? The mixture of personalities and individual strengths of which our family members possess is the key to our extremely professional and successful team. We also have a great understanding of how one another operates. This provides us with the advantage of successfully battling and holding strong together through hard times as well as excelling and reaching amazing heights in our industry.
WOHLERS FAMILY: L-R Paul Wohlers, Marilyn Wohlers, Daryl Wohlers, Rachel Noack and James Wohlers (front). What do you enjoy about your work? The greatest achievement for our family is providing an exceptional experience for the customer and exceeding all expectations. The excellent team of staff that we have make every day an exciting adventure and having them truly enjoy coming to work makes every day an ever changing and exciting innovative adventure. What are the challenges working with family? We believe life is a challenge and as we all know working with family has its “interesting” moments. We are of course, no different from any other family. Working together does pose the odd challenge. Operating 7 days a week within the early stages was near impossible to allow for a day off together however, with the great staff members we have, family members have a lot more flexibility for family social events. What are your business highlights? Some of the highlights and achievements so far include the opening of the Adelaide store, the opening of the two in-store Rumours Cafés, having two of the largest La-Z-Boy galleries in Australia, being able to provide extensive sponsorship and support to the local community, including 19 years with BL&G Netball Association developing a team of excellent staff and growing the store beyond all of our original expectations. When we were trading from the original location, Daryl and Marilyn’s dream always pictured us as growing with the community needs and a second store in Adelaide which allows us to service our great customers in SA. Since day one, we have always strived to be innovative, keep in touch with the consumers needs and keep our finger on the pulse. We believe this is a never ending exciting challenge. Wohlers would like to extend their gratitude to the Barossa Valley community and thank them for their years of support.
AD SPACE 26.2cm wide x 18cm deep
A passion for quality furniture since 1989 Tanunda 8563 3494 & Richmond 8234 2000 www.wohlers.com.au DR4918
Families in Business, “The Leader”, August 22, 2012 - 7