Next Gen NOW Spotlight
GETTING TO KNOW
Chris Cannon President
Cannon Home Furnishings, Elizabethton, Tennessee : Were you pushed and prodded into the family business or did you go without a fight? Chris: Definitely came in on my own.
When I was nine, I wanted to be a firefighter—or at least be the guy driving the fire truck. When I was ten, I was sweeping the warehouse floor. I made 75 cents for every appliance I cleaned. Pretty good money for a ten year old.
: So you went from pushing a broom to president? Chris: Well, there were a lot of jobs in between. I started off in the warehouse and then moved up to delivery. Then I worked in sales and eventually management, so I’ve seen and done a little of everything.
: Is there a common thread between those jobs? Chris: Probably work ethic and how to
take care of people. Obviously you need to take care of your customers, but you need to take care of your employees, too. I think we model that caring throughout the company.
: How did you prepare to join the family business?
FROM SWEEPING FLOORS TO SWEEPING UP Chris Cannon wants to show other young professionals the succesful side to home furnishings 24
OC TOBER | 2014
retailernow_OCT_2014.indd 24
Chris: I was probably late into high school
or early into college when I sat down with my family one night and we talked about what the company’s weaknesses were. We came up with advertising, marketing and interior design and those are the areas I focused on in college.
www.retailerNOWmag.com
9/15/14 11:58 AM
Next Gen NOW Spotlight
: You and other children from family-owned stores are the exception. How does a furniture store hire good employees out of college? Chris: That’s one of our biggest challenges. The industry doesn’t
always do a good job of showing younger people how attractive it can be as a profession, but it’s there. Younger people who get it and know how to work at it can be very successful, but you have to put in the hours.
: What can younger employees offer the home furnishings industry? Chris: A perfect example would be technology and customer
contact. New customers, that is to say, younger customers want to be dealt with in a different way than our traditional customers. They want to be texted before a delivery is made. They want to be emailed a quote. I’m not saying seasoned employees can’t do that and use social media, but our generation understands it better. We grew up with it and know how to use it.
: What’s one of the frustrating obstacles of hiring younger people for your store? Chris: Well, first there’s the hours. There’s no getting around that.
They’re long and hard. But there’s also just knowing what we sell. When you think about it, you go into any other sales job and you don’t have to know nearly as much as you do as in a furniture store. We have 200 lines you need to be on top of and they’re changing throughout the year. That’s a lot to ask of someone.
: What has sitting in a tree stand taught you about running a furniture store? Chris: Hunting teaches you a lot about opportunity. You always
need to keep your eyes open because you never know what may be coming or when it will come. And you may have only a small window to act so be ready.
: Twenty years from now what if the kids tell you they want to be a part of the family business—what will you tell them? Chris: Oh, we’ll have the conversation long before 20 years. And
I’ll tell them the same thing my parents told me. I’ll tell them to follow their heart. Do what they want to do. If their heart leads them here, that’s great. If it leads them somewhere else, well, that’s great, too.
: What will your industry look like for them in 20 years? Chris: I think we may actually see more of going back to the
old-fashioned way of business. People are going to want more individual service. I’m not saying online is going to go way, but more people are going to want to go to the store, sit down on the furniture, touch the fabric. That’s what I hope, at least, but whatever they choose we’ll be ready to provide it for them.
: Part of the mission of NextGen NOW is to bring new ideas to the industry. How would you help educate a sales team? Chris: More information. Our industry suffers from manufacturers who aren’t getting the information to the people who sell their product. There’s a lack of training among the sales reps. Months go by, I’m talking four or five months before we see anyone who can tell us more about what we are selling. Other industries’ sales people are required to be there once a month, educating you on their product. If you’re selling medical supplies you know exactly what materials are involved in making the product. There are times I can’t find out what type of wood a table is made out of.
: When you’re not in the store where are you? Chris: Home. We’ve got two kids (20-month-old Cooper and 5-month-old Reagan). We’ll go to the beach or the lake and I like to hunt, but obviously I can’t hunt as much as I used to.
When he’s not in the store or hanging out with his family, Chris Cannon is in the woods looking for dinner.
Next Gen NOW (NGN) is a community of young, passionate, engaged industry professionals whose mission is to give a voice to the needs and goals of the up-and-coming future generations. NGN strives to educate the industry on how and why it should attract and keep young talent. The NAHFA supports NGN by facilitating meetings and educational opportunities and introducing the industry to its members through RetailerNow. Connect with NGN members at ngnow.org or on Twitter @ngnow. www.retailerNOWmag.com
retailernow_OCT_2014.indd 25
OC TOBER | 2014
25
9/15/14 11:58 AM