“That culture of change allowed us to be proactive in that time, which allowed us to grow our business through the middle of that period,” he said. “Some of that came at the expense of others who weren’t able to compete, but a lot of that came because we found and developed the right techniques that fit the needs of the market at that time and allowed us to stay out of those parts of the market where we didn’t see opportunities to succeed. If you’re in a commodity part of the market, you were going to get beat up and maybe fail and that happened to many, many of our good companies and a lot of our suppliers.”

 

About a dozen years before that, with its very narrow design scope (mainly “country” motif), Valdese Weavers was on another precipice, as it had become typecast as merely a “country” motif supplier, albeit a very successful one, with limited buyers. Shelton, who had a strong background in marketing and sales, was handpicked by his predecessor to help the company shake this reputation by moving into new arenas.

 

In the company’s recently published history book, Shelton is called a “pragmatic visionary” who “understood that in order for the company to thrive it needed to continue reinventing itself and continue to seek out new markets that could withstand the effects of globalization.”

 

Shelton’s strategic vision led to the company to developing a competence for mass customization, diversification of product and early adaptation of technology. It began to create higher-end products, brought in a new sales force and added new equipment. As a result, the company grew four-fold between 1988 and 1994.

 

Later, decisions made before the “Great Recession” of 2008-09 would play a hand in helping the company get through that period and emerge stronger than ever today.

Its bounceback was tremendously enhanced by the critical mass it had gained through the acquisition of the Joan Fabrics’ units and the competence across markets that gave it a broader opportunity to rebound, Shelton said. But decisions made in advance of the downturn were crucial, he added.

 

“Residential was impacted much more quickly than contract (during the recession),” he said. “We went to the fall market in 2007 and our business was good. With the acquisition, we had a bubble of pent-up demand that we knew was going to dissipate to a lower level – but it hadn’t by then. But we made proactive plans for when it did. We didn’t wait. And, sure enough, it happened and we were ready for it. Now, it discarded every plan that we had made for the acquisition. All the plans we had made for growth, we threw out the window and made the business fit.”

 

Company leaders picked the worst-case scenario and planned for that, according to Shelton.

 

“Business conditions deteriorated fast, but we were ahead of it, which was one of the most magnificent management performances I’ve ever seen,” he said. “We anticipated a decline before it happened. We didn’t react.”

 

Management perspective

 

Speaking of management, Shelton, who has served as CEO since 1997, said he has surrounded himself with industry veterans who work well together and share a similar vision.

 

In addition to Copeland and George, executive-level leaders include Snyder Garrison, chief financial officer and the grandson of former President Shuford, who purchased the company in 1941; Blake Millinor, chief sales and marketing officer; Laura Levinson, chief creative officer; Joe Feege, senior vice president, Sales; Bob Walters, senior vice president, Customer Relations; Joel Crisp, senior vice president, Global Operations; and Janet Kuck, senior vice president, Information Systems.

 

Several of these leaders said being a part of such a unique organization is gratifying and were happy to extol the virtues of the company.

 

“When the opportunity came up to join Valdese Weavers (in 2008), it was a special,” Walters said. “I was on the other side of the fence before, as a customer who bought a lot of product from Valdese Weavers. I knew that they were always going to provide great quality, service and delivery, and the people who make up the company were always good to be around and I enjoyed working with them.

 

“The company has created a business model that is exceptional,” he continued. “It allows us to leverage our products’ design and selling stream, and it allows us to leverage our quality and operational streams to whatever products our end-users desire. We have the capital to be able to source and inventory goods. So we can service them at almost a domestic level for quick service.”

 

Likewise, Crisp also worked for a Valdese customer prior to joining the company in 2005. He said he was always impressed with the company’s team approach when working with customers.

 

“After joining Valdese, I learned that our company's culture of working together was formed as the result of becoming an ESOP company (in 1995),” he said. “Each and every member of our workforce has a personal interest in the success of our company.”

 

That Valdese Weavers is a designed-based company with world-class, ISO-certified manufacturing facilities is another a huge differentiating factor, George added, who joined the company in 2013.

 

“The thing that has amazed me is that everything in this company is structured to support product,” he said. “We give design whatever it needs to be successful in the marketplace. And I'm not just talking about a nice studio and access to the archives and the artwork and all those things. But the manufacturing process that we have in this facility is built to support design.”

 

He added that, while creating product is often about doing large lots in large runs for cost reasons, Valdese Weavers have gone in the opposite direction by doing small runs. That allows the company to increase the amount of yarns its designers can create for customers, as well as providing the ability to dye the amount of yarn needed to fill orders, whether its 15 pounds or 4,000 pounds, he said.

 

“Our No. 1 job, from a manufacturing standpoint, is to manage complexity,” George said. “Design is going to create complexity because we have a broad base of customers that have a broad base of product needs and we make sure we make the design, the products and the colors that our customers want.”

 

For Valdese Weavers, mass customization is a key separator, Walters said.

 

“We thrive on unique products that are specific to our customers,” he said. “They collaborate with us to create product that will help drive their business. And by doing that we've created a model that's very flexible. We have one-piece minimums. Eighty percent of what we produce his customer-specific product. And we have a huge toolbox with which to create product. When you put all that together, I would think most manufacturing people would run for cover. But our operational and manufacturing team embraces that. I feel like that's what sets us apart.”

 

In addition, success breeds success, according to George – especially when Valdese Weavers’ largest two units have each enjoyed their share of it over the years.

 

“We compete in a variety of areas, certainly in the contract arena but also in the residential arena,” he said. “The fact that we have been successful in both areas, I think, is a competitive advantage because we are able to feed off of each other, being all part of the same team.”

 

Shelton said he is confident in the abilities of the team he has assembled, and after that, his primary job is to get out of their way.

 

“I am not a micro-manager,” he said. “My philosophy is, you find the best people you can find, you put them in the right spot and you let them do what they can do. I’m never going to criticize someone for making a bad decision if they did it for all the right reasons. Anybody will probably tell you they have the freedom to succeed and the freedom to make an aggressive mistake every once in awhile.”