The Family Business CEOs to Watch Class of 2023 recognizes 23 exceptional business leaders. The CEOs honored run the gamut of family business leadership, from entrepreneurial founders to fifth-generation stewards of a multifaceted enterprise to non-family executives trusted by the family ownership group to lead and expand their operations.
Andrew Koenig
CEO | Second generation | City Furniture, Tamarac, Fla.
Andrew Koenig began his full-time career with City Furniture in the receiving department in 2006. City Furniture, founded in 1971 as Waterbed City, owns and operates more than 30 showrooms from Miami through Vero Beach and in Southwest and Central Florida (Orlando and Tampa), as well as 14 Ashley Home Store showrooms as the brand’s Southeast and Southwest Florida licensee.
Koenig graduated with degrees in finance and accounting from Elon University in 2005 and received his MBA from Nova Southeastern University – Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship.
Shortly before joining City Furniture, Koenig studied Lean philosophy at Toyota’s headquarters in Japan. After learning from Toyota and other Lean companies in the United States and abroad, Andrew introduced Lean thinking to City Furniture in 2007. Since the implementation of Lean (renamed as “The City Furniture Operating System”), the company has seen improvements in areas such as operational process, turnover, customer experience, safety, associate satisfaction, strategic planning and financial results.
City Furniture has pledged to give back at least 5% of its annual profits to the community. Donations are structured around five main giving pillars: home, health, service, diversity and education. Koenig has committed to achieving carbon neutrality through green practices in City Furniture’s showrooms, warehouses, offices and delivery fleet, as well as recycling initiatives.
“Andrew joined the business after grad school and started unloading trucks to learn operations,” says his father, Keith Koenig, the company’s chairman. “He knew he needed to build support and relationships from the ground up. He worked through every part of the company and grew into managerial roles, then COO, then president, and now he is the CEO and continues to be the hardest-working person in our company. His leadership in developing our management system has taken us to new levels.”
“Leading this incredible organization has been a long-time dream of mine, following in the footsteps of my father, Keith, and my uncle, Kevin, who paved the way over the years,” Andrew Koenig says. “Their resilience in the face of challenges, and their commitment to delivering the best products and services, set the bar high for us as an organization.
“As we venture into the second generation of our family business, it opens a realm of possibilities and potential but also brings a sense of responsibility to preserve the core values that have made us who we are today. To be successful, we must be eager to embrace change, to foster a culture of collaboration and inclusivity, and to build upon the solid foundations laid by my father and uncle, while simultaneously infusing fresh ideas and approaches to stay ahead. When you have a team that believes in these values as much as I do, it makes it easy to navigate a new path forward.
“We are all committed to keeping this family business on the right track, guided by the lessons of the past and fueled by a vision for the future.”