Carol Swedlow had never considered joining the New York City floor-covering store operated by her parents, Paul and Sondra. But in 1997, the older Swedlows called a family meeting. With Paul facing health problems, the parents had decided to retire and sell Aronson’s Floor Covering.
The news caught Carol off guard. She hated to see her family lose the store. “I decided to step in for a year or two,” recalls Carol, 37. “The idea was that I could help out, and my parents could teach me how to run a business. It would be a good learning experience, even if I decided to do something else later on.”
The once temporary job has turned into a permanent calling. After working with her parents for several years, Carol bought the business, which has continued to thrive. But while the transition was successful, it was not smooth. From the beginning, Carol envisioned changing the business. She sought to sell high-end carpets that would not cause environmental damage. The older generation resisted, preferring to remain focused on vinyl and linoleum. Fights ensued. In the end, the parents deferred to their daughter. “It was a very hard time,” recalls Sondra.
Paul developed his approach during the 1960s. After working as a salesman in a store, he bought Aronson’s in 1965. A decade later, he moved it to its current location on 17th Street in Manhattan. In his early days, Paul sold floor coverings to retail customers. Gradually he built up the business, selling to bigger clients, including hospitals and New York University.
At first the neighborhood was shabby. Many retail customers were apartment dwellers living in rundown buildings in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village and Chelsea neighborhoods. But gradually the area changed. As New York prospered, richer tenants began paying higher prices for apartments and renovating them.
Paul and Sondra befriended customers and offered a level of service few competitors could match. “Whatever you wanted, we would call our suppliers and get it for you,” Paul says.
After joining the business, Carol quickly realized her parents’ formula did not suit her interests. She had worked as an architect for a large firm serving sophisticated clients. She wanted Aronson’s to reach the high-end markets that interested her. In addition, Carol had become an environmentalist. “I did not want to sell cruddy products that were made of oil and would spend a hundred years in a landfill,” she says.
Over her parents’ objections, Carol began pursuing design firms as clients. Gradually she began winning new business. Recognizing their daughter had a talent for reaching the high-end markets, Paul and Sondra agreed to turn over the business. Carol paid for the store, using cash from operating profits to make payments over eight years.
Today Aronson’s still caters to some owners of small apartments, but most of the business is the high-end trade that Carol sought. “When I started, synthetics accounted for 90% of our business,” says Carol. “Now 90% of our business comes from natural fibers.”
In the old days, a customer entering the store would see long pieces of vinyl floor coverings hanging from racks. Today most of the vinyl is gone. Instead, there are shelves with samples of cork, wool and jute. Designers come to Aronson’s seeking specialized help to carpet the lobbies of exclusive boutique hotels and retailers in the U.S. and abroad. Carol or one of her project managers meets with clients to discuss problems and devise tasteful solutions. “We specialize in fussy installations that other people can’t do,” Carol says.
Carol says the years of hard work it took to transform Aronson’s was worthwhile. “We work with great designers on exciting projects,” she says. “I adore the business the way it is now.”
Stan Luxenberg is a business writer based in New York City.