Have you ever had to call in a favor to a supplier or vendor to your business? Or have you ever been on the receiving end of being asked to provide a favor? In our episode today, Bew White, founder, and Chief Fishing Officer, at Summer Classics shares with us his highs and lows of growing his national furniture company and how calling in some favors with suppliers saved his company.
Bew is the founder of Summer Classics furniture company, was named Entrepreneur of the Year by the Society of International Business Fellows, and the author of “A Summer Classic” listed in the show notes.
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Bew White lll, is Chairman of the Board of Gabriella White and its brands, Summer Classics, Gabby, and Wendy Jane. In 2013 he was named Entrepreneur of the Year by the Society of International Business Fellows and in 2021 Bew White received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Casual Furnishings Association. He is also the subject of the well-received biography A Summer Classic: The Bew White Story by Christopher Taunton.
At just 28 years old, Mr. White left his job at his family-owned business, Avondale Mills, and started a sales representative company in 1978 called Vista Corporation, specializing in selling outdoor furniture. In 1987, Bew started multiple companies in an effort to expand from selling on the road to building a national brand. One of those companies was Summer Classics, which was created around Bew’s thought of designing and manufacturing products that he would want for his own backyard. With a business model based on creating products that were consumer-driven, would stand the test of time, and would not go out of style, Summer Classics officially took off in 1987.
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