How to Buy a Generational Brand with $20m in Sales - Acquiring Minds Recap

Podcast: Acquiring Minds

Published: 2025-12-18

Duration: 1 hr 17 min

Guests: Philip Hussey

Summary

Philip Hussey of Chenmark discusses the acquisition of Thomas Moser, a high-end furniture maker known for its craftsmanship and long-lasting products. The episode covers leadership challenges, maintaining quality, and strategies for sustaining a legacy brand.

What Happened

Philip Hussey discusses Chenmark's recent acquisition of Thomas Moser, a furniture company known for its durable, hand-crafted pieces, often priced at $10,000 for dining room tables. Thomas Moser is renowned for producing furniture intended to last over 100 years, with every piece signed and dated by its craftsman. Hussey outlines Chenmark's unique approach to acquisitions, emphasizing their 'hold-forever' strategy, which does not include exit valuations in their underwriting. This long-term perspective allows Thomas Moser to focus on maintaining its high standards without the pressure of short-term financial performance.

Thomas Moser, founded in 1972 by Tom and Mary Moser, has grown to about 100 employees with retail locations in San Francisco, Georgetown, Boston, and Freeport, Maine. Seventy-five percent of its business is residential, and the remaining 25% is contract work with prestigious institutions like Harvard and Yale. Mary Moser played a crucial role in the company's early marketing efforts, using innovative techniques such as AB testing ads in the New Yorker.

The company is vertically integrated, building everything it sells, which ensures high quality standards. They source lumber from trees that are 80 to 120 years old, and their furniture is designed to outlast the life of the tree. Despite the company's strong legacy, Hussey acknowledges the challenges of running a manufacturing business, including inefficiencies like excess lumber inventory, which they have addressed to free up working capital.

Hussey explains that the company is moving away from offering discounts, aiming to command premium pricing due to the world-class quality of their products. They are also enhancing customer experience by automating backend processes to allocate more resources to customer engagement. During COVID, the company faced long wait times for furniture, which they have since reduced by switching to a new shipper and engaging outsourced partners for large orders.

The company has a strong emphasis on talent development through its woodworker school, ensuring a steady supply of skilled craftsmen. The average tenure of employees is 15 years, with a third having been there for over 25 years, highlighting the company's commitment to its workforce.

Chenmark's decentralized model allows Thomas Moser to focus on long-term growth and reinvestment, rather than being constrained by a central holding company. This structure gives them the freedom to deploy cash as they see fit, ensuring the brand's continued legacy and expansion into luxury markets like New York, Dallas, and LA.

Key Insights