by Industry executives share thoughts and memories of an industry icon
DIX HILLS, N.Y. — Industry leaders are remembering retail giant Morton (Morty) Seaman for his innovative approach to retail merchandising and presentation that made furniture both attractive and affordable for generations to come.
The former executive with Seaman’s and co-founder of Rooms To Go died on Thursday, Oct. 15, at age 94.
He was inducted into the American Furniture Hall of Fame in 2004, having grown “Seaman’s into one of the largest furniture retailers in the Northeast, with 30 stores and annual sales of $290 million.” He and his son Jeffrey founded Rooms To Go in September 1990.
Kevin O’Connor, a former president and chief executive officer at Samson Marketing, said he began to call on Seaman’s around 1982, right after he left Ethan Allen.
“I knew Morty and his brother, Carl, since the early ’80s,” he said. “He was truly one of the giants in the business. … There is no question about that.”
At Seaman’s, O’Connor said, Morty Seaman was an innovator in the way he created room packages that offered living rooms and other vignettes that allowed people to imagine these settings in their own homes.
“He was able to put together living rooms with a sofa, loveseat and a chair in matching fabrics and tied it together with end tables, cocktail tables, lamps and a rug,” O’Connor said. “He would package this together and was one of the first people who took advantage of financing. … So instead of somebody spending $1,000 for a living room, they were spending $35 a month.
“He transformed how to present good-looking commercial furniture in an affordable way. Maybe people did it before, but he put together a pretty-looking package that all was coordinated and said, ‘By the way, you can have it all and it is only so much a month.’ To me, his gift to the industry was the way he packaged rooms together and made it affordable.”
Specializing on the upholstery side of the business (while his brother Carl focused on case goods), he added that Morty Seaman had a good eye for what would sell.
“He was just a giant in the upholstery business,” he said. “He was their go-to guy.”
Todd Wanek, president and chief executive officer of Ashley Furniture, described Seaman as an industry legend.
“The legacy he left behind with his family and his business is outstanding,” Wanek told Home News Now. “Talk about a good life lived? He lived a good life. And his family has got to feel really good about that. They have an amazing business and an amazing family.”
He also described Seaman as a great merchant, who had a positive influence in the world of furniture retail.
“You look at the stuff he did and he was always known as the best cover-to-frame person in the industry,” he said. “He revolutionized colors and took fabrics and materials and used them in ways nobody else did. He had a really good eye for that. What an outstanding career and legacy in the industry.”
Rob Spilman Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Bassett Furniture, remembers Seaman for being tough but very intelligent.
“You had to be on your toes when you talked to him,” Spilman said. “He was a smart cookie.”
Spilman also shared some humorous anecdotes, including when he first met Seaman in 1979 or 1980.
“He saw me and said ‘Come here Spilman. I want you to sit down.’ And I’m like 25 years old and I sat down and he said, ‘Now I’m going to tell you what’s wrong with Bassett.’ And I sat there for 15 minutes and listened to what was wrong with Bassett.”
He said that he hadn’t spoken with Seaman in some time and “he called me out of the blue about six or nine months ago at my office in Bassett and we had a nice conversation. And he was still telling me what was wrong with Bassett!”
“He was a real character and an asset to our industry. And his son has done a hell of a job, too,” he added of Jeff Seaman.
Industry veteran Eddie Massood said that Seaman was close with his father Michael along with Joe Cory, the former chairman of Cory 1st Choice Home Delivery.
“Morty was an icon,” he said. “We lost a true icon in our industry.”
He said when he heard of his passing, it brought back memories of his father and Joe Cory, including when Morty gave the eulogy at Joe’s funeral in 2015.
“I will never forget it,” he said. “That’s how close they were. Because they were all from New York and New Jersey, that is how my father and Joe got to know Morty very well. And then the rest was sort of history — how they grew their businesses together.”
Michael Amini, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of AICO, described Seaman as one of the legends and heroes of the furniture industry.
While he said he did not know Seaman well, he had met him on several occasions over the years and always admired his life work in the industry.
“I was saddened to hear of his passing,” he said. “He built quite an organization that has flourished.”
“And of course I have such respect for people who have built such successful companies,” Amini added. “I have always tried to learn from them. And his son Jeff whom I have known for decades, has done a wonderful job growing the business. … It is amazing how it has evolved.”
