Windsor-born Tepperman’s celebrates century of survival, success

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Tepperman’s Furniture Store celebrates its 100th anniversary Saturday, with threatened U.S. tariffs just the latest crisis for the Windsor-born company to survive on a list that includes the Great Depression, the Second World War, a cyclical auto industry, pandemics and the arrival of e-commerce.

Tepperman’s is the only business still operating out of the 22 furniture stores in Windsor that existed in 1925 when Russian immigrant Nate Tepperman began selling rugs door-to-door locally, without transportation and with limited English skills.

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“My grandfather opening his first bricks-and-mortar store on Ottawa Street in March 1931 at the beginning of the Great Depression when unemployment was 25 or 30 per cent was pretty tough,” said company executive chair Andrew Tepperman.

“COVID was paralytic. That was a challenging time too,” he told the Star.

“With tariffs, there are things we have in our power that we can control. We just can’t control the impact it’ll have on the Southwestern Ontario economy.”

Tepperman said the company had already started expanding its sourcing outside of the U.S. and has reduced its entanglements with China.

Between new sources for products from Europe, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and other parts of southeast Asia, along with expanding relationships with Canadian firms, Tepperman expects to be able to largely shield customers from big price hikes. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened steep tariffs on all Canadian goods as soon as next week, with Ottawa pledging to retaliate with tariffs of its own.

Tepperman said some of his U.S. suppliers have agreed to take a share of the hit imposed by tariffs and those that haven’t are being replaced in the supply chain.

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“We carry a lot of products that are Canadian made,” said Tepperman, who along with his brother and co-owner Noah are the third generation of the family to oversee the company.

“There are still a lot of Canadian family-owned businesses that can supply upholstery, sofas and other goods. This is opening up opportunities for Canadian products and will benefit Canada in the long run.”

While technology and e-commerce are creating what Tepperman calls ‘endless aisles’ for consumers, he said the foundation of his family’s business has remained pretty much unchanged.

“We’re still using my grandfather’s basic business model,” he said.

“The way we market, and our consumer financing, remains in-house. When my grandfather was selling door-to-door, he’d go back each week to collect a nickel or dime.

“I believe we may be one of the last stores to keep financing in-house in Canada.”

He added his grandfather’s generosity in extending credit to shoppers that struggled to get it elsewhere during those dark Depression days of the 1930s is the foundation of the company’s customer service philosophy.

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“Helping someone out when they need it, you get a customer for life after that,” Tepperman said.

Tepperman’s has taken some of his grandfather’s innovative ideas and added a modern twist to them, he said. Andrew found Nate Tepperman’s notebooks from the 1930s, filled with copies of the ads he ran in the Windsor Star.

“He kept a tally of the number of products he sold related to that ad, along with notes on things like the weather conditions at the time, right on that ad,” Tepperman said. “He was doing early data analysis.”

Tepperman added the company’s business philosophy remains rooted in good customer and employee relations and being a supportive community participant.

Andrew credits his father Bill Tepperman, who oversaw the company from 1970 until 2006, for not only expanding the company’s footprint throughout Southwestern Ontario but also its social conscience. Noah Tepperman serves as the company’s secretary/treasurer but also oversees the company’s community engagements.

Tepperman’s footprint has grown to include Windsor, Chatham, London, Sarnia, Kitchener, Ancaster and St. Catharines, with 550 employees.

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“My father’s decision to expand to other cities has made us less vulnerable to the ups and downs of the auto industry,” Andrew Tepperman said. “We’re in communities with different types of economies now.”

In the past 10 years, Tepperman’s has given out $1 million in scholarships to students, achieved best-places-to-work accreditation, supported the local United Way’s Cradle to Career program aimed at young people, and given to other causes.

The company has also been expanding its solar panel installations and other environmental initiatives at its stores and in the community.

As part of the centennial celebrations, Tepperman’s is offering a special catalogue of products and pricing, $100,000 worth of prizes for customers and staff and will announce some new community events.

Dwaddell@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/windstarwaddell

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